Customer Reviews

The Vet's Daughter

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Every sentence of this book startles, as if written by a person who understood language differently and better than other writers. It is a very short novel and an astounding one, a remarkable trip into the consciousness of a young girl who is subtly estranged from the world around her. Comyns writes in her own tradition, but she bears a sure relation to Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Bowen, and Penelope Fitzgerald, whose devotees will certainly love this book.

This is one of my favorite books. I have read 2 of Comyn's other novels and enjoyed them but I prefer this one by a wide margin. A previous viewer has compared her to Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Bowen, and Penelope Fitzgerald. I see the legitimacy of the Fitzgerald comparison and especially the similarity to Bowen but not so much the Woolf comparison. I am sure there is legitimacy to her opinion but would urge readers of these reviews not to be put off if you are not a Woolf fan. I do not like Woolf but love Comyns. Her style is strange, nightmarish, gothic, and yet grimly realistic in many ways. I do not think it is a plot wrecker to mention that early on we see that this sad young girl has the gift of levitation. I guarantee you will never forget this book's vivid characters, atmosphere, and plot. By the way, another excellent novel involving levitation is Paul Auster's Mr. Vertigo.

The writing in this book is so strange and vivid... reading this small book left me breathless. It starts out as a small story about a wretched girl and her horrible upbringing, then becomes kind of a fantasy, which I didn't so much care for. But still, the whole book is so original that I have recommended it to a bunch of friends.