Desperate for money to repay a loan, Freddie, a gifted scientist, visits his family home in the hope of retrieving some valuable paintings, only to find his mother has sold them to a friend. He decides to steal one, is disturbed by a maid and brutally kills her with a hammer. Awaiting trial in prison, he writes this astonishing confession as a meditation on evil and guilt. The prose is Nabakovian - poetic, compelling and darkly comic. Unforgettable!
(Denise Lewis - bwl 110 Autumn 2023 ) |
