THE POISON HEART

by Amanda Hemingway ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 1990

Twin sisters struggle against their individual tragic destinies in this turgid modern-day British saga from Hemingway (Bacchanal, 1988--not reviewed). Wealthy architect Rupert Van Leer's happiness was permanently destroyed the day his wife died giving birth to twins. He soon learned to sublimate his grief by lavishing his love upon Diana, the firstborn twin--whose blue eyes and red hair were, he claimed, identical to her mother's--and loathing Elspeth, who happened to have been born after her mother's death. As the girls grow up, Diana is adored by her father, showered with presents and sent off to public school, while Elspeth remains at home, utterly ignored and growing fat in a vain attempt to attract some parental attention. Matters change when Diana becomes engaged, is nearly raped by her insanely jealous father and dies (or perhaps commits suicide) shortly thereafter. Grieving over Diana's death, Elspeth becomes anorexic, has an affair with her father's business partner, and finally, when all else fails to change her uninspired life, undergoes a complete make-over in America and becomes a beauty overnight. Changing her name to Elsa, she returns to England in the hopes of winning her father's love, only to find that he has married Nicky, a young gold-digger who eerily resembles the dead Diana. Elsa's fury at being upstaged once again in her father's affections kicks into full-fledged derangement when Rupert dies of a stroke. Convinced that Nicky murdered him, Elsa lures her tough-minded young stepmother to a deserted house for a final confrontation. But it is Nicky who survives this final test of wills, while Elsa falls victim to her own obsessions. Neurotic and utterly miserable, Elsa makes an unsatisfying heroine for this unbridled melodrama--but the path to her ultimate destruction is littered with some fairly entertaining sideshows.

Pub Date: Sept. 7, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1990

Categories: FICTION