Alice

Book Details

Library

Author

Eva Hanagan

Category

General Fiction

Publisher

Warner Books

Printed By

Clays Ltd

Country

Great Britain

Personal

Year Published

1997

Date Read

27/07/2006

ISBN

0751517968

Personal Rating

1/5

Binding

Paperback

Purchase

Pages

182

Acquired from 

Marlborough Library

Overview

Shortly after the death of her much-loved husband, Alice Willoughby inherits a comfortable legacy from her aunt. In the rambling house on the Sussex Downs, scene of her happy childhood and her Aunt Sophie's last pitiful years, Alice settles down to rebuild her life.

Alice renews old friendships and makes new ones in a milieu dominated by the wily charms of her manipulative old headmistress, Miss Vine. Alice's growing confidence is greatly bolstered by a new friend, an attractive and gentle-mannered antiques dealer, Paul Fellows. But her pleasure is undermined by a nagging unease – why did her aunt fail to make provision in her will for her loyal housekeeper Nancy? Such a cruel, inexplicable omission.

As she tackles this puzzle, she discovers that things are not always what they seem.

Comment

I originally selected this book because it was short, which meant I had no expectations. Despite this, this book managed to avoid disappointment only because I read half of it without taking any of it in. The story itself is hidden behind a lot of conversational fluff. Alice was a character hard to like, and a lot of her actions seemed like passive obedience. It was nice though, to have my suspicions about Fellowes confirmed.