Beholden [Hardcover]

Clare Littleford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2003

An atmospheric and sinister debut novel of psychological suspense. Peter is a planning officer at Nottingham City Council. Every day, as he boards the bus for work, he notices a girl who gets on at the same stop and spends the journey scribbling furiously in a battered notebook. One day she doesn't get off at her usual stop, but dashes off to the railway station instead, leaving her notebook on the bus. Peter picks it up and starts to read. When the girl (Sophie) goes missing and the police are called in, Peter, having read her journal, knows more about her than anyone else. He also knows that the truth about what finally happened to Sophie is a truth he must keep entirely to himself.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in Bedford in 1973, 28-year-old Clare Littleford used to work at Nottingham City Council, in the housing department, before taking an MA in Writing at Nottingham Trent University. She now works for a lottery-funded community development project in inner city Nottingham. BEHOLDEN is Clare's first novel.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (February 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743221451
• ISBN-13: 978-0743221450
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Deadly (as in dull), September 24, 2005

By 

Cat Black "Wizard's Hat" (Boston, Mass) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beholden (Paperback)

The wafer-thin plot is dragged out interminably - largely because the "male" narrator takes an inordinate length of time to read the "victim's" secret diary. Why? If he was that bothered he could've read it in one sitting. But no. And so, along the way, he all but describes the fluff in his navel. Dreary chapters after dreary chapter of his dull, little life are inserted ad nauseum.

I have a major problem with the "male" narrator. He is inauthentic. Or perhaps I should say he reads like a woman writing male - and not very well - which indeed he is. The novel might well have been more interesting if the narrator had been a lesbian. At least it would have given it a twist.

How this ever got published, gawd only knows. When we are told that publishers are overwhelmed by submissions and yet this hokum is the best they can come up with? Something is definately wrong somewhere!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great debut, January 17, 2006

By 

Sarah C. Totton (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beholden (Paperback)

I heard about this book at the World Mystery Convention in Toronto. Littleford was on a panel and she described the story. It sounded interesting enough that I picked up a copy a few months later. I wasn't disappointed. I finished the book in a few days. The plot is simple and compelling, and the portrait of a normal person being twisted by obsession and a desire to escape his mundane life was believably drawn. I picked up Littleford's second book (Death Duty) on the strength of this one.

Oh, and to the reviewer who said the book would have been better had the protagonist been a lesbian: If you'd read the book carefully, you might have realized that the turning point in the story (I won't spoil it by saying what it was) hinges on the main character being male. It would not have worked had he been a woman.