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I really disliked the main character in this one, so massive shout out to C.S Forester for getting a visceral reaction from me! I felt this could have easily tipped into the horror genre with the suffocating atmosphere, unescapable fate, circles of influence getting smaller and smaller, dark domestic vibes and the inability to forget a crime committed in greed. I felt so bad for Annie Marble � what a desolate life, trapped in an abusive relationship with no lifeline to the outside world � other than her children who have their own focus � "� it was one thing to decide to make oneself agreeable to one’s wife, and quite another to carry it out." (p156) We learn early on that Mr Marble doesn’t quite have all the sandwiches required for a picnic & tends towards the morose � "He supposed it would end like the cases one read about in the paper, with his children’s throats cut and himself and his wife dead of gas-poisoning." (p5) He does have moments of self-awareness � ‘� there came moments when he saw himself in his true colours, as the cornered rat he was, struggling with the courage of desperation against the fate that would inevitably close upon him sooner or later." (p116). The ending seemed quite abrupt but did provide some nice closure. Would read more of Forester’s work, and this was another tick in the 'win' column for the Penguin vintage crime series.
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