Pictures of the Night: The Egerton Hall Novels, Volume Three (An Egerton Hall Novel) (Paperback)

by Adele Geras (Author) "Once upon a time," I said, "I had a mother, but I killed her..." (more)
Key Phrases: Egerton Hall, Monsieur Armand, Miss Herbert (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 9-12-- This is the finale to a trilogy set in England during the 1960s that recasts fairy tales to relate the happenings of three boarding school roommates. The heroine this time is Bella, a dark-haired, 18-year-old beauty who has been subtly tormented by her jealous stepmother since childhood and shuttled off to school. Bella spends her summer break in London and Paris singing and living with a band comprised of seven young men. Soon she becomes the victim of a series of strange accidents provoked by women who bear a resemblance to her stepmother. Bella falls in love at first glance with a handsome American, Mark, whom she's sure she'll never meet again. She returns home where hostility between the two beauties erupts. Again, the stepmother nearly eliminates her "rival." However, Mark, Bella's Prince Charming, suddenly appears to rescue her. Told primarily through letters to the roommates mixed with first-person narratives, the story and characters fail to involve or excite readers. There are lots of slow passages. Although there are a few references to past events, this book can be read independently. In true fairy-tale fashion, the other two girls' romances are also wrapped up neatly in this happily-ever-after ending.
- Susan Rosenkoetter, Rochester Public Library,
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
Last in a trilogy about British schoolgirls whose lives parallel fairy tales, this not only depicts Bella's (Snow White's) rivalry with stepmother Marjorie but rounds out the stories of Megan (Rapunzel) and Alice (Sleeping Beauty). It's their hairdresser who fires Marjorie's insane jealousy by commenting on Bella's beauty. Bella, who sings, escapes to live with a band of seven musicians; Marjorie, disguised, tries to poison her (in their London digs and in Paris, where they go to perform) in ways that marvelously mimic Grimm's tale. Meanwhile, Bella has an affair with one of the musicians and falls in love at first sight with an American medical student who's providentially present on the third occasion Marjorie tries to do her in, with Calvados (apple brandy). Though the intriguing correspondences still dominate here, the characters' lives are also developed with some skill--Bella's disastrous relationship with Marjorie, the musicians' m‚nage, and the girls' different attitudes toward going to university are all believably detailed. Another solid performance from a writer distinguished for her imaginative power and fresh, vivid writing. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Paperbacks (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152055436
• ISBN-13: 978-0152055431
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,379,919 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #9 in

  Books > Teens > Authors, A-Z > ( G ) > Geras, Adele

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Final mesmirising chapter in fairytale trilogy, July 16, 2002

By	Astrasea (Salisbury, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pictures of the Night: The Egerton Hall Novels, Volume Three (Paperback)

I waited a long time for this to be republished in England. It begins just as the other two did, 'once upon a time', but Bella is actually speaking the words. I was looking forward to this book, not only for the story and the wrapping up of Alice's and Megan's tales, but also to discover Bella's mind.
Bella is the most flamboyant and rebellious of the trio: she is constantly compared to Carmen throughout the trilogy, a nod to the allure she has for men and her troubles with them, and she is the one who keeps up with popular culture. However, although Bella loves Elvis and other rock'n'roll singers, she is deeply touched by the world of jazz and the blues. And this is a perfect example of her character: though she can seem shallow, arrogant and irritating, inside Bella is actually quite thoughtful. The agony of the blues and jazz touches her because she has had sadness in her life, the dynamics of the original fairytale being unchanged. As before, the stepmother, whom Bella wanted to love, despises her beauty and does everything she can to stifle her spirit. Therefore, Bella is, in fact, probably the most isolated of the trio, because she seems the most invulnerable. Geras brilliantly reveals the insecurities behind Bella's façade: her doubts about love, just as real as Alice's and Megan's; her distress about what happened to Alice (she was the one, after all, who decided to protect her that first night); and most of all, is Marjorie really as hostile as Bella thinks she is, or is she really being 'melodramatic' as everyone else says?
The sense of doom that permanently hovered over 'Watching the Roses' is subtly changed here into a creeping suspicion, as Geras brilliantly mimicks what happened to Snow-Drop in the original fairytale, even managing to get the bit about Bella's colouring. Bella adores to sing jazz and blues, to get rid of her agony, and even the title of the story comes from a song in the story which is about chasing the blues away. The meeting of her 'prince' in Paris, on a holiday after her A-levels, is incredibly romantic, but typically the course of true love does not run smooth and he disappears, leaving Bella vulnerable.
As both Megan and Alice's tales reach their end, Bella feels left out, remarking that 'it would never, never be only the three of us ever again'. Where is her happy ending? And why does she keep seeing a white cat every time something strange happens...?
This story is powerful, but also sensitive as it probes Bella's mind, her defiance of the adult world and rules as personified by her stepmother, her refusal to pity herself, but also her longing for love, the one who is protected instead of the one who protects. However, it does make you wonder what it was like for Megan alone on holiday with Dorothy, and what Alice did in France. And what is Bella going to do after the end of the story? Marjorie is especially well-detailed: her jealousy of Bella is increasingly sinister, but Geras also ridicules it, and gives the reader the satisfaction of a kind of show-down between the two. Bella herself emerges as a fully rounded character, and the story ends in a very romantic, upbeat way, typical of her. Yes, there is sex, but as before it is dealt with as a fact of life, something that girls on the verge of womanhood would obviously think about. 'Pictures of the Night' will not disappoint fans of the series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Calling all teenage girls, part three..., December 14, 2001

By	Melusine (www.FantasyLiterature.net) (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Pictures of the Night: The Egerton Hall Novels, Volume Three (Paperback)

The third and final installment of the Egerton Hall series, _Pictures of the Night_, is a retelling of the Snow White story. Our heroine this time is Bella, the most flamboyant, rebellious, and wild of the three girls. This is the only one of the books not told in a diary format, which I found to be an excellent touch, since I could never see Bella sitting down long enough to write a journal.

Wanting to get away from her jealous stepmother, who is upset because her hairdresser thinks Bella is prettier, Bella crashes at the house of a band, the Magnificent Seven, with whom she sometimes sings. They get a gig in Paris, and Bella runs off with them for the summer, telling her father and stepmother that she's staying with a friend's aunt. She finds ecstasy on stage, and two very different kinds of love, but always there is a whiff of fear in the air. For Bella is constantly meeting strange women, women who remind her of her stepmother, who rave of her beauty and then give her gifts which always somehow result in Bella becoming ill. Then she returns to Egerton for the fall term, and she and her friends discuss their future plans, and Bella does a lot of soul-searching. And the band is getting ready to play one last big show--and this time her stepmother will be in the audience.

Bella can be obnoxious, shallow, and callous, but I accept that, because making her "sweetness and light" wouldn't be true to the Bella we saw in the first two books. My only gripe is that Miss van der Leyden does not appear in this book. Dear Ms. Geras: Please write a book about everyone's favorite housemother. There must be a story there.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely. Said with a rockin British accent., August 6, 2001

By	Jessica Cameron (Decatur, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Pictures of the Night: The Egerton Hall Novels, Volume Three (Paperback)

This is a great book that is the last of the trilogy. Bella is a wonderful lead character and this is my favorite book of the three. It follows Bella, a hip British schoolgirl in the early sixties, and her escapades with her seven bandmates, her falling in love with someone she saw once and was then wisked away from, oh, and her evil stepmother trying to kill her. Sound familiar? Bella's story is Snow White's, of course. This is a very good read, especially when read with "The Tower Room" and "Watching the Roses," the first two books in the series. Enjoy!