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Die Unausweichlichkeit weiblichen Seins
Inis has run away from her husband and children. Her new neighbour Trixie is eighty-four years old and a hymn-singing Salvation Army veteran. Trixie's life is one of apparent calm but beneath the surface lie not one but three different personalities. One of them is very private. And very dangerous.
- GenresFiction
372 pages, Hardcover
First published March 21, 1996
About the author
Lesley Glaister
41 books401 followersNovelist Lesley Glaister was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. She grew up in Suffolk, moving to Sheffield with her first husband, where she took a degree with the Open University. She was 'discovered' by the novelist Hilary Mantel when she attended a course given by the Arvon Foundation in 1989. Mantel was so impressed by her writing that she recommended her to her own literary agent.
Lesley Glaister's first novel, Honour Thy Father (1990), won both a Somerset Maugham Award and a Betty Trask Award. Her other novels include Trick or Treat (1991), Limestone and Clay (1993), for which she was awarded the Yorkshire Post Book Award (Yorkshire Author of the Year), Partial Eclipse (1994) and The Private Parts of Women (1996), Now You See Me (2001), the story of the unlikely relationship between Lamb, a former patient in a psychiatric ward, and Doggo, a fugitive on the run from the police, As Far as You Can Go (2004), a psychological drama, in which a young couple, Graham and Cassie, travel to a remote part of Australia to take up a caretaking job, only to be drawn into the dark secrets of their mysterious employers. Nina Todd Has Gone (2007) was another complex psychological thriller. Chosen, a dark and suspenseful book about a woman trying to rescue her brother from a cult, was followed by Little Egypt in 2014. This novel - set in the 20's in Northern England and Egypt, won a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award. Her next novel, The Squeeze, published 2017, centres on a relationship between a teenage Romanian sex-worker - a victim of trafficking - and a law-abiding, family man from Oslo. It's an unusual and (of course, twisted!) love story. Because not all love is romantic. In 2020 Blasted Things was published. This one is set just after World War 1 and is about the warping after-effects of a global war on society and on individuals. The two main characters, Clementine and Vincent, both damaged in different ways, must find their way in the post-war period. For them this results in a most peculiar kind of relationship and one that can only end in distaster.
Lesley Glaister lives with her husband in Edinburgh with frequent sojourns in Orkney. She has three sons and teaches Creative Writing at the University or St Andrews. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Lesley Glaister's first novel, Honour Thy Father (1990), won both a Somerset Maugham Award and a Betty Trask Award. Her other novels include Trick or Treat (1991), Limestone and Clay (1993), for which she was awarded the Yorkshire Post Book Award (Yorkshire Author of the Year), Partial Eclipse (1994) and The Private Parts of Women (1996), Now You See Me (2001), the story of the unlikely relationship between Lamb, a former patient in a psychiatric ward, and Doggo, a fugitive on the run from the police, As Far as You Can Go (2004), a psychological drama, in which a young couple, Graham and Cassie, travel to a remote part of Australia to take up a caretaking job, only to be drawn into the dark secrets of their mysterious employers. Nina Todd Has Gone (2007) was another complex psychological thriller. Chosen, a dark and suspenseful book about a woman trying to rescue her brother from a cult, was followed by Little Egypt in 2014. This novel - set in the 20's in Northern England and Egypt, won a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award. Her next novel, The Squeeze, published 2017, centres on a relationship between a teenage Romanian sex-worker - a victim of trafficking - and a law-abiding, family man from Oslo. It's an unusual and (of course, twisted!) love story. Because not all love is romantic. In 2020 Blasted Things was published. This one is set just after World War 1 and is about the warping after-effects of a global war on society and on individuals. The two main characters, Clementine and Vincent, both damaged in different ways, must find their way in the post-war period. For them this results in a most peculiar kind of relationship and one that can only end in distaster.
Lesley Glaister lives with her husband in Edinburgh with frequent sojourns in Orkney. She has three sons and teaches Creative Writing at the University or St Andrews. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 1, 2011
From the back cover;
Inis has run away from her husband and children.
Her new neighbour, Trixie, is eight four years old and a hymn singing Salvation Army veteran. Trixie’s life is one of apparent calm but beneath the surface lie not one but three different personalities.
One of them is very private and very dangerous.
Never having heard of the author, I picked this book up from a second hand bookshop on the basis of that blurb which threw a little chill down my spine!
***
Having had all that excitement in the bookshop :) I was convinced that the book would be a let down! But in fact it was a good, distracting read (when I desperately needed a good, distracting read). I found it especially interesting to compare this book with K-PAX, which is also about multiple personality disorder (or is it?!) but a completely different style.
…But what do I do?
Go two hunded miles. Rent a dreary little house in a dreary post-industrial city. Keep on doing what I do. Photographs. Scald the edges of my mind where it tries to bleed into the past. Suffer. Play safe. Even in my flight, my grand gesture, my great escape. I play it safe. I do it the English, female way, the little hen way. I am no eagle, I am a scared brown hen pecking and pecking. I am little and pathetic and hindered by edges.
I will definitely look out for more Glaister on the basis of this book.
Inis has run away from her husband and children.
Her new neighbour, Trixie, is eight four years old and a hymn singing Salvation Army veteran. Trixie’s life is one of apparent calm but beneath the surface lie not one but three different personalities.
One of them is very private and very dangerous.
Never having heard of the author, I picked this book up from a second hand bookshop on the basis of that blurb which threw a little chill down my spine!
***
Having had all that excitement in the bookshop :) I was convinced that the book would be a let down! But in fact it was a good, distracting read (when I desperately needed a good, distracting read). I found it especially interesting to compare this book with K-PAX, which is also about multiple personality disorder (or is it?!) but a completely different style.
…But what do I do?
Go two hunded miles. Rent a dreary little house in a dreary post-industrial city. Keep on doing what I do. Photographs. Scald the edges of my mind where it tries to bleed into the past. Suffer. Play safe. Even in my flight, my grand gesture, my great escape. I play it safe. I do it the English, female way, the little hen way. I am no eagle, I am a scared brown hen pecking and pecking. I am little and pathetic and hindered by edges.
I will definitely look out for more Glaister on the basis of this book.
February 7, 2021
I did feel drawn into this story, but I didn't feel like Inis' character was someone I could relate to or feel empathy for. Trixie's story was more interesting, which I think was the point, perhaps Inis' dull and insipid life was meant to be a contrast. Some of the writing style in parts didn't appeal to me, namely the way in which the author portrayed confusion, but that's just a personal preference. I did like the last few chapters, but I would have liked more of a thrill maybe?
July 26, 2020
A very unsettling read. Lesley Glaister keeps you guessing all the way through. The two main characters, Trixie an older woman with multiple personalities, could be harmless or dangerous. Inis, the runaway young mother, who suffers from post natal depression has a frightening episode, which probably rebalances her in that she begins to miss her children and home. Hopefully she made it there!!!
May 31, 2024
Very unsettling quite suspenseful
April 29, 2014
I really enjoyed this book, a real pager turner. It's probably my favourite genre, what I term psychological thriller. It's about two / three women Inis and Trixi and their relationship. One is an overwhelmed mother of two who needs a break, though you're not sure where she's going and her neighbour, Trixi, who has an interesting back story and an unexpected alter ego. The book is well written and paces to a good climax. I'm glad it didn't over do the climax and in some ways is was believable. I definitely related to Inis and her need for solitude, and a bit of time to redefine herself. Well written entertainment.
June 10, 2008
A fascinating insight into unusual characters. I loved reading about such extreme personalities and it had me hooked!
June 11, 2013
I didn't like it. It was, undoubtedly well-written, Inis as a character was believable, someone I could empathise with, but the rest? No. Not my sort of thing at all. Sorry.
Want to Read
June 9, 2016good
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews