|
|
| Ruth Rendell (as Barbara Vine),
The Minotaur |
|
In the late 60's, Kerstin Kvist, a young woman from Sweden, comes to
Essex to work as a nurse and to be closer to her boyfriend, who lives
in London. In possession of a degree in English literature, she soon
views the family she is staying with, the Cosways, as the typical
Victorian family. Kerstin sees similarities between herself
and Victorian governesses such as Jane Eyre, though she is not given
to flights of fancy like the one in Henry James's Turn of the
Screw, but rather a keen observer of people. Her "mad woman in the
attic" is a man who haunts the library (which is also a maze). Kerstin starts to question the fact that he is
really mad... John Cosway's sisters and mother pretend that he is
a schizophrenic, and he shuffles around the house all day, heavily
drugged. Kerstin is shocked by the state he is kept in, but does not
dare protest, her strong personality subdued by Mrs Cosway's
offensive remarks. As for the sisters, they are very old-fashioned,
even by the 60's standards. Sexual revolution has not yet reached
rural Essex. The youngest, Zorah, is a widow, wealthier than the
rest of the family and aware of her power over them, that she
insures by lavishing gifts. The other three are old maids: Ida, the
eldest, a kind of embittered Cinderella for whom Prince Charming
never came, does the house chores all days without a complaint, or
help from her sisters. Ella and Winifred, the remaining sisters,
seem close to each other to Kerstin, at least in the beginning. She
soon realizes that jealousy and rivalry tears them apart. Both in
their late thirties, Ella has no prospect of leaving the state of
spinsterhood, while Winifred, a goody-two-shoes, is engaged to Eric,
the village vicar.
A tragedy is brewing within the Cosway family, sparkled by the
arrival in the village of Felix, an artist and a womanizer, and a
Byronic character...
Kerstin narrates the events forty years later, reminded of
the events after a chance encounter with Ella. As usual with Barbara
Vine, this story is not a whodunit. It finishes where a
detective story would begin. The murder occurs towards the
end, and we don't know until very late in the book who the murderer
is, or even who the victim will be. We just witness tension
building, as Vine drops hints along the way, presenting intriguing
dysfunctional characters and a story with strong gothic overtones
and allusions to the works of Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontė.
Though I haven't been taken by surprise by the climax, as I have been
with previous novels, and even if I would have liked Vine to exploit
the theme of the minotaur a little more thoroughly, I enjoyed, as
always, her literate style and mesmerizing characters...
Rating: 
© Discussing Books, 05/17/2005 |
|
|
|
| Further Readings |
As Barbara Vine:
Vine, Barbara (1986) A Dark Adapted Eye
Vine, Barbara (1987)
A Fatal Inversion
Vine, Barbara (1988)
The House of Stairs
Vine, Barbara (1990)
Gallowglass
Vine, Barbara (1991)
King Solomon's Carpet
Vine, Barbara (1993) Anna's Book
Vine, Barbara (1994)
No Night is Too Long
Vine, Barbara (1996)
The Brimstone Wedding
Vine, Barbara (1998) The Chimney Sweeper's
Boy
Vine, Barbara (2000)
Grasshopper
Vine, Barbara (2002)
The Blood Doctor
Vine, Barbara (2005) The Minotaur
As Ruth Rendell:
Rendell, Ruth (1965) To Fear a Painted Devil
Rendell, Ruth (1965) Vanity Dies Hard
Rendell, Ruth (1971)
One
Across, Two Down
Rendell, Ruth (1974)
The
Face of Trespass
Rendell, Ruth (1976)
A
Demon in my View
Rendell, Ruth (1977) A Judgement in Stone
Rendell, Ruth (1979)
Make
Death Love Me
Rendell, Ruth (1980) The Lake of Darkness
Rendell, Ruth (1982)
Master
of the Moor
Rendell, Ruth (1984)
The
Killing Doll
Rendell, Ruth (1984)
The
Tree of Hands
Rendell, Ruth (1986)
Live Flesh
Rendell, Ruth (1987)
Talking to Strange Men
Rendell, Ruth (1989)
The
Bridesmaid
Rendell, Ruth (1990)
Going Wrong
Rendell, Ruth (1993) The Crocodile Bird
Rendell, Ruth (1996) Blood Lines
Rendell, Ruth (1996)
The
Keys to the Street
Rendell, Ruth (1999)
A
Sight for Sore Eyes
Rendell, Ruth (2002) Adam and Eve and Pinch Me
Rendell,
Ruth (2004) The Rottweiler
Rendell,
Ruth (2005) Thirteen Steps Down
Rendell,
Ruth (2006) The Water's Lovely
Wexford mysteries:
Rendell, Ruth (1964)
From
Doon with Death
Rendell, Ruth (1967)
A New
Lease of Death
Rendell, Ruth (1967)
Wolf
to the Slaughter
Rendell, Ruth (1969)
The
Best Man to Die
Rendell, Ruth (1970)
A
Guilty Thing Surprised
Rendell, Ruth (1971)
No
More Dying Then
Rendell, Ruth (1972)
Murder
Being Once Done
Rendell, Ruth (1973)
Some
Lie and Some Die
Rendell, Ruth (1975)
Shake
Hands Forever
Rendell, Ruth (1978) A Sleeping Life
Rendell, Ruth (1981) Death Notes
Rendell, Ruth (1983)
Speaker of Mandarin
Rendell, Ruth (1985)
An
Unkindness of Ravens
Rendell, Ruth (1988)
The
Veiled One
Rendell, Ruth (1992)
Kissing the Gunner's Daughter
Rendell, Ruth (1995)
Simisola
Rendell, Ruth (1997)
Road Rage
Rendell, Ruth (1999) Harm Done
Rendell,
Ruth (2003) The Babes in the Wood
Rendell,
Ruth (2005)
End in Tears
Rendell,
Ruth (2007) Not in the Flesh
|
|
|
Critiques