Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (1889–1955)

Es una noche de mayo cargada de lluvia y tristeza, una de esas noches en que nadie debería estar solo. Corren los peores años de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y Lucía Holley, sentada en su habitación, escribe cartas afectuosas y aburridas al marido que está en Europa luchando. Abajo, en el salón, andan Bee y David, sus dos hijos adolescentes, y el padre de Lucía. Esa estampa típica de una familia americana de mediados del siglo pronto se verá trastocada por el asesinato de un hombre que intentaba seducir a Bee. De repente, los hechos se precipitan, y Lucía, ama de casa y madre ejemplar, será víctima de un extraño chantaje, una mezcla insólita de violencia y ternura a manos de un hombre que finalmente la obligará a replantearse su vida entera.… (mere)

Jake Duff is a successful middle-aged man on his second marriage, to the lovely Regina (Reggie.) But Jake is dissatisfied with her every action and imagines her inferior to his deceased first wife. In the house too, are his 7 year old son, his governess (whom Jake is beginning to see as a better bet than Reggie....a "real woman") and a handsome Irish chauffeur....
As Jake's drinking becomes excessive, as his plots and jealousy grow...and this is told completely from his point of view.....the reader awaits a dramatic denouement...… (mere)

Lonely wife Lucia Holley writes dull letters to her husband, serving in WW2. Meanwhile she, her affable elderly father and two judgemntal teenage kids - and a housekeeper - live a respectable life.
When 17 year old Bea is found to have been consorting - and writing incriminating letters- to a dodgy older man, Lucia is resolved to nip their liaison in the bud. However the situation goes horribly wrong...
This is a memorable work as it combines a tense-making thriller with really well drawn profiles of all the characters. Lucia feels overwhelmed, determined to keep her family together at all costs, to tell no one anything. She also feels dismissed and despised by Bea (who mocks her mother's uneventful life); criticized by David (she doesn't conform to what he expects of a mother) and inferior to the competent housekeeper.
Nothing is black and white- criminal Donnelly was arguably a finer character than Lucia...… (mere)