A Dark-Adapted Eye

From the first sentence of "A Dark Adapted Eye," the reader is informed that someone important is about to die. By page six, we know that this person will be hanged by the neck until dead for a murder she committed. So, this extraordinary novel by Ruth Rendell, writing as Barbara Vine, is not a classic whodunit, rather a fascinating and complex psychological drama - a more suspenseful mystery than many of the best in which the perpetrator, or murderer, remains unknown until the conclusion. Faith Severn nee Longley is our narrator, and I believe this is so because she is related in one way or another to all the novel's primary characters, and is of an age, and a position in her family, where her point of view is more objective than most could possibly be, under the circumstances. "A Dark Adapted Eye" is, above all, the riveting story of a middle class English family during the first half of the 20th century. Thirty years after the fact, Faith, with the assistance of an interested journalist, attempt to piece together the events leading up to a tragic murder which would have profound effects on the entire clan. The Longley family was seemingly united, like many others, with it's temporary dysfunctional moments and happier gatherings and reunions. Faith, along with her parents, John and Vranni Longley lived just outside of London. John's twin sister, Vera Hillyard, was 32 years-old in 1939, and had been caring for their sister Eden, younger by fifteen years, since the girl was 14. The Longley parents were both dead. Vera had lived with her husband, a military man, in India and she come home when her father became ill. Her young son, Francis, had been farmed off to boarding school at age 7. Although they are sisters, Vera acted the mother to Eden and obviously adored her. Faith joined her aunts, and Francis, at their country home, Laurel Cottage, Great Sindon, East Anglia, for holidays. Other relatives, who played an important role in their lives, lived within a relatively close distance. Overall, they appeared to be a group of relatively contented human beings, related by blood and marriage. Yet even Faith, as a young girl, realized that many family stories, and other personal news and events of both little or great importance, were never discussed at home, nor with her aunts. They were all a closed-mouthed, secretive and repressed bunch of folks. The tragedy and drama that was to eventually unfold began during this time, right before WWII. Ms Rendell/Vine quotes James Drevor from The Dictionary of Psychology on the front book leaf prior to the text, "Dark Adaptation: a condition of vision brought about progressively by remaining in complete darkness for a considerable period, and characterized by progressive increase in retinal sensitivity." Ms. Vine is a marvel at creating her characters and developing them. Throughout the skillful narrative, it is remarkable to watch individuals change and grow; to observe how they interact with each othe

Although I had already seen the PBS mini-series version of this book and knew the outcome, it was worth reading - how many books can you say that about? Very subtle with many twists - very enjoyable to read.

Since her first novel, A DARK-ADAPTED EYE, Barbara Vine has written several superb psychological thrillers. A FATAL INVERSION, THE HOUSE OF STAIRS, ANNA'S BOOK, and THE BRIMSTONE WEDDING in particular are exceptional suspense novels. But not one of them comes even close to A DARK-ADAPTED EYE which, after more than a decade, is still the best Rendell/Vine novel to date.What drove Vera Hillyard to brutally murder her younger sister Eden? The answer turns out to be far more complex than the question. Wryly narrated by their niece, Faith Severn, this flat-out brilliant story brings to light a hidden world of love, lust, greed, and pain. Vine's characters aren't just well-developed; they are completely real and totally convincing. What distinguishes A DARK-ADAPTED EYE from Rendell/Vine's other novels is that aside from the usual intricate plotting and realistic sense of place, the conclusion is gut-wrenchingly emotional. As the inevitable tragedy approaches, the suspense escalates to a fevered pitch, and the final climax manages to be riveting and deeply moving. More than any of her other books, A DARK-ADAPTED EYE shows that the mystery genre is not at all inferior to serious fiction; on the contrary, the mystery genre at its best delivers the best that the literary world can offer.

A DARK-ADAPTED EYE is the first Barbara Vine book, the first of a long line of excellent novels that showed Ruth Rendell's ability to craft stories superior even to her more conventional mysteries. In this haunting tale of bitter sibling rivalry, Vine makes it clearly known from the beginning that Vera Hillyard brutally murdered her younger sister, Eden. Unlike many mysteries, however, this early revelation, usually reserved for the conclusion, only makes the story more compelling and suspenseful. Rather, the real mystery, the mystery that Barbara Vine is concerned with, is the question of what can drive a human to madness and murder. The final climax is truly riveting and moving, which is quite an achievement, considering that I anticipated it throughout the entire story, and that the main action had already taken place thirty years ago. However, Vine's characterizations are so deftly woven that I found the climax to be heart-wrenching, gripping, and disturbing. The plotting is subtle throughout, but it is only at the very end, after a series of deliciously twisted revelations, that one comes to appreciate the intricacy and complexity of Vine's plot, which does not resolve itself, but leaves the reader hanging with a number of unanswerable questions. This is a wonderfully written novel likely to leave some impression on the reader for some time. From first page to last, a masterpiece.

If not for sexism and genre-snobbery, Ruth Rendell, alias Barbara Vine, would be recognized as one of the greatest living writers, and this book is her masterpiece. Vera Hillyard undoubtedly committed a murder and was duly hanged for it. More than thirty years later, Daniel Stewart, a writer researching a "re-examination" of the case, approaches Vera's niece, Faith. In helping Stewart, Faith is drawn back into the past. It is Faith who has the "dark-adapted eye" and can see murky things in the past (both about society and about her own family) that her modern-day grown children can't begin to comprehend. The book is replete with symbolism and secrets: secrets springing from the repressed sexual mores of the forties and fifties, touching on homosexuality, illegitimacy, adultery, and supposedly virgin brides. The richness and complexity of the narrative, the bell-ringing realness of the emotions described, and the capture in amber of mid-twentieth century attitudes, make this a book to read over and over, and to recommend to everyone you know.