The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin, hailed as a lost masterpiece and winner of the 1960 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel, has been republished in a new edition. It's extremely well written with claustrophobic tension throughout, but for me it lacked the punch I was looking for. When it was published in 1958 - a time when women were expected to raise perfect children in a perfect standard family the neighbours could approve of - the fears would perhaps be more relevant and deeply felt.
Louise would give anything for a good night's sleep. With her girls running around the garden bothering the neighbours, and an oblivious husband, she now has newborn Michael who Will. Not. Stop. Crying. She has to listen as the other mother's praise their children, and placate neighbours who hear Michael screaming as she stays up each night in the kitchen. What is she doing wrong, and where can she turn for help? For extra money they have rented out a top room to a lodger, a nice lady who teaches history. Oddly, she seems familiar. Soon Louise discovers she is snooping through the house, and her children have snooped on the lodger, calling her a spy after reading her cryptic notebook. Belatedly looking into her past, Louise discovers a similar pattern with her previous landlords, who also found the lodger oddly familiar. Who is this woman and why does she make a show of leaving for work, when she is actually sitting quietly in her room, watching the children play outside? Perhaps it is all just hysteria from lack of sleep, but then again....
Fremlin mixes mystery with the psychological trauma of being a new mother, feeling helpless with no support. The other mothers claim their children are gems whom everyone loves to be around, no trouble at all, and even her husband sees the baby as her problem, as roles in the late 50's dictated. When the mystery is solved, it has less of an impact than the previous 200 pages of tension, being trapped with Louise all this time. The nightmare is of being overwhelmed, plus there is the cleaning and the meals to prepare. Very well written, but a slow and quiet mystery reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith - which seems secondary to Louise's other problems.
1975 / Tradeback / 139 pages
Σχόλια