Catherine Arley - Dead Man's Bay

[dem bones]

Catherine Arley - Dead Man's Bay (Tandem, 1970: originally Collins, 1959. Translated from the French by Jehanne-Marie Marchesi )

Blurb:
"Can be confidently recommended to those who enjoy this particular form of blood refrigeration" — Sunday Times
"As sharp as a broken bottle" — Daily Mail
"An agreeably horrible little tale" — Spectator

Two days alone in the cliff-top house, in the bleak isolation of the Breton coast. What could happen in only forty-eight hours to bring her to the brink of madness?
Small incidents; trivial - but so inexplicable.
Who had put the kettle to boil on the stove?
Why was the cuff-link on the floor?
How did the cat die so unaccountably, so grotesquely?
Was she responsible? Was she losing her memory, her reason?
Or was some human agency controlling this gradual crescendo of terror?

Ada has just been discharged from a nursing home after recuperating from an as yet unspecified nervous illness. Her husband of ten years, André, has been incredibly patient with her - he's even bought her a house in Brittany where she can enjoy a tranquil convalescence. Of course, André, being a successful businessman, will be away from her some of the time - how could he afford such a lovely present if he didn't work hard? - but he shall be with her while she settles in. This promise at least offers Ada some reassurance as she has a morbid fear of being left alone and is upset at the least little noise in the night unless she has her husband to protect her.

They arrive in November. The workmen have excelled in renovating the house to André's specific instructions and, as the nearest village is five miles away, Ada will get all the peace and quiet she needs. But - oh dear! - no sooner have they arrived than an urgent telegram recalls André to Paris to oversee that important transaction! Ada implores him to take her with him but he is adamant. "This is an excellent occasion for you to pull yourself together and show me what a brave girl you are. I want to leave with an easy mind, without having to worry over your childishness."

So Ada, realising how lucky she is to have such a caring, loving husband, assures him she'll be alright while he's away and composes herself to face her foolish terrors. Very soon it becomes apparent that plenty of them have been laid on for her along with the house!

The terror is heralded by five sharp beats on the wall in the night, so hard it makes them shudder. Then Ada finds a cat on her bed - how did it get there? - and, deciding to keep 'Mimi', she goes to pour her new companion a saucer of milk only to find someone has already done so! Dusting the house she finds a man's cufflink - and it's not one of André's! She mustn't believe she is going insane but, perhaps amnesia? That is, after all, a very minor form of madness. And then a young man appears at the door, a tramp from his appearance, requesting a drink of water. Against her better judgement, but not wishing to appear uncharitable, she fetches him a glass from the kitchen but slips a knife into the pocket of her housecoat to be on the safe side .....

58 (of 156) pages down and, wouldn't you say it's all sounding very Let's Scare Jessica to Death?

[andydecker]

So, what is she saying?

Oh my god, who put kitty in the washing machine and hung her out to dry?

If this is the best Victoria´s Secret had to offer I want my money back!

Those damn tequila sunrise! My head is killing me!

[dem bones]

That cover-shot is chillingly faithful to the scene in the novel in every detail ... bar one. Have a guess.

We have learned a little more about Ada. We already guessed that her marriage was a loveless travesty, that she only married André out of a sense of middle-class duty, but little could we suspect that so timid a creature would have a secret lover! It happened a year ago on her month-long holiday in San Tropez, (Andre's treat: he was otherwise engaged, as ever), and it is Francois's name she calls when, having returned from killing a day at the village teashop, she returns to find the cat swinging from a flex in the bathroom

In spite of her nausea, she wanted to touch the animal to make sure he was really dead. He began to spin as stiffly as a wooden sign.

The romance in San Tropez opened Ada's eyes to the fact that her marriage to André was a grey, loveless drudge and she was gearing up to ask for a divorce until he treated her to his views on adultery. "For me, darling, there would be no problem at all. If you betrayed me, I would begin by killing your lover."

That's why, one year ago, terrified for his safety, she broke it off with Francois, lying that she no longer loved him, triggering her serious nervous breakdown in the process.

Now, she realises, she must get away from this house, from André, and find the one man who can protect her .....

Ada packs a suitcase and writes a brief note to her husband, telling him she's leaving.

She heads for the front door, opens it and, there, stood before her ..

André's home!

André comes into his own in the final third of the book, cranking up the tension with his every poisonous pleasantry. It all builds to a satisfyingly gloomy conclusion although at one point the author - via André's chilling monologue - hints at a far grimmer alternative. Even so, Dead Man's Bay is a slick Gothic thriller with decent horrible bits, the translation isn't the least fussy and everything fair belts along.