Absolutely impeccable gothic mystery, packed with secrets and incidents. A Swedish caregiver stays with a family which is SCREWED. UP.

The pacing and characterization are perfect, the prose is rich in imagery and horror. I'm grateful for the reading experiences I've been getting from Rendell and her Vines. ( )

Barbara Vine is a pseudonym of Ruth Rendell. A gripping, perceptive novel about a dysfunctional family and their adult but psychologically damaged son John, viewed through the eyes of Kerstin, a young Swedish nurse brought in to help the family manage John. Kerstin is quickly intrigued by the family’s flaws, and how they are treating the errant son, who is not, she thinks, schitzophrenic as they claim. Things go progressively wrong in the family, and John begins to emerge from the repressions he has been under.

I enjoyed reading this a great deal. ( )

En 1968, la enfermera sueca Kerstin Kvist acepta un trabajo en Essex para estar cerca de su amante londinense. Su cometido es cuidar de John Cosway, quien ha perdido la cabeza y permanece recluido en su biblioteca. A su llegada a la decadente mansión de Lydstep Old Hall descubre que Julia, la matriarca, es una anciana fría, obsesionada con que John no deje de tomar sus dosis de Largactil, cuyas hijas solteronas andan a la greña por haber compartido al mismo hombre. Y la muchacha no tardará en albergar dudas sobre qué miembro de los Cosway se encuentra en el lado bueno de la frontera de la locura.

Unusually well-written and plotted. I really enjoyed the sense of place and the gothic tone. ( )

This one I should have loved. Old English manor homes, labyrinths, libraries, etc... right up my alley. Didn't finish. I just didn't think it was all that good. Oh well. ( )