The Crocodile Bird (1993)

Liza, a young girl of sixteen must flee from her secluded home, the gatehouse of a great mansion, to avoid being questioned by the police about a crime that her mother Eve has just committed. She makes her way to her lover and proceeds to tell him, in the style of The Arabian Nights, the story of how she came to be in this situation, in the process revealing a life story full of intrigue and horror. Until then, Eve had tried her best to shield Liza from the world and all it's modern amenities, and most of what Liza knows about life is gleaned from the 19th century books available in the mansion. Liza looks just like Eve, and must find out whether she is a an exact copy of her mother in deed as well as in looks, or whether she can exercise her own free will. I found this tale quite gripping, enough so to include it among my favourite reads of the year, and the narration by Juliet Stephenson was of course excellent. ( )

This book holds sinister secrets. A woman keeps her daughter shut off from the outside world. She has an unnatural attachment to Shrove, a house she doesn't own - a bond greater than she shares with any other person. She will do anything to keep her daughter sheltered within the semi-abandoned estate and refuses that there could be consequences in hers or her daughter's later life.

This is not a straightforward mystery and it isn't creepy in an upfront way either. The story reveals itself slowly, to shift your perception of good and evil in the characters and what terrible things they remember. ( )

An interesting scenario, dragged out a bit, and with a bit of a limp ending. Liza's early journey to the caravan got the story off to a good start and the mystery was set up well, but once we were back in the cottage the book's landscape seemed a bit limited. ( )

One of my favorite books! Ruth Rendell's novels are always suspenseful, but what I think she is best at is creating fascinating and complex characters that are all...a bit creepy. This story is about a young girl whose mother has secluded them in an isolated cottage away from essentially all contact with society. There are few people that visit... and half the ones that do are never to be seen or heard from again. A great mystery! ( )

What a scary little girl. ( )