Ethel Lina White (1876–1944)

Ethel Lina White was a terrific writer, but she has fallen out of fashion in our day. Like Cornell Woolrich, a number of her works of mystery and suspense were adapted for radio or film. Most notably, her 1934 book, Some Must Watch, was adapted by Robert Siodmak as The Spiral Staircase for film, and her 1936 novel, The Wheel Spins, was the loose basis for Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes.

Blackout is a collection of short stories which don’t often show up anywhere else. The reader is not show more cheated, with nineteen of White’s shorter works included. All of them are entertaining in this very readable collection where I really found no duds whatsoever. There were stories I liked more than others of course, but really none that I disliked. On occasion I felt an ending might have sufficed with just a few more lines to give closure, but it’s a minor quibble.

The Introduction is well worth the time it takes to read. Readers who are unfamiliar with Ethel Lina White learn much about her life and career.

I’ll speak more about the overall impression of the collection once I give a brief overview of the stories. So here, in no particular order :

AT TWILIGHT —

A marvelous tale of suspense. A tall, muscular old woman with a personality as cowardly as she is physically imposing, finds herself in the house alone near Christmas. This occurs when her niece Fay has to go with the police to identify a crazed killer that she witnessed murdering a woman.

What about those shadows she the older woman spotted in the woods before Fay left? At least the cook Elsie is there, making some Christmas puddings. But is she really there?

Very clever, old-fashioned suspense with a nice ending which could have gone either way.

RIVER JUSTICE —

“When Miss Nile realized that Chadwick Morris was poisoning his wife, she tried to realize her duty, in the cause of humanity.”

An unusual tale about a once young and pretty woman, now aged, named Miss Nile, and the lovely young soul across the river who always waves to her.

Delphine has married the wrong man, and may be in great danger. A good little story about history seemingly repeating itself.

BLACKOUT —

A very fun tale of a young factory worker during the war. Christina becomes involved in counterespionage, and must watch her back at all times; even, apparently while riding the bus. A story of old-fashioned intrigue, with a very charming ending.

WAXWORKS —

Sonia is the new hotshot reporter at the Oldhampton Gazette. This provokes the ire of repulsive fellow reporter Hubert Poke, but the admiration of young Wells. After two deaths at the Waxworks, apparently from sheer fright — or was it clever murder? — Sonia plans to spend Christmas Eve night there after-hours, and write an article about her experience.

Wonderfully atmospheric and suspenseful, not to mention fun, flashbacks fill in the events prior to the night in question; a lonely little dog and a lift under repair foreshadowing what is to come. The atmosphere of darkness and the imagination concerning the wax figures is tremendously captured by Ethel Lina White with real flair.

Will there be a twist? Will Sonia survive Christmas Eve night?

This story is so good that Ethel Lina White later expanded it into a very successful novel, retitled WAX, which I have also read and reviewed here. The novel version is very good, but loses just a tick of the magic created in its shorter version. Waxworks can be found here in Blackout, and also in Otto Penzler’s Big Book of Christmas Mysteries. Great stuff, a real gem.

PASSENGER —

“She was now in a fever of impatience to get away, for her experience had unnerved her. It had made her realize, for the first time in her life, the horror of helplessness far away from familiar things.”

Following a light sun stroke at the train station, Edna, an attractive twenty-two-year-old orphan, meets middle-aged Miss Winifred Bird on the train. Miss Bird is kindly and they have tea together. Miss Bird shares with Edna that she works for a very powerful man, and is on her way to give evidence at his murder trial. She also tells Edna about some rather unusual business involving her train ticket. Then suddenly, Miss Winifred Bird disappears, and everyone denies her ever being on the train!

If this sounds familiar, that’s because it should. Passenger is the precursor to The Wheel Spins/The Lady Vanishes. It’s great fun in its short story form as well, with Edna desperate to prove Miss Bird not only exists, but that something terrible has happened to her. Two Englishmen who speak Edna’s language are enlisted to help find her. A governess, a nun, an invalid, and great atmosphere of suspense are all the ingredients needed for this terrific short story.

MABEL’S HOUSE —

An old house which is a monument to tragic love is just one of the ingredients to this quietly absorbing suspense tale about an escape convict loose on the moors, and a young woman out searching for her dog Dopey, who has occasion to go for a walkabout. Fun and exciting, a real gem.

CATASTROPHE —

An excellent story about a young woman named Stella working at a hotel frequented by the wealthier class. Fellow worker Ivan Morgan hates them, and capitalism, with a fervor that finally gets him canned. His warning to Stella not to go to the scenic caves conjures a sense of foreboding in her heart as to what her quasi-friend might do. A train trip there Stella agrees to, due to a burgeoning romance with one of the young and wealthy hotel guests, leads to danger and excitement on a barge at night in this charming and romantic story of passionate youthful obsession, and choices.

THE HOLIDAY —

Living in some mansion flats while on lengthy medical recovery is Charles Bevin. Another tenant, young and pretty Janet Lewis, becomes a hostage in her own flat when a bandit murders a cashier and seeks refuge from a manhunt. She can’t signal Tory and his wife or risk their lives as well. Time takes its toll as the bandit must wait days for the police to abandon the search through the area.

A man losing hope, with not much to do but wallow in his misery may be Janet’s surprising chance at rescue. Very enjoyable.

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE —

Hermione Heath is a young pretty actress acquitted for the crime of murder. While she is innocent, she got in the spot by happening upon a body and doing exactly all the wrong things.

Enter Andrew Mackintosh, a mystery writer who knows what a fool she was. One more scandal could ruin her career completely. While they spend some refreshing time together in the lovely countryside, he advises her what to do should she ever find herself in a similar spot.

When lightning does indeed strike twice, her attempt to heed Andrew’s advice is quite exciting, and cleverly written. A wonderful piece of short fiction from White.

CAGED — Kathy and her small daughter Una have found themselves subject to a cruel and heartless man. After a tragic end to her first youthful marriage, her second is a union based on providing a home for her daughter, rather than love.

Love is what she finds with Alan, who works at her uncle’s zoo, but Kathy does not act on her feelings — and more to the point, Alan’s obvious feelings for her.

Young Una’s way with dangerous animals will play a role in a terrific story. Ethel Lina White manages to create a stifling atmosphere, apprehension, tension, and even love within the shorter form. White even manages to economically convey Alan’s love for Kathy’s daughter, as well as Kathy, making it something more substantive than romantic love or lust.

A wonderful piece of writing with a suspenseful and satisfying conclusion. Like all the stories in this collection we’re talking about old-fashioned suspense, and the mores of another time.

UNDERGROUND —

There is danger, drama, and a touch of romance at its conclusion in Underground. It is a story about a devious land owner subverting water during a draught, and potholing — an exploration of underground rock cavities formed by erosion, often from water.

Iris is a good heroine and risks her life during a storm to save Courage. There is some intrigue and a few exciting action scenes in this intriguing little story.

WHITE CAP —

The white cap in question is exactly that, a cap belonging to Tessa Leigh. Leigh gets in a spot when she confronts the shrew female boss of Peninsula Works, Miss Ratcliffe, who rules with an iron fist. Knowing Ratcliffe is cruel and unjust, Tessa tells her off because of her treatment of a fellow employee, setting the stage for trouble.

Marksmanship, Tessa’s frequent blackouts due to a prior air crash, and that lost white cap throw suspicion on young Tessa when Ratcliffe meets her end by rifle.

Nice and old-fashioned, White Cap is an enjoyable story despite its rather quick wrap-up and explanation.

THE GILDED PUPIL —

Anne Shelley, who has an MA from Oxford no less, is forced to take work as a governess to fifteen-year-old Stella Williams because more young women have ther degree than the number of jobs available.

This one is very much about social class, but in a gentle, old-fashioned way. Anne has known wealth, so she understands young Stella. Stella develops a rather innocent crush on her governess — in a different sense than today — and tries to emulate her.

Anne’s visits to her own governess from her youth, and Stella’s shared confidence that she believes someone has attempted to kidnap her play into the story, as does Miss West’s new maid, Marion Cole, and an odd-looking man with a triangle-shaped mouth who has been following Ann.

Though there appears to be no way out for our heroine when the worst happens, the reader must not forget Anne’s rarified education. Good fun.

THE CELLAR —

Old-fashioned tale that reminded me of early Rinehart stories. Leslie Bishop has memories of The Black Hand from her childhood, a specter used by adults to warn children away from the cellar so they won’t be pests.

Under Leslie’s charge is young Max, a real handful. He plays pranks about The Black Hand being in the cellar constantly. But what if just once, it isn’t a mischievous prank? With the Captain away, and a madman possibly in the big old house, a lot can happen.

A secret signal, some business about oiling keys, and doors all come into play on a suspenseful night when Leslie realizes — perhaps too late — that someone is in the house.

Full of characters and goings on, this is a really busy one. A good old-fashioned tale very much at home in the early part of the twentieth century. It ends minus much wrap-up, with a typically bloodless solution.

DON’T DREAM ON MIDSUMMER’S EVE —

A woman named Merle is taking care of her twin sister’s son when a bad brother-in-law returns. Poison, a little boy named Puck, and a doctor who may have an interest in Merle come into play before this one’s over. Not my favorite but still pretty good by the end.

YOU’LL BE SURPRISED —

Ethel Lina White must have liked the twin sister device, because it’s here again in this unusual story. Celia is on her way to visit her twin Cherry after a long period, but she is bringing along American, Don Sherwood. But everything seems very strange when she arrives, and there’s no sign of Cherry. Then a gang of cutthroats show up!

THE ROYAL VISIT —

“Although he was six feet of stooge, Constable Richards felt himself beaten by his wife’s hunch. He became conscious of something secret and diabolical creeping in the darkness, like a slow train of gunpowder eating its way to the explosion.”

Viva Richards has feelings about the future which often come true, and she passes on to her policeman husband her dread that some dark tragedy surrounds an upcoming Royal visit.

Good one with an attempted stabbing and some business the constable figures out about a woman who is constantly talking.

THE FIRST DAY —

Ah, a curve ball here with a White story set during WWII. Vivienne works at the Monopol Cafe. Due to her attraction to John Vanderpant (what a name!) she risks a great deal by joining the V group of resisters, passing along information while trying not to get caught. The cafe seems the perfect place, and she can pass off her V brooch because it signifies her name, not just the Victory group of resistors of which she is part.

There is a bit of danger and intrigue — as always with White, the refreshingly old-fashioned variety — when Vivien accidentally passes on her message to the wrong man, placing herself, the real contact, and her Great-Uncle, Old Steiner in jeopardy.

An innocently romantic ending to a charming and quaintly suspenseful short story.

THE BABY HEIR —

I honestly don’t recall this one too clearly, other than it was some Fifth Column business involving Annabel, a professor, a baby named John Jasper. Enjoyable enough, I simply didn’t jot down a note to recall.

OVERVIEW —

I think you can probably glean from the story descriptions that Blackout is a collection of old-fashioned mystery and suspense. They are much closer to the Golden Age, when mystery and suspense wasn’t gory or bloody, and could be about things other than murder. There’s a touch of romance to a few stories as well, and adventure. Gentler and less biting, but no less enjoyable than other mysteries, this is a find for those who prefer these type of stories, from an excellent writer. A few stories were great, the rest good or enjoyable.

I’ve always maintained that consistently good is its own form of greatness, and that most certainly applies here. Individually, I’d give the majority of these stories 3-4 stars, with a few getting 5 stars. Yet when you consider there are nearly twenty stories included, and not a real dud among them, that prompts me to give the overall collection 5 stars, and well deserved at that.

That being said, there is a minor publishing caveat which has nothing to do with White. I have the paperback, which was rather pricey to obtain. It’s a lovely book, the cover evocative of another time, matching the contents. At first glance the interior is equally nice. But, after going through the entire collection I ran across a few issues that had nothing to do with typos, which every book from everybody has — including major publishers. Anyone who says different either doesn’t read much, or they’re trying to fool you. They’re not even a big deal unless there are tons, and they seriously effect your reading enjoyment.

No, what I found here, sadly just often enough to make note of and mention — mainly because it was so pricey — were issues of justification, and some rare but notable sloppiness in printing the paperback. All the margins and indents were perfect, that was not the issue. It was odder stuff. For example :

The word “come”, might read c ome, and there might be two or three words in a row like that. Also, a three word sentence ending a paragraph, might stretch across the entire page, with lengthy blank space between the words. A couple of stories had several instances of both, and some errant periods in the middle of a sentence, which probably made it seem worse than it was. Overall these formatting ticks were almost — but not quite — rare. If it were truly rare, I’d definitely make no mention of it here.

This never affected the reading, nor did it become confusing or slow me down. But because it was a formatting issue, it jumped out at me, as it will other readers. To be clear, it was more than just once or twice, or even five times.

To be sure, Blackout is mostly clean and tight, and well-formatted. But the ticks were just often enough to move them out of the rare category into the occasional one. The book is from Crippen & Landru in Cincinnati, and it’s a shame that just a bit more diligence wasn’t paid to formatting. Whether it’s only the paperback, and the Kindle is different, I can’t say, because the trade paperback is what I own.

Blackout and Other Tales of Suspense is a terrific looking book, and still worth getting for the wonderful stories of old-fashioned mystery and suspense from another time. show less

''So you saw Miss Froy no more...She is nothing but a delirium - a dream.''

A young British socialite, frustrated, disillusioned and fed up with the pretentiousness of her noisy friends and the life she has been leading, decides to end her holidays in an unnamed (and probably fictional) country somewhere in Central Europe and return to England. Surrounded by fellow travellers who are hollower than the hollowest kind of void, she finds herself in the company of the dull, yet sympathetic, Miss show more Froy. When Miss Froy simply vanishes into thin air, Iris does everything in her power to find her while her efforts are hindered and blocked by suspicious strangers and men who simply dismiss her as a ''hysterical woman''. Little do they know...

Ethel Lina White created one of the most famous mystery books (and it is a pity that it became so well-known thanks to a lousy adaptation by the greatest fraud in the History of Cinema., Alfred ''I will bore you to Death with my nonsense'' Hitchcock). Iris is a character who tells it like it is and I loved her immensely. Her determination to proceed and stay true to herself while every male character tries to coax her into submission and docility is outstanding. The claustrophobic setting of the train that never stops mirrors Iris's non-stop mind and strength. Even Hare, who is dashing and enticing, is a male figure whose motives remained unclear - at least to me- even at the end of the novel. The dialogue is surprisingly lively and modern (a characteristic of the works of women writers during the 30s) and the constant comings and goings make you feel as if you are a passenger on a train that will keep travelling until Judgement Day.

No need for more. This is one of the finest examples of the genre, a quintessentially British mystery.

*Do yourselves a favour. Ditch the Hitchcock atrocity and watch the 2013 adaptation by BBC One. Thank me later.*

Many thanks to Pushkin Vertigo and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ show less

Iris Carr is a privileged young Englishwoman enjoying a holiday somewhere in Europe with a large group of friends. But when her crowd is ready to leave, Iris decides to stay an extra day and enjoy the beauties of the mountains by herself. When she boards the train to go home, she is immediately isolated from the other passengers because she doesn't speak the native language. So when a talkative English spinster named Miss Froy introduces herself, Iris is glad to have the company, even though show more Miss Froy is rather a bore. After a long chat, Iris takes a nap in her compartment; but when she wakes up, Miss Froy is gone! Eventually she begins to worry, so she finds a young Englisman to act as interpreter and ask the other passengers where Miss Froy went. To Iris' shock, they all claim not to remember Miss Froy and say Iris must be imagining things. Iris knows she didn't imagine Miss Froy, but without any evidence to the contrary, how can she be sure? And if the lady does exist, why won't anyone admit to seeing her?

Recently I watched Alfred Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" and really enjoyed it, but I had no idea it was based on a book! I'm glad I discovered the novel, though, because with all due deference to Hitchcock, the book is better. While the movie is a somewhat straightforward thriller, the book has more psychological tension because it keeps you in the dark about Iris' mental state for much longer. Are the other passengers involved in some sort of unlikely but sinister conspiracy, meaning that she and Miss Froy are both in danger? Or, perhaps even worse, is Iris having a mental breakdown and imagining the whole thing? Either way, she's trapped in a nightmarish situation, and the book does an excellent job of heightening this tension. I also think the book's ending is better than the movie's; while the film ends with a dramatic shootout, the novel has a much more subtle conclusion. So I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who likes psychological thrillers, especially if you've seen or plan to see the movie! show less

The Lady Vanishes by Ethel Lina White was a stellar read. It kept me on the edge of my seat, anxious for the characters both to find out what was going on and also to emerge from this adventure safely. I have seen the 1938 Alfred Hitchcock film many years ago so I had a vague idea of what was going to happen but there were changes that Hitchcock made, including changing the name from “The Wheel Spins” to ‘The Lady Vanishes”.

Socialite Iris Carr is coming home from her holidays in a show more remote corner of Europe, travelling alone as she got into a quarrel with one of her friends over a man. Unfortunately she suffers from too much sun as she waits for the train to arrive. She barely makes the train but is soon taken under the wing of another English woman, who gets her to eat and rest. When Iris wakes up, her friend, Miss Froy has disappeared and none of the other passengers will admit to ever seeing her. In fact many suspect that Iris is suffering from delusion brought on by her sunstoke while others are avoiding the truth in order not to get involved. Iris remains isolated in her mission to find Miss Froy and the claustrophobic setting of an express train, her lack of language skills and overall sense of urgency adds to the pressure. By continuing to make inquiries, Iris has now put herself in danger as well.

It’s been awhile since a book has affected me as strongly as The Lady Vanishes did. The author did a fantastic job of setting the suspense and keeping up the tension. Of course there is a slight dated quality to the story by the inclusion of sinister foreign political elements and the strong message that it is only the English who are sensible, reliable and clever. Nevertheless, this is a classic mystery that continues to beguile it's readers today. show less