From Publishers Weekly
British writer Boyle delivers a chilling psychological thriller in her American debut. Virginia Blackie, a yes? per mss? neglected, emotionally needy 16-year-old who looks barely 12, lives in London with Petra, her lush of a mother, and Sandy, a randy Hungarian stepfather accustomed to having his own way. When Sandy buys a barren, decaying country house, Virginia pleads with Derek, her real father, to prevent the move. As usual, Derek does nothing. Virginia hangs out in Highgate cemetery spinning fantasies about a Victorian fireman killed in the line of duty until her building emotions are externalized in the form of a vandalistic poltergeist who wrests for her the power she had been denied. Boyle takes time laying the Gothic foundation, but just as the reader gets impatient, the pace quickens, speeding to a tense finale in which the heroine does more than blossom.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
At 16 years old Virginia is still, physically, a child. This worries her, as does everything else in her life. Her mother and stepfather are well-meaning but self-centered, her irresponsible natural father is incapable of shouldering the burden of Virginia's overwhelming love. Feeling rebuffed, Virginia takes comfort from an imaginary lover named William. But soon "accidents" begin to happen, and it is unclear whether these steadily more dangerous occurrences are the result of some telekinetic power a la Carrie , or whether William may actually exist as a malevolent spirit. While the peripheral characters are well realized, Virginia emerges as miserable, dependent, and whining. And though the book begins from Virginia's point of view, it switches midway to the point of view of Rod, a kindly family friend who, when Virginia transfers her desperate affections to him, feels obliged to save her by solving the mystery of who, or what, William is. One can't help wondering why he cares.
- A.M.B. Amantia, Population Crisis Committee Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- A.M.B. Amantia, Population Crisis Committee Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
