Uncle Paul

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I loathed the characters of Isabel and Mildred, the elder sisters of Meg, our narrator, who is calm, rational and stable in contrast to the silly-willy, dithering, blethering, can't ever decide on anything Isabel, 10 years senior to Meg, and then Mildred is stubborn, rich, spoilt, purposeless and worse, as the plot develops. I can understand perhaps, that Isabel and Mildred are stereotypes of house-wifey, no career, no degree, middle-class women, who probably got on Fremlin's nerves; but really where is this going? Mildred has recently left her second husband (again) and taken refuge in a rented cottage on the outskirts of Southcliffe. The issue, which immediately horrified Isabel but somehow entirely escaped Mildred, is that the cottage Mildred is renting is the same property in which she spent her honeymoon with her first husband, the eponymous Uncle Paul.

Having read, “The Hours Before Dawn,” Celia Fremlin’s debut, I was keen to read more by her. This, her second novel, was published in 1959 and how glad I am that I have discovered her. Definitely, Celia Fremlin is my discovery of the year and I am so pleased that her work has been reissued by Faber Finds. Celia Fremlin’s masterful approach to building atmosphere and tension is the standout element of Uncle Paul. She slowly ramps up the tension, introducing slightly off-kilter characters and somewhat peculiar situations to disorientate Meg as she reluctantly starts to agree with Mildred and then is forced to continuously second-guess her assumptions as events progress. Excellent book. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a Christie or a psychological slow burn thriller.I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. The cover looks like the front of an Enid Blyton Famous Five story. The blurb reads like Agatha Christie. The author is billed as ‘Britain’s Patricia Highsmith.’ Which os these was going to be closest to the reality of the book? Turns out, it was a thing all of its own. If you like Agatha Christie and/or Patricia Highsmith, you will enjoy this book very much. If you are looking for an Enid Blyton-esque read, maybe not so much! Well I loved this. I'd read a review saying it was old fashioned and dated but I didn't find it so at all, certainly no more so than any mid century Agatha Christie. There's maybe one or two references to women being hysterical or not being able to "hang onto" a man (rather than the man simply being a womanizer) but they are few and far between. In this one, Meg, who is the youngest but most sensible of three sisters is summoned to a seaside resort by Isobel, who is worried about their older sister Mildred. Years ago, Mildred was on honeymoon at the same resort with her husband, the eponymous Uncle Paul, when she discovered that he had attempted to murder his first wife. Mildred betrayed him to the police, and now he is due to be released and may be seeking revenge By coincidence, Mildred is staying in the same cottage they honeymooners in all those years ago. The tension managed to build almost imperceptibly as the characters go about their seaside holiday with trip to the beach, fairground and hotels, all the whole the sisters start to worry about the people they are spending time with, could one of them be Uncle Paul in disguise? Reading it, I had a growing sense of unease, and the ending took me completely by surprise.

Yes, that cover art totally caught my eye :O) That and the fact that Waterstone’s Books of the Month can sometimes have some lovely gems. That’s how I discovered The Enchanted April. In this Waterstones Thriller of the Month, as recommended on BBC Radio 4’s Open Book, one family’s skeletons emerge on a 1950s seaside summer holiday in this classic mystery from ‘Britain’s Patricia Highsmith’ and the ‘grandmother of psycho-domestic noir’ ( Sunday Times ) Meg learns to be more accepting of the perspective of others; to not dismiss the silliness of women, who don't have good vocabs and rational faculties. And, then, she falls prey to the most demeaning of horrors. One night at the cottage, she screams herself hoarse, calling for her sister's help, who is an arm's length away in the other bedroom. But, Meg's door has been bolted from the outside - and there is no response from Mildred. The exploration of family dynamics is another strength of Uncle Paul. Fremlin delves into the complexities of the relationships among the sisters and between them and their loved ones, exposing the underlying tensions and conflicts that often exist within families. The portrayal of the strained relations between Isabel and her new husband, as well as the uncertain bond between Meg and the Bertie Wooster-esque Freddy, add depth to the narrative and reinforce the notion that anyone could be harbouring secrets.

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There are some fantastically well-drawn observations, particularly around the child characters. There is Cedric the know-it-all, Peter who insists on everyone who goes up and down the caravan steps paying tribute to 'Sharkey' and Johnny, cheerily oblivious to the tension around him. Even the desperately unravelling Isabel is beautifully caught. As before, some of the dialogue and characters still feel eerily relevant. Still, there are other moments which prove that the past truly is another country where things are done differently. Once reunited with the nervous, jumpy, Isabel, Meg finds it is a worse situation than she imagined. Fifteen years ago, Mildred discovered that her husband, Meg and Isabel’s, ‘Uncle Paul,’ was not who he seemed and he went to prison. Now, Mildred is convinced that he is out and about to extract his revenge….

This has unexpectedly shot to one of my top ranking for the wonderful Celia Fremlin, an author seemingly being rediscovered thanks to Faber. The setting is slightly atypical as Fremlin usually specialises in suburban unease - here the families are just as dysfunctional but there is the added fun and hilarity of taking them out of their usual habitat and dumping them down at the seaside complete with 1950s inconveniences (the caravan door that won't open unless you hurl your body at it), unpredictable British weather (rain one minute, hot sunshine the next), sand in the sandwiches... and the hovering spectre of a potential murderer out from a prison sentence and seeking revenge. Aside from Meg being an engaging and relatable protagonist, the other characters in Uncle Paul are also vividly depicted. Fremlin displays a sharp eye for detail and sometimes brutal characterisation in populating the caravan park and hotel in Southcliffe with an eclectic group of people who seem highly likely to be found in a 1950s British seaside resort, particularly one that is playing host to a mystery. Still, as with many authors I like, even a so-so Fremlin is better than a lot of books. I didn't figure out who the culprit was, which was nice, but I also wasn't driven to keep reading as I was withe The Hours Before Dawn and The Jealous One, which is why it took me 2 months to read. Still, nice evocation of a seaside holiday, one much darker than R. C. Sherriff's lovely book, The Fortnight in September! I have been on a mission to read all of Fremlin's books. I liked this one, but it definitely wasn't her best. It was a bit slow and I didn't identify with any of the main characters in the way that I did in her other books. I found them all rather silly. Or maybe that's the wrong word. Their motivations and views on the world seemed immature and more naive than I expect from women that of that age and experience, even in that era. Whereas I find her main character's in other books more believable.

Celia Fremlin’s Uncle Paul is an engrossing, slow-burning psychological thriller that skilfully blends suspense, family dynamics and the infuriating complexities of human relationships. Originally published in 1959, its gripping narrative and insightful exploration of the psyche ensure that it remains surprising and impactful despite certain aspects of the story now appearing a tad dated. I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. First published in 1959, this is now in a nice retro Faber & Faber edition. It starts with sensible Meg receiving a message from older sister (and often overwrought), Isabel about a problem with their half-sister, Mildred. Meg joins them on holiday by the sea, where Mildred is staying in the cottage where she found out her husband, Paul, had tried to murder his first wife over fifteen years ago. With Paul possibly released from prison, could increasingly spooky happenings indicate his presence and increasing danger for the trio? Or is it just hysteria and paranoia?