The juniper tree - Hardcover

Comyns, Barbara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0413573001 ISBN 13: 9780413573001

Publisher: Methuen, 1985

Synopsis

In a novel that borrows from the Grimm fable of the same name, Gertrude, an older woman, becomes the friend of a lonely scarred girl named Bella.

About this title

About the Author

Barbara Comyns was born in 1909 and brought up in rural Warwickshire,where she began writing and illustrating stories at the age of ten. Heridiosyncratic novels have been described as like pictures painted on glass.She died in 1992.Margaret Drabble was born in Sheffield in1939 and educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she studiedEnglish Literature. She has published seventeen novels, most recently

From Library Journal

This haunting contemporary fable, first published in England, is in part a retelling of the Grimm folk tale that involves a stepmother who murders her stepson and serves his body for dinner. Comyns has fashioned this macabre material into a strangely involving modern Gothic romance. (It's a bit strong for Holt and Whitney fans.) The protagonist, Bella Winter, is a beautiful but physically and mentally scarred young woman who marries a wealthy, rather cold widower. He is obsessed by the memory of his first wife, overly attentive to their small son, and neglectful of Bella. As their marriage deteriorates, she experiences a mental breakdown, and blames herself for his son's accidental death. Comyns's characters are fascinating, and remind the reader of the wicked impulses in us all. Joyce Smothers, Ocean Cty. Lib., Toms River, N.J.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Methuen
• Publication date: 1985
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0413573001
• ISBN 13: 9780413573001
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 187