This story about envy, also good vs. evil, takes place in the mind of its main character at first, to sprout into grave consequences later. The narrator in the story, Ruth, represents the evil. Meanwhile, her older adopted sibling Elizabeth represents the good. While evil aggrieves the good, it also changes its own make-up.

The story portrays the English upper class in lavish settings, with all characters possessing the same or very similar vocabulary and personal tastes. The arguments among them are mostly high-brow.

Elizabeth is Ruth’s first cousin adopted by Ruth’s parents after the death of Elizabeth’s parents in a car crash. Ruth blames Elizabeth for stealing her parents’ affection and not allowing Ruth to be the only child. All through her days, Ruth secretly wishes Elizabeth ill while waiting for a solid chance to devastate her. After they grow up, marry, and have a son each, Elizabeth’s husband dies. Elizabeth marries again with a rich businessman. In the meantime, Ruth manages to steal the affections of Elizabeth’s husband Charles and has an affair with him. All this she has obsessed and planned upon, in cold-blood, for years. Their adultery together with a tragic accident destroys both families. At the end, Ruth comes out with as big a loss as Elizabeth and Charles with the conjecture that when one destroys another person through envy, she loses herself and becomes partly the person she destroys.

The novel is gripping in a sudsy style, since it emphasizes strong, destructive emotions with dramatic words, even if the base of those emotions can feel empty to the reader. Then, very often, the narrator expresses herself with phrases and short sentences that sound like adages or deep thoughts. For example, when Ruth wants to destroy Elizabeth’s first marriage, she thinks she needs to wait until the couple is “profoundly in love.” Ruth says, “Why mar something already imperfect? It is the first crack that ruins the Ming…”

those who enjoy melodrama.

the shortness of the book because I finished reading it in one sitting. It is only 164 pages and thank God for that.

the melodramatic approach, and the ending felt forced to me. In addition, I did not find the central conflict very convincing, since Ruth’s parents did everything right by both girls. In such a case, even if there could be some envy, it would not be so strong and so deadly. In other words, considering the backstory’s psychological evidence, Ruth’s feelings and actions are not justifiable.

Josephine Hart is Irish. She has been the director of Haymarket publishing; she has also produced a few West End plays and made several television appearances. Her first book Damage has been adapted into a movie. Her books are: Damage, Sin, Oblivion, The Stillest Day, The
Reconstructionist, and Catching life by the Throat.

Hart’s confessional approach of telling the story in first person and her short, nearly poetic sentences give the impression of an inspirational style, which may amuse and draw in the readers; however, because of this very style, the book strays away from the maxim, “the story’s the thing.” This is a book you should read at your own risk.

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Created Jul 05, 2008 at 5:14pm • Submit your own review...