Kris L. (miss-info) reviewed on 11/14/2009 + 386 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Basic plot: During WWII, 12-year-old Peter Rogers' boarding school is evacuated to the country. There is a woman next door, Molly, who knew his father before his birth. She invites him to tea every Sunday. On one of these Sundays he finds the body of a dead teacher on the school grounds. The death is ruled accidental. Forty years later, Rogers is a crime novelist. He runs into a biographer working on someone else who also knew Molly. He asks Rogers to write what he remembers of Molly from his years at the boarding school, to see if any of it is helpful. As Rogers writes down his memories, more and more of them begin to surface. As an adult, he suddenly sees things he was oblivious to as a child. It soon becomes apparent that the accidental death was anything but.

My take: Despite its short length, this is a far departure from Dickinsons' books for young adults. I had to go on his website to be sure it was the same author. It is, and this book is listed under his "adult" books. Not for any "adult" content, but because the narration is exceedingly dry and cerebral. The parts of the book dealing with the grown-up Rogers are more about thought and ideas than actual events. The parts dealing with 12-year-old Rogers are so filled with boarding school slang that American readers might want some sort of glossary. I found the beginning such hard going I almost didn't persist. Once I got into the book, things got better.

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