A Dark Adapted Eye by Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine. Psychological thriller.
About fifteen years ago I watched half of the TV adaptation of this novel with my mother. We never got to watch the second half. It has been long enough that I remembered nothing of the plot, only flashes of Helena Bonham-Carter looking distraught. I finally got around to reading the book and I was not disappointed.
The narrator is Faith Severn, niece of the two main characters. Vera and Eden Hillyard are unusually close sisters living together in the English countryside during World War II. Vera’s life focuses around Eden who is significantly younger then she is. Vera even neglects her son Francis in order to care for Eden. The sisters eventually come into conflict and then direct competition when Vera has a second child, a son named Jamie.
The narrative follows Faith’s remembrances and her reconstruction of how her aunts lived and died. The reader is aware that there is a mystery. It is known that Vera is executed for murder and her family has done everything possible to distance themselves from any association with her. Faith provides plentiful background on her family and exactly how Vera and Eden came to where they are when their relationship starts to degrade. Rendell provides tempting glimpses into what happened. Determining who killed whom is easy. The motive for the murder is revealed very late in the book. It is much more difficult to determine which of the sisters is the villain and which is the victim. The true mystery at the heart of the plot is only exposed at the very last and no definitive solution is presented. The story ends on a decidedly ambiguous note.
The pacing of this thriller was amazing. It starts at the end. All of the key events of the book have already happened when the narrative starts. As Faith investigates and recollects the tension builds. As the plot nears the murder every turn of the page is accompanied by mounting tension. Every character is pulled taut and the reader is on tenterhooks, waiting for the explosion of violence. What is exceptional about this mystery is that the author leaves it unsolved. The murder provides action without catharsis. As in real life, there is no pat ending. Everyone involved with Vera and Eden is left scarred by their bloody ends, trying to make sense of their respective motives. They take the answer to the mystery to their graves.
A great thriller, highly recommended.
-fh