The Bandit is a big fan of Daphne du M. Her pretty, ladylike name with a flourise of French can beguile the unwary into thinkking she's a flowery spinster. Those who pick up her books looking for a mistress of the saga genre will be shocked and those who dismiss her as a 'girly author' will miss out on this deliciously dark writer.
So well done to Virago who reissued her cataglogue a few years ago with rather spooky covers that hint at Daphers's gothic style and unisex appeal.
The House on the Strand is a blend of historial science fiction (not too many of those to the pound!) with two equally absorbing plots running in tandem.
Dick Young, husband and stepfather, is offered the use of an ancient house by his old university chum, Magnus, a chemistry professor of extraordinary talent and rather questionable morals. Dick agrees to act as a guinea pig for a drug Magnus has developed and it turns out to give him the trip to end all trips as it transports him back to the early 14th century. In a lesser author's hands, the fantastic plot idea could have clunked along leaving its reader totally unconvinced. Not here: the novel is a spell-binding study of addiction - to drugs, love, escapism - and its devastating consquences.
No comments:
Post a Comment