Watson's Apology (New Portway Large Print Books) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Beryl Bainbridge (Author)

Book Description

Series: New Portway Large Print Books | Publication Date: August 12, 1986

After nearly thirty years of marriage, a Victorian clergyman, John Selby Watson, bludgeons his wife to death one Sunday afternoon after church. In this compelling tale by award-winning novelist Beryl Bainbridge, the seemingly ordinary history of their marriage unfolds until it climaxes in a sudden brutal act and a headline-grabbing trial. As true to the documented facts of this actual case as to the workings of her singular imagination, Bainbridge artfully reveals what history withholds: the motives, feelings, and insanity that drive the Watsons to their domestic tragedy.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1844 Anne Armstrong, a middle-aged Irish spinster, gets an unexpected chance to escape her life of genteel poverty. An English schoolmaster met briefly more than seven years before, and long forgotten, appears suddenly with a proposal. Though the Rev. Watson is not Prince Charming and his home is no castle, life with him seems preferable to a dreary room in Mrs. Gallagher's boardinghouse. Thus begins a marriage where frustrations pile upon disillusionments until everything collapses in hatred and bloody violence. British novelist Bainbridge uses the facts of a real Victorian murder to construct a page-turning psychological drama of domestic misery behind closed doors. Engrossing leisure reading. Starr E. Smith, Georgetown Univ. Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: Chivers Large print (Chivers, Windsor, Paragon & C; Large Print edition edition (August 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745170080
• ISBN-13: 978-0745170084
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They drove each other NUTS!, May 9, 2001

By 

Charles Slovenski (Geneva Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Watson's Apology (Audio Cassette)

This book is a real gem. The pleasure of reading it works in several ways. First, the Victorian period is evoked with stifling and dingy clarity; second, the character flaws and clashes between both Watson and his wife are drawn naturally and unsparingly; and finally, because the murder and its consequences are tightly and thrillingly narrated. It's such a page-turner that I can't understand why it hasn't been a hit on any continent (I found it at a used book seller's in London).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They drove each other NUTS!, May 9, 2001

By 

Charles Slovenski (Geneva Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Watson's Apology: A Novel (Paperback)

This book is a real gem. The pleasure of reading it works in several ways. First, the Victorian period is evoked with stifling and dingy clarity; second, the character flaws and clashes between both Watson and his wife are drawn naturally and unsparingly; and finally, because the murder and its consequences are tightly and thrillingly narrated. It's such a page-turner that I can't understand why it hasn't been a hit on any continent (I found it at a used book seller's in London).

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Different Watson, May 31, 2001

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Watson's Apology: A Novel (Paperback)

Ms. Bainbridge has taken well-known bits of History and placed her mark on them. When she has done this the degree of familiarity you may have had with the event is forever altered. Previously I have enjoyed her version of events that were famous and or notorious, however this time her subject is one that was completely unknown. Further it was not even a remarkable story albeit a true one until Ms. Bainbridge decided to complete all that might have happened which was a larger piece of the known story. History recorded only the results and consequences never the cause.

This is not the Watson of literary fame that spent his time sleuthing with the great Sherlock Holmes. This man is as ordinary as the afore mentioned were extraordinary, and he only rose to average when at his best. The story is based on a true crime of the late 19th Century and one that is committed in this country on a daily basis. This part is important for the Author takes an event that is anything but momentous and makes it an excellent read. Further she ventures into social and moral commentary that is valid and argued to this day.

The Reverend Watson commits a hideous crime, not even he contests this fact. What no one can account for is why the act took place and his state of mind when committing it. The writer supplies a multiple decade history of what might have happened inclusive of the briefest of alleged dialogue.

The triumph here is a novel that utilizes a host of documents and court transcripts together with letters to a variety of newspapers. But they are only a part, almost addenda to what Ms. Bainbridge adds. It is as though she was given only an answer and wrote a thesis on the question.

This is another wonderful work by a writer who is consistently excellent.