This, the third of three stories written by Ruth Rendell under the nom de plume Barbara Vine to be adapted for television by the BBC, starts with the hanging of Vera Hillyard for the murder of her younger sister Eden. Her guilt is not in doubt but the events that led up to her crime make for an interesting story.
We are introduced to the two sisters when their niece Faith goes to live at their house in rural Suffolk during the war. It quickly becomes apparent that the priggish Vera dotes on her younger sister; far more so than her own son who she seems to dislike. Vera wants another child and later gets pregnant although the time since her husband's last leave means nobody knows who the child's real father is. Meanwhile Eden is travelling around involved in war work. Sometime later Eden gets married to a wealthy man but after a miscarriage she can no longer have children; she does however provide a home to Vera's new son, Jamie, when she is unwell. Later she doesn't want to return him and everybody seems to think the boy would be better with her anyway leading to the inevitable tragedy.
Anybody who watched the previous two stories, 'A Fatal Inversion' and 'Gallowglass' is likely to have high expectations for this and I doubt they will be disappointed even though this is quite different; it is set decades ago and the characters are more sympathetic for a start. The story is told in a gradual way that raises more questions before the truths are finally revealed. The cast, which features many well-known actors in fairly early roles, does a great job. Most notable is Celia Imrie's performance as the doomed Vera; she portrays her characters anguish in a believable way that makes the character sympathetic despite the fact that we know she will commit murder. Other fine performances come from a young Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Faith, Sophie Ward who plays Aunt Eden; Steven Mackintosh, who is suitably unpleasant as Vera's older son Francis, and a young Honeysuckle Weeks who plays Faith when she was a bit younger. Overall I'd definitely recommend this.
We are introduced to the two sisters when their niece Faith goes to live at their house in rural Suffolk during the war. It quickly becomes apparent that the priggish Vera dotes on her younger sister; far more so than her own son who she seems to dislike. Vera wants another child and later gets pregnant although the time since her husband's last leave means nobody knows who the child's real father is. Meanwhile Eden is travelling around involved in war work. Sometime later Eden gets married to a wealthy man but after a miscarriage she can no longer have children; she does however provide a home to Vera's new son, Jamie, when she is unwell. Later she doesn't want to return him and everybody seems to think the boy would be better with her anyway leading to the inevitable tragedy.
Anybody who watched the previous two stories, 'A Fatal Inversion' and 'Gallowglass' is likely to have high expectations for this and I doubt they will be disappointed even though this is quite different; it is set decades ago and the characters are more sympathetic for a start. The story is told in a gradual way that raises more questions before the truths are finally revealed. The cast, which features many well-known actors in fairly early roles, does a great job. Most notable is Celia Imrie's performance as the doomed Vera; she portrays her characters anguish in a believable way that makes the character sympathetic despite the fact that we know she will commit murder. Other fine performances come from a young Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Faith, Sophie Ward who plays Aunt Eden; Steven Mackintosh, who is suitably unpleasant as Vera's older son Francis, and a young Honeysuckle Weeks who plays Faith when she was a bit younger. Overall I'd definitely recommend this.