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The Albatross
Vintage paperback
Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
About the author
Charlotte Armstrong
160 books79 followersFull name Charlotte Armstrong Lewi. Wrote 29 novels, plus short stories and plays under the name Charlotte Armstrong and Jo Valentine. Additional writing jobs: New York Times (advertising department), Breath of the Avenue (fashion reporter).
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 13, 2021
Noir doméstico por excelencia, escrito en 1957, que conserva aún toda la atmósfera y la intriga psicológica que hacen que sea una lectura apasionante.
La autora, Charlotte Armstrong, no es muy conocida hoy en día, pero en su momento fue una autora de oficio que escribió numerosas novelas y cuentos, algunos de los cuales fueron adaptados al teatro o al cine.
Una pareja joven e inocente se ven implicados en un incidente que acaba con la muerte de un hombre. Como se sienten culpables, acogen en su casa a la viuda y a su hermana, que resultan ser unas huéspedes muy intrigantes. Esther, la protagonista, va sintiendo una animadversión creciente contra las dos hermanas, mientras que Tom, su marido, se siente agobiado por la culpabilidad.
Es una intriga muy bien llevada, con diálogos ágiles, que quizá resulta un poco anticlimática al final, pero que tiene momentos domésticos de tensión impagables. Audrey, la viuda pasivo-agresiva es un personaje memorable, como también lo es Joan, su hermana discapacitada, que parece que ya estoy viendo la cara de Joan Crawford!!! Me ha traído ecos de Hitchcock, con sus dramas domesticos, de películas como ‘Luz de gas’ y también de obras de gótico sureño como ‘Qué fue de Baby Jane?’.
Lástima que no esté traducida al español, yo la he leído en inglés.
La autora, Charlotte Armstrong, no es muy conocida hoy en día, pero en su momento fue una autora de oficio que escribió numerosas novelas y cuentos, algunos de los cuales fueron adaptados al teatro o al cine.
Una pareja joven e inocente se ven implicados en un incidente que acaba con la muerte de un hombre. Como se sienten culpables, acogen en su casa a la viuda y a su hermana, que resultan ser unas huéspedes muy intrigantes. Esther, la protagonista, va sintiendo una animadversión creciente contra las dos hermanas, mientras que Tom, su marido, se siente agobiado por la culpabilidad.
Es una intriga muy bien llevada, con diálogos ágiles, que quizá resulta un poco anticlimática al final, pero que tiene momentos domésticos de tensión impagables. Audrey, la viuda pasivo-agresiva es un personaje memorable, como también lo es Joan, su hermana discapacitada, que parece que ya estoy viendo la cara de Joan Crawford!!! Me ha traído ecos de Hitchcock, con sus dramas domesticos, de películas como ‘Luz de gas’ y también de obras de gótico sureño como ‘Qué fue de Baby Jane?’.
Lástima que no esté traducida al español, yo la he leído en inglés.
February 23, 2017
Tom and Esther are staying in a motel the night before they return home. Esther naps while Tom runs back out to get something out of their car. Esther awakes to see a strange man in her room. Tom walks in and immediately takes down the stranger with a blow to the head. The stranger turns out to be drunk and somehow wandered into the wrong room. Exchanging business cards and apologies, all is forgiven.
Several days later, Esther is reading the paper and see where the poor man has dropped dead of an apparent head injury. Left behind is his wife, Audrey, and her disabled sister, Joan. Overcome with guilt, Tom and Esther decide to visit them and seeing how poorly off they are immediately ask them to move in with them until they can find a better place to live.
The temporary stay becomes permanent as Audrey never seems to be able to find anything suitable. Esther is relegated to cook and maid, while it is Esther who greets Tom after his day of work, discusses the day with Tom. And Joan is just a hateful spiteful house guest.
Esther is becoming more suspicious of them as each day goes by. There are whispers ... seemingly small accidents ... and Audrey seems to have designs on Tom.
All in Esther's mind ... jealousy, perhaps? Tom can't see anything beyond his guilt over killing Audrey's husband. But should he be feeling guilty? Esther is seeking the truth ... but will it cost her or Tom their lives?
Excellent suspenseful mystery! It's a short, easy read (100 pages) packed with multi-layered characters.
Many thanks to Open Road Integrated Media / Netgalley for the digital copy of this engaging book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Several days later, Esther is reading the paper and see where the poor man has dropped dead of an apparent head injury. Left behind is his wife, Audrey, and her disabled sister, Joan. Overcome with guilt, Tom and Esther decide to visit them and seeing how poorly off they are immediately ask them to move in with them until they can find a better place to live.
The temporary stay becomes permanent as Audrey never seems to be able to find anything suitable. Esther is relegated to cook and maid, while it is Esther who greets Tom after his day of work, discusses the day with Tom. And Joan is just a hateful spiteful house guest.
Esther is becoming more suspicious of them as each day goes by. There are whispers ... seemingly small accidents ... and Audrey seems to have designs on Tom.
All in Esther's mind ... jealousy, perhaps? Tom can't see anything beyond his guilt over killing Audrey's husband. But should he be feeling guilty? Esther is seeking the truth ... but will it cost her or Tom their lives?
Excellent suspenseful mystery! It's a short, easy read (100 pages) packed with multi-layered characters.
Many thanks to Open Road Integrated Media / Netgalley for the digital copy of this engaging book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
May 11, 2023
01/2019
From 1957. I found this novel incredibly good. It has real, spectacular, suspense. Much like her Mischief, which is from the earlier 1950s, there are no guns. Also, like that, the hero and the bad guy are both women (or girls, like the psychotic babysitter in Mischief). Everything revolves around female life. Jealousy, paranoia, seductiveness, even clothes and food. Anyway, I loved this. ... This nice cover GR shows here is a good illustration of the novel's atmosphere and feeling, but appears to imply with fashion that the setting is the 19th century. It is not. The book clearly takes place in the 1950s. There are lots of cars.
From 1957. I found this novel incredibly good. It has real, spectacular, suspense. Much like her Mischief, which is from the earlier 1950s, there are no guns. Also, like that, the hero and the bad guy are both women (or girls, like the psychotic babysitter in Mischief). Everything revolves around female life. Jealousy, paranoia, seductiveness, even clothes and food. Anyway, I loved this. ... This nice cover GR shows here is a good illustration of the novel's atmosphere and feeling, but appears to imply with fashion that the setting is the 19th century. It is not. The book clearly takes place in the 1950s. There are lots of cars.
December 6, 2020
Tom y Esther Gardner un matrimonio jóven que vuelve de un viaje, hacen noche en un motel de carretera antes de regresar a casa. Mientras Esther se queda dormida en la habitación y Tom sale al coche a recoger algo que se le había olvidado, Esther se despierta sobresalta ante la presencia de un desconocido en la habitación. Ante el grito de ella, Tom regresa y le propina un golpe en la cabeza al intruso, un golpe que le deja inconsciente. Cuando el intruso despierta resulta que había estado borracho y había confundido su habitación con la de los Gardner. El malentendido queda aclarado hasta que dias después, cuando están ya perfectamente instalados en su casa, descubren por una noticia en el periódico que el desconocido de aquella noche había muerto repentinamente poco después
Y es justo en este punto cuando comienza de verdad la historia porque reconcomidos por la culpa, creen que la muerte del intruso, Courtney Caldwell, está directamente relacionada con el golpe que le propinó en la cabeza Tom aquella noche. Los Gardner tratan de aliviar su conciencia visitando a la viuda del fallecido, Audrey y a su hermana, inválida en una silla de ruedas. Ambas habían estado a cargo de Courtney Caldwell y quedan completamente desamparadas. Los Gardner las acogen en su casa hasta que se haya estabilizado su situación económica y hayan encontrado un apartamento donde establecerse.
Admito que esta historia me enganchó desde el minuto cero,; el estilo de Charlotte Armstrong es claro y directo y es justo cuando los Gardner se llevan a Audrey y a su hermana Joan a su casa, cuando comienza un cierto desasosiego y a elaborarse una inquietud que conoceremos a través de la voz narrativa de Esther Gardner, que comienza a dudar poco a poco de las buenas intenciones de sus huéspedes. La estancia, a priori temporal de Audrey y Joan, se va alargando hasta meses después y los nervios de Esther comienzan a jugarle malas pasadas,, ya que la apacible e independiente vida que llevaba junto a su marido ya no es tal. Esther ve su esfera familiar amenazada y su papel cada vez más convertido en el de mera cocinera y doncella de las huéspedes, y poco a poco comienza a imaginar que Audrey quiere usurpar su papel como dueña de la casa.
Esta es una novela ante todo psicológica, por eso me recuerda muchísimo al estilo de Patricia Highsmith porque estamos todo el rato en la mente de Esther, en un ambiente doméstico, y llegado un punto y aunque estemos de parte de ella, el lector puede llegar a sospechar quizás que se lo esté inventando y que solo sean los celos obsesivos los que hablen por ella. La suave dulzura y feminidad de Audrey y la apariencia de la que nunca ha roto un plato, continuamente apoyada en figuras masculinas, está claramente contrapuesta a la de Esther, que es una mujer fuerte y decidida, una dicotomia que Charlotte Armstrong explora magníficamente: el de la mujer objeto y aparentemente pasiva frente a la mujer activa que tiene que explorar sola, sin la ayuda de nadie, la locura en la que está inmersa. Es ese juego mental lo que me enganchó de esta novela de apenas cien páginas: ¿son los celos de Esther los que le están haciendo jugar malas pasadas? ¿es su inseguridad lo que la hace odiar a sus huéspedes??
Y por otro lado tenemos también al personaje de Tom Gardner, porque debido a su conciencia de culpa es incapaz de ver nada a excepción del hecho de que cree haber matado un hombre, y es lo que le hace un hombre esclavo de toda una situación, su culpabilidad le hace no cuestionarse nada.
El titulo de la novela es una alusión al poema de Coleridge “El Albatros”. En el poema, un albatros comienza a seguir un barco (si te sigue un albatros se considera un signo de buena suerte). Sin embargo, el marinero titular pega en un tiro al albatros un acción que presagiará una desgracia futura. El marinero siente como si el albatros se agarrara a su cuello metafóricamente, una carga pesadísima que simboliza su culpabilidad por matar al ave. Desde el momento en que las huéspedes llegan a su casa, Esther recurre a esa imagen del albatros colgado del cuello de su marido una y otra vez, convirtiendo su vida familiar en una pesadilla.
Es una novela corta que me ha encantado porque Charlotte Armstrong construye toda una atmósfera en torno a unos pocos personajes, a un ambiente doméstico opresivo y cada vez más claustrofóbico y llegado un punto describe perfectamente como tu propio hogar se puede llegar a convertir en un lugar odiado y de pesadilla. Sus personajes están construidos con matices, con recovecos nada previsibles y con una ambigüedad a veces de lo más fascinante. Charlotte Armstrong forma parte de esa ristra de escritoras populares en su momento pero ahora casi olvidadas como Vera Caspary, Margaret Millar o Dorothy B. Hughes, que exploraban la novela negra como excusa para contarnos temas que hoy en día son mas actuales que nunca. He leido algunos cuentos de Charlotte Armstrong y después de leer “El Albatros” está clarísimo que sus personajes femeninos son todo menos mujeres pasivas, llegado un punto y para llegar a su objetivo incluso se atrevían a invadir el terreno que solo le estaba vedado al hombre, no olvidemos que esta novela es de 1957. Magnífica.
Y es justo en este punto cuando comienza de verdad la historia porque reconcomidos por la culpa, creen que la muerte del intruso, Courtney Caldwell, está directamente relacionada con el golpe que le propinó en la cabeza Tom aquella noche. Los Gardner tratan de aliviar su conciencia visitando a la viuda del fallecido, Audrey y a su hermana, inválida en una silla de ruedas. Ambas habían estado a cargo de Courtney Caldwell y quedan completamente desamparadas. Los Gardner las acogen en su casa hasta que se haya estabilizado su situación económica y hayan encontrado un apartamento donde establecerse.
Admito que esta historia me enganchó desde el minuto cero,; el estilo de Charlotte Armstrong es claro y directo y es justo cuando los Gardner se llevan a Audrey y a su hermana Joan a su casa, cuando comienza un cierto desasosiego y a elaborarse una inquietud que conoceremos a través de la voz narrativa de Esther Gardner, que comienza a dudar poco a poco de las buenas intenciones de sus huéspedes. La estancia, a priori temporal de Audrey y Joan, se va alargando hasta meses después y los nervios de Esther comienzan a jugarle malas pasadas,, ya que la apacible e independiente vida que llevaba junto a su marido ya no es tal. Esther ve su esfera familiar amenazada y su papel cada vez más convertido en el de mera cocinera y doncella de las huéspedes, y poco a poco comienza a imaginar que Audrey quiere usurpar su papel como dueña de la casa.
Esta es una novela ante todo psicológica, por eso me recuerda muchísimo al estilo de Patricia Highsmith porque estamos todo el rato en la mente de Esther, en un ambiente doméstico, y llegado un punto y aunque estemos de parte de ella, el lector puede llegar a sospechar quizás que se lo esté inventando y que solo sean los celos obsesivos los que hablen por ella. La suave dulzura y feminidad de Audrey y la apariencia de la que nunca ha roto un plato, continuamente apoyada en figuras masculinas, está claramente contrapuesta a la de Esther, que es una mujer fuerte y decidida, una dicotomia que Charlotte Armstrong explora magníficamente: el de la mujer objeto y aparentemente pasiva frente a la mujer activa que tiene que explorar sola, sin la ayuda de nadie, la locura en la que está inmersa. Es ese juego mental lo que me enganchó de esta novela de apenas cien páginas: ¿son los celos de Esther los que le están haciendo jugar malas pasadas? ¿es su inseguridad lo que la hace odiar a sus huéspedes??
Y por otro lado tenemos también al personaje de Tom Gardner, porque debido a su conciencia de culpa es incapaz de ver nada a excepción del hecho de que cree haber matado un hombre, y es lo que le hace un hombre esclavo de toda una situación, su culpabilidad le hace no cuestionarse nada.
El titulo de la novela es una alusión al poema de Coleridge “El Albatros”. En el poema, un albatros comienza a seguir un barco (si te sigue un albatros se considera un signo de buena suerte). Sin embargo, el marinero titular pega en un tiro al albatros un acción que presagiará una desgracia futura. El marinero siente como si el albatros se agarrara a su cuello metafóricamente, una carga pesadísima que simboliza su culpabilidad por matar al ave. Desde el momento en que las huéspedes llegan a su casa, Esther recurre a esa imagen del albatros colgado del cuello de su marido una y otra vez, convirtiendo su vida familiar en una pesadilla.
Es una novela corta que me ha encantado porque Charlotte Armstrong construye toda una atmósfera en torno a unos pocos personajes, a un ambiente doméstico opresivo y cada vez más claustrofóbico y llegado un punto describe perfectamente como tu propio hogar se puede llegar a convertir en un lugar odiado y de pesadilla. Sus personajes están construidos con matices, con recovecos nada previsibles y con una ambigüedad a veces de lo más fascinante. Charlotte Armstrong forma parte de esa ristra de escritoras populares en su momento pero ahora casi olvidadas como Vera Caspary, Margaret Millar o Dorothy B. Hughes, que exploraban la novela negra como excusa para contarnos temas que hoy en día son mas actuales que nunca. He leido algunos cuentos de Charlotte Armstrong y después de leer “El Albatros” está clarísimo que sus personajes femeninos son todo menos mujeres pasivas, llegado un punto y para llegar a su objetivo incluso se atrevían a invadir el terreno que solo le estaba vedado al hombre, no olvidemos que esta novela es de 1957. Magnífica.
February 19, 2017
I didn't realise this was a re-release of an older book published in the 1950s when I requested it. I wasn't sure if I'd be a fan, but happily it has stood the test of time. (Though I do wish I could find an apartment for 90 dollars a month in 2017.) It's very slow moving and atmospheric. Very original and well written story, I really enjoyed it. I do hope they'll add the new cover to Good Reads, as I really prefer it over the old-fashioned one.
Esther is napping in a hotel while her husband Tom goes to the car to fetch something. She wakes up to a strange man standing by her bed. It's not Tom. Understandably, she screams. And also understandably, Tom rushes back to the room and knocks the man over the head. The man seemed to have no malice. He was drunk and simply walked into the wrong room. He's very apologetic. They think that's the end of it... a bit of a scare, but the man is fine and Esther is fine, so all is well.
The man then drops dead a few days later from a head injury. Tom feels horribly guilty, and feels he must go to the family and take responsibility. The poor man has left behind a wife and her wheelchair-bound sister, Joan. Widow Audrey is unexpectedly gracious and forgiving. Tom and Esther are struck with how calm and understanding she is. When it comes to light that Audrey and Joan must move and find a new place, the couple decides to allow them to stay in their own home for a brief time... but it ends up not being so brief, and Esther begins to feel like something is wrong... like they're keeping secrets. Like Audrey isn't as kind and sweet as she seems. Perhaps Joan is dangerous... Will they ever leave?
I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Open Road Integrated Media, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.
Esther is napping in a hotel while her husband Tom goes to the car to fetch something. She wakes up to a strange man standing by her bed. It's not Tom. Understandably, she screams. And also understandably, Tom rushes back to the room and knocks the man over the head. The man seemed to have no malice. He was drunk and simply walked into the wrong room. He's very apologetic. They think that's the end of it... a bit of a scare, but the man is fine and Esther is fine, so all is well.
The man then drops dead a few days later from a head injury. Tom feels horribly guilty, and feels he must go to the family and take responsibility. The poor man has left behind a wife and her wheelchair-bound sister, Joan. Widow Audrey is unexpectedly gracious and forgiving. Tom and Esther are struck with how calm and understanding she is. When it comes to light that Audrey and Joan must move and find a new place, the couple decides to allow them to stay in their own home for a brief time... but it ends up not being so brief, and Esther begins to feel like something is wrong... like they're keeping secrets. Like Audrey isn't as kind and sweet as she seems. Perhaps Joan is dangerous... Will they ever leave?
I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Open Road Integrated Media, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.
June 20, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK/Short 178 (of 250)
Among this book of assorted stories by Charlotte Armstrong, I ran across "Meredith's Murder" in Otto Penzler's "Big Book of Female Detectives" (2018) and then located it here on goodreads in "The Albatross" collection by Armstrong.
HOOK - 4>>>The man named Russell, who happened to be a lawyer, sat full in the light of a solitary lamp...A man named John Selby, a merchant in the small city, was seated in a low chair...The Chief of Police was seated in half shadow...Doctor Coles loomed against the wall...Doctor, Lawyer, Merchant, Chief...<<<
A child's nursery rhyme fits perfectly in this story, as the child Meredith remembers a murder. It's clever, but not just that: it works.
PACE - 3: The subject is just right for a novella.
PLOT - 3: A man is shot. A young girl keeps a diary, but was she too young to actually take reliable notes from a tree house in which she was spending the night? She herself admits to a lack of full detail as to the murdered man and another person's activities. But here semi-truths in 2 separate versions pull things together in a very clever way.
CAST - 2: You might remember Meredith, but only because of the title. And we never meet the murdered man...or the murderer...
ATMOSPHERE - 2: Nothing much except a tree house, which could be anywhere.
SUMMARY: 2.8 average of my five elements: good plot with a great hook. Armstrong won an Edgar for (to me) the sub par "Dram of Poison" but she really shows her ability to slip a few facts among a slew of red herrings to demonstrate her ability at writing a crime/murder story. The solution is so very obvious that you might feel like kicking yourself for not seeing it. A fun read and better that "Dram of Poison". Some authors excel at selecting just the right format for their work.
BOOK/Short 178 (of 250)
Among this book of assorted stories by Charlotte Armstrong, I ran across "Meredith's Murder" in Otto Penzler's "Big Book of Female Detectives" (2018) and then located it here on goodreads in "The Albatross" collection by Armstrong.
HOOK - 4>>>The man named Russell, who happened to be a lawyer, sat full in the light of a solitary lamp...A man named John Selby, a merchant in the small city, was seated in a low chair...The Chief of Police was seated in half shadow...Doctor Coles loomed against the wall...Doctor, Lawyer, Merchant, Chief...<<<
A child's nursery rhyme fits perfectly in this story, as the child Meredith remembers a murder. It's clever, but not just that: it works.
PACE - 3: The subject is just right for a novella.
PLOT - 3: A man is shot. A young girl keeps a diary, but was she too young to actually take reliable notes from a tree house in which she was spending the night? She herself admits to a lack of full detail as to the murdered man and another person's activities. But here semi-truths in 2 separate versions pull things together in a very clever way.
CAST - 2: You might remember Meredith, but only because of the title. And we never meet the murdered man...or the murderer...
ATMOSPHERE - 2: Nothing much except a tree house, which could be anywhere.
SUMMARY: 2.8 average of my five elements: good plot with a great hook. Armstrong won an Edgar for (to me) the sub par "Dram of Poison" but she really shows her ability to slip a few facts among a slew of red herrings to demonstrate her ability at writing a crime/murder story. The solution is so very obvious that you might feel like kicking yourself for not seeing it. A fun read and better that "Dram of Poison". Some authors excel at selecting just the right format for their work.
September 27, 2012
The original title was The Albatross, which I think is much better, although the idea of a mask of evil describes elements in the story as well and adds a sinister touch to the story upfront. Copyrighted in 1957, this is an old-fashioned book and yet the relationships and tangled events are excellent. On the way home from a trip, a drunken man enters the Gardners' motel room and Tom decks him one. The intruder hits his head hard on the ground, but soon they realize it was a case of mistaken room numbers and everyone is apologetic. That weekend, however, the newspapers report the man's death from a head injury. Tom and Esther are horrified and do the right thing, going to the police and the widow's home to explain. From a police standpoint, Tom is let off because the widow doesn't press charges. Tom, however, feels guilty and his life is changed. He offers to help with money, which the widow and her wheelchair-bound sister refuse, but later, when they are evicted and looking for an apartment, Tom offers his house while they look, which they accept. Esther tries to help Tom not feel guilty, is happy to host the two women in her home, but they don't leave and they don't leave and little by little her life and her relationship with her husband is degenerating. This is a very short novel, only 127 pages, and not the sort of sci/fi or action-oriented stories that I prefer, but the characters are excellent and the interplay of guilt and responsibility and manipulation was fascinating.
Want to Read
April 11, 2019Synopsis: short stories. In one, a strange man enters a couple's room and the husband clubs him. A week later he dies and they feel remorse.
May 20, 2025
Gotta hand it to old Charlotte. She knew how to built suspense. Which is another way of saying that I started reading this novelette and didn't put it down until I'd finished.
It starts innocently enough with a young husband and wife stopping at a motel to rest before finishing their trip home. The husband steps out and the wife wakens to find a man in the room with her. Startled, she screams, bringing her husband back into the room. Not surprisingly, he reacts in anger and flattens the guy. Turns out the man's drunk and just wandered into the wrong room with no ill intent.
Esther and Tom Gardner aren't impressed with the story, but decide to let it go. They accept the drunk's apologies and turn in for the night. Case closed, right?
Courtney Caldwell (a real estate agent who enjoys the occasional toot) dies the next day, presumably from the effects of Tom's slug. Naturally, the Gardners are upset, although the police reassure them that Tom acted legally. Any man who sees his wife being threatened has a right to defend her. It was Caldwell's fault for being drunk. No crime has been committed and the Gardners are free to forget the ugly incident.
But the Gardner's are kind people and feel they must give their condolences to the grieving widow. Tom feels some sense of responsibility. Did he have to hit the man so hard? Could he have handled the situation in another way? He feels compelled to explain what happened to Caldwell's wife and Audrey Caldwell couldn't be more understanding.
A lovely woman with a gentle voice, she's clearly embarrassed by her husband's drunkenness and pities the Gardners for having been involved. It's just that she can't work because she cares for her invalid sister and Courtney's salary supported them. Now she must find a cheaper place to live and some source of income. Graciously, she absolves them from all guilt. They mustn't think any more about it. She'll manage somehow. It's certainly not THEIR problem.
"Conscience doth make cowards of us all." Shakespeare knew that fear that we might be guilty of something can paralyze us emotionally and make it difficult to make rational decisions. Tom is a gentle man. The thought that he's caused two helpless women to fall into poverty is something he can't walk away from. Gradually, he becomes convinced that he must help them since Caldwell's death (although unintentional) was his fault. Esther isn't as sure, but she knows he won't be satisfied until he feels he's paid his debt to Audrey Caldwell and her sister.
What he doesn't know is how much that debt is going to cost him before Audrey is through with them. She's such a sweet, helpless little thing. If her sister is bitter about being confined to a wheelchair, that's natural. How can he live with himself if he walks away and they become homeless?
Armstrong's belief that people are not always what they seem permeates her books and stories. We can't suspect everyone of being evil, but being too kind and generous to people we don't know very well can backfire in a tragic way.
As I always do when I read one of her stories, I found myself tensing up. Will help arrive in time or will Audrey win again? Evil people walk among us and sometimes we don't realize it until it's too late.
Armstrong wasn't a great writer, but she was an excellent suspense writer. If you don't mind having your guts wrenched, check out her books.
It starts innocently enough with a young husband and wife stopping at a motel to rest before finishing their trip home. The husband steps out and the wife wakens to find a man in the room with her. Startled, she screams, bringing her husband back into the room. Not surprisingly, he reacts in anger and flattens the guy. Turns out the man's drunk and just wandered into the wrong room with no ill intent.
Esther and Tom Gardner aren't impressed with the story, but decide to let it go. They accept the drunk's apologies and turn in for the night. Case closed, right?
Courtney Caldwell (a real estate agent who enjoys the occasional toot) dies the next day, presumably from the effects of Tom's slug. Naturally, the Gardners are upset, although the police reassure them that Tom acted legally. Any man who sees his wife being threatened has a right to defend her. It was Caldwell's fault for being drunk. No crime has been committed and the Gardners are free to forget the ugly incident.
But the Gardner's are kind people and feel they must give their condolences to the grieving widow. Tom feels some sense of responsibility. Did he have to hit the man so hard? Could he have handled the situation in another way? He feels compelled to explain what happened to Caldwell's wife and Audrey Caldwell couldn't be more understanding.
A lovely woman with a gentle voice, she's clearly embarrassed by her husband's drunkenness and pities the Gardners for having been involved. It's just that she can't work because she cares for her invalid sister and Courtney's salary supported them. Now she must find a cheaper place to live and some source of income. Graciously, she absolves them from all guilt. They mustn't think any more about it. She'll manage somehow. It's certainly not THEIR problem.
"Conscience doth make cowards of us all." Shakespeare knew that fear that we might be guilty of something can paralyze us emotionally and make it difficult to make rational decisions. Tom is a gentle man. The thought that he's caused two helpless women to fall into poverty is something he can't walk away from. Gradually, he becomes convinced that he must help them since Caldwell's death (although unintentional) was his fault. Esther isn't as sure, but she knows he won't be satisfied until he feels he's paid his debt to Audrey Caldwell and her sister.
What he doesn't know is how much that debt is going to cost him before Audrey is through with them. She's such a sweet, helpless little thing. If her sister is bitter about being confined to a wheelchair, that's natural. How can he live with himself if he walks away and they become homeless?
Armstrong's belief that people are not always what they seem permeates her books and stories. We can't suspect everyone of being evil, but being too kind and generous to people we don't know very well can backfire in a tragic way.
As I always do when I read one of her stories, I found myself tensing up. Will help arrive in time or will Audrey win again? Evil people walk among us and sometimes we don't realize it until it's too late.
Armstrong wasn't a great writer, but she was an excellent suspense writer. If you don't mind having your guts wrenched, check out her books.
October 22, 2022
After being delighted by A Dram of Poison, I chose one of Armstrong's lesser novels, because it was on sale. The Albatross is more suspense, than mystery, but is a good example of the adage "no good deed goes unpunished."
It's a straightforward story, the suspense arising out of the situation a man puts himself in out of the goodness of his heart and/or guilt in thinking he accidentally killed someone. His wife must convince him that his charity is misplaced and even dangerous to their lives.
Don't start with this novel is you want to get the true flavor of Armstrong's abilities at their highest.
It's a straightforward story, the suspense arising out of the situation a man puts himself in out of the goodness of his heart and/or guilt in thinking he accidentally killed someone. His wife must convince him that his charity is misplaced and even dangerous to their lives.
Don't start with this novel is you want to get the true flavor of Armstrong's abilities at their highest.
October 21, 2022
terrible just so simple
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