A TIGRESS IN THE VILLAGE

by Frank Swinnerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 18, 1959

Once again, as in The Woman from Sicily Frank Swinnerton has set his story in an East Anglian country town. And once again, the female of the species proves more deadly than the male. There is a haunting sense of a hidden crime which never quite comes to the surface, but Jerome Grace, whose disintegration was at the core of the earlier book, is here seen as a broken man, fearful and uncontrolled. His angers and frustrations are taken out on his family:- his lovely wife, Mary, whose honor he impugns; Raymond, the undersized, overweight son who fancies himself a modern artist; and the little visitor, Dulcie, whom he resents as a drag on a thinning purse. Jane, his own young daughter, and Philip, the personable older son, apprenticed to an architectural firm, escape his resentments. But new elements enter with the advent of the pretentious, domineering, newly rich Holsworths- and the mysterious woman on the prowl, Sonia, who has designs on young Philip. Just which woman is the ""tigress"" is relatively unimportant; it is the impact of the trio on the town and on the Graces that provides the catalyst. Somehow, the plot never reaches a full crisis, but the telling has its veneer of professional craftsmanship, and the backdrop of the village people and the particular feeling for their activities show Swinnerton at his most flavorful.

Pub Date: June 18, 1959

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1959

Categories: FICTION