Bitter Orange
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3.9 • 24 Ratings
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- £6.99
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
FROM THE WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR OF UNSETTLED GROUND
'A compulsive page-turner. Fuller creates an atmosphere of simmering menace with all the assurance of a latter-day Daphne du Maurier' The Times
Frances Jellico is dying.
A man who calls himself the vicar visits, hoping to extract a deathbed confession. He wants to know what really happened that fateful summer of 1969, when Frances - tasked with surveying a dilapidated country house - first set eyes on the glamorous bohemian couple, Cara and Peter. She recalls the relationship they forged through sweltering days, lavish dinners and elaborate lies, and the Judas hole through which she would spy on the couple.
Were the signs there right from the beginning?
Or was it impossible to avoid the crime that split their lives open like rotten fruit?
***
'Bewitching, otherworldly . . . full of dark foreboding. Claire Fuller is a dazzling storyteller' Scotsman
'An atmospheric page-turner that speeds us towards a bloody climax of shocks and surprises' Irish Times
'Sinister and suspenseful, this gothic novel simmers with guilt, lust and envy' Mail on Sunday
'Multi-layered, lush, twisty and brilliantly clever' Sunday Mirror
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fuller's brooding latest (after Swimming Lessons) is set in one of those decaying British mansions tailor-made for a story of dysfunctional relationships. In the summer of 1969, socially awkward and anxious Frances Jellico is 39 and has been hired by an American who just bought a crumbling estate in the British countryside to survey the landscape and buildings on it. Making herself at home in a decrepit attic room, she is surprised to discover a young couple there, living in the rooms below hers, and can't resist spying on them through a peephole that conveniently links her bathroom to theirs. Peter, handsome and welcoming, has been hired to survey the contents of the manor, though he spends more time drinking up the contents of its wine cellar. Cara, Irish and pretentious, tells Frances long, implausible stories of her life, which the credulous Frances soaks up. Frances falls in love with Peter and believes he reciprocates her feelings while ignoring the more suitable vicar of the local church. Cannily releasing clues on the way to an explosive finale, Fuller moves fluidly between the time of the story and a period 20 years later, when Frances is lying in a hospital and close to death. The lush setting and remarkable characters make for an immersive mystery.
Customer Reviews
Bitter to the core
So atmospheric that the air is like soup. A place lost in time, where reality doesn’t exist, and responsibility is un heard of to the three characters.
The twist at the end was unexpected.
A reminder that there are always several versions of the truth.
The house and hot weather are clearly frameworks for this book that are imperative. It would not have worked without the heady hot stifling summer and the mysterious house full of secrets.
It’s a hard book to label. A mystery, a thriller, some paranormal activity , even a love story. And at the end of it all it’s a book that really makes you think. Isn’t that he sign or a great book? Say no more…