RETRO READS
SEPARATION by Sally Emerson (Quartet £10) Ambitious career mum, new baby, attractive nanny, restless husband, whew! trouble? However, Emerson’s accomplished thriller is mesmerisingly unpredictable, with a truly sensational shock ending.
Amanda, husband and demanding babe live in an enviable London flat overlooking the thames. they employ sarah, the perfect day-nanny.
but little do they know that sarah’s own beloved child is in the custody of her obnoxious husband, that she is legally forbidden to see her and her current address is a seedy hotel.
the nail-biting plot is skilfully interwoven with observations about motherhood and career conflict, the passionate bond between parent and offspring and the pain endured by a child of a broken marriage. THE BEGUILED by Thomas Cullinan (Penguin £8.99) wow! what a perfect summer read. Female sexual tension, rivalry, jealousy, suspense, terrible vengeance — it’s all heart-palpitatingly here. A young American civil war soldier is found badly injured in a forest and taken to a nearby girls’ school.
irishman mcburney — a charming, handsome, manipulative rogue — soon has the school’s sheltered females waiting on him hand, foot and more.
‘i intend to conduct myself in a quiet and gentlemanly manner . . . i wouldn’t dream of harming the young ladies,’ vows mcburney, with a wink.
Just as you think that it’s all heading down a somewhat predictable path, things turn dark and gruesome. the final pages may require a stiff drink — read it before you see the new film, which stars Nicole Kidman. THE GORSE TRILOGY by Patrick Hamilton (Abacus £12.99) tHis sublimely inventive trilogy offers 864 pages of hilarity, pathos and an antihero who is one of the nastiest pieces of work in literature. slimy conman Gorse charms susceptible women, proposes marriage, takes their money and runs.
He evolves from a sneaky, manipulative schoolboy into a predatory cad, impressing women with his posh togs, fancy cars and smooth talk.
Apart from feeble kisses, it’s not sex he’s after, just cash.
Pubs and alcohol, in vast quantities, are crucial to his tactics, thus a vulnerable shop-girl, a lonely widow and a lovestruck barmaid are led up the garden path and lose their entire savings. Ladies, beware.