Tender Loving Care

by Andrew Neiderman

Michael loves his wife, but after the tragic accident to their daughter Lillian, Miriam was untouchable, like a dream. Desperate, hoping that his living nightmare will finally end, and yearning to lie once again in the arms of his beautiful wife, Michael hires a nurse to care for his beloved. But though Nurse Randolph’s powerful presence has done wonders for Miriam, the nurse’s ominous yet erotic dominance over Michael fills him with a strange, shuddering sense of doom. And nothing can make the terror disappear, especially not Tender Loving Care….

Genres: Horror

306 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1984

About the author

Andrew Neiderman is the author of over 44 thrillers, including six of which have been translated onto film, including the big hit, 'The Devil's Advocate', a story in which he also wrote a libretto for the music-stage adaptation. One of his novels, Tender Loving Care, has been adapted into a CD-Rom interactive movie.

Andrew Neiderman became the ghostwriter for V.C. Andrews following her death in 1986. He was the screenwriter for Rain, a film based on a series of books under Andrews name. Between the novels written under her name and his own, he has published over 100 novels.

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better Neidermans, even if it gets slightly obsessed with one of the character's breasts.

The main couple of the book has lost their daughter years back, and the mother especially has lost grip on reality. A psychiatric nurse (she of the boobs) moves in with them, and starts to create the idea that the daughter is still alive. Nice building of paranoia, here, and we see familiar themes of the nurse as sexual temptress (those damn boobs!!).

Does it stick the landing? Well the nurse sure does, but yes, in a way it does.

3.5 stars

[Tara Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but am not sure I’d recommend it.
First off, Neiderman’s style is very much like the books of the late seventies-eighties (think VC Andrews, ala Flowers in the Attic), with not very many characters, much introspection of the lead character, and a lot of slow tension building to a small finale. Most of his horror books have a medical twist with the physician/nurse/medical professional being of dubious ethics at the minimum and callous evil at the max, which affects those around them to some horrific consequence. Mrs. Randolph of TLC is certainly bizarre enough to fit in the spectrum noted previously. From the day she arrives in Michael and Miriam’s house, she caters to Miriam’s fantasy that their dead daughter Lillian is still alive, and even begins to encourage it. Michael at first goes along with Mrs. Randolph, but slowly begins to oppose her as she transforms the household into her own.

This book was written in the first person, and we see all events through the eyes of Michael, who I liked well enough until he admitted he hated animals. I really began to hate him when he was mean to the family dog, and from then was looking forward to him coming to a bad end of some kind. Miriam, his hysterical and insane wife, I found to be pitiful. I wanted to shake her or something to snap her out of her fantasy. Mrs. Randolph was downright bizarre, and came off more insane than Miriam. I don’t understand what she thought she was doing seducing Michael. Maybe that only happened in Michael’s mind? Reflecting back on all the things Michael thought she supposedly did, I’m wondering now how much of it was real and how much he imagined.

Here are a few passages of note:

I would have gone out of that room and down those stairs with enough indifference to get myself through the rest of the evening if only I had not looked back just as a streak of lightning burned the air in front of the house.
The silver light illuminated the room. It was only for an instant, but in that particle of time all our days of quite pretending were washed away. We were exposed in the shadows, naked and vulnerable. Lillian’s empty bed was washed in light. It was though someone had taken my face and pressed it against her tombstone. Cold reality was driven through me.

“It was the same, Michael. It was the same.”
I wanted to say that nothing was the same; that things had to be different. But I just couldn’t get myself to do it….Miriam’s face was awash with lies, but she wore them like a schoolgirl who had touched herself unknowingly with the ink side of her pen and had no idea she was besmirched. I wanted to reach out and hold her face in my hands and wipe the fantasy off it, but was afraid everything would come off and I would be left holding a skeleton. The image made me shiver…

How does one know who is sane, and who is not?

Overall opinion: A wacky book I enjoyed but probably won’t read again.

[Victoria Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very concerning book. Much better than some of the other books I read by him.

You really start to question what is real and what's not, which is the most frightening part of the book. It also pushes the limits on what grief can really do to a person and where their imagination can take them. However, I got as frustrated as Michael was as Mrs. Randolph kept feeding into Miriam's fantasies. Not only from his point of view that the reader begins to question what's going on, but also you hear from other sources outside of the home their confusion and concern about what's going on.

You also question Mrs. Randolph's methods. Are they really working? Is this the right way to go about treating Miriam? You also question Mrs. Randolph herself. The descriptions of her in the book are that of a supernatural figure sent to wreck havoc in the household. The weight of her authority establishes a comforting culture of fear for Michael and conversely, a state of comfort for Miriam. Michael is afraid to confront Mrs. Randolph head on because of her stature, her medical background, and the fact that there is just something that is not right about her.

[Nic (nicsbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another day, another Neiderman. After reading 'Pin' and finding it morbidly fascinating, I had to know if it was a one-hit wonder. If this was the star of Andrew Neiderman's writing career. I am so glad to say, that so far, we're two for two.
'Tender Loving Care' is another cinematic, emotional and fantastically written thriller by Neiderman. I was so impressed that his brilliant writing didn't begin and end with 'Pin'. This book is about people, again, but in a different and unique scenario. Michael and Miriam are a married couple who live in an enormous house, living in their same, sad and loveless routine, day in and day out. After a tragedy involving their child, Lillian, struck them some years before, the couple are living in a sort of purgatory. Michael is waiting for things to change, while Miriam is content in the fact that nothing ever changed at all... or did it? Michael thinks it's time for an intervention and asks for a nurse to come and live with them. Enter, Mrs. Randolph, a serious yet seductive presence who lingers throughout the house helping Miriam and tempting Michael.
This whole situation is a really weird one, but it's also incredibly fascinating. It touches on the human condition, which is a theme I'm noticing in Neiderman's works, and the lengths people will go to feel something. To not be alone. To feel loved. To feel seen. This is a story that deeply upset me, and that's mainly down to reading in between the lines of Michael's narration toward his wife Miriam. My heart goes out to this woman. She's experiencing one of the worst things she could ever experience, and she is blissfully unaware of it, while Michael is all too aware. The couple are broken, and the presence of the nurse only succeeds in highlighting that further. But what is her real goal for being here? What are her intentions toward the couple and her job as their nurse? And why is she playing into the fantasies of these two individuals who are so different, yet tragically connected by one, life-altering event?
Like 'Pin', this is another one of my favourite books I've read this year, and probably ever. It's dark, it's weird, it's upsetting, it's human. Neiderman has a way of weaving words together that force you to tear through the book in a single sitting, to scramble to find out what happens to these people and if their lives will get any better. This is another one of those very original narratives that I'd love to know where it came from, what was the inspiration. Because this is a film waiting to happen. The imagery and atmosphere Neiderman creates is shocking, beautiful and shows how desperate people truly are.
Again, I'd recommend this, but I'd suggest doing some research first as it features graphic descriptions of adult content. But wow. Yet another tragedy that will live in my head rent free.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded me of Misery by Stephen King.

[Adam Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tender Loving Care is another three-star Neidernovel and it only stands out in one way: it shows us the thoughts of a person going insane a bit at a time. This is

pretty amusing since the novel revolves around a woman named Mrs. Randolph who is hired by Michael, our "protagonist," to help his wife cope with the death of their

young daughter Lillian. Randolph's methods of coming to terms with the death of their child soon show themselves to be rather unorthodoxeventually get rid of hethe

basic plot. The wife, Miriam, is pulled from Michael to Randolph in a mental tug-of-war which has very unpleasant results for all three. Also, the book has a couple

genuine scares, one of which gave me the chills which never happens to me anymore while reading horror. I guess that scenes involving creepy dolls will never stop being

frightening. The novel's conclusion is a bit shocking but is something most constant readers have seen before, but it is handled well and is kept from feeling stale and

unoriginal because of this. All in all, nothing too special by any means but not bad either. In a world so full of books better than this one, the previous statement

hardly justifies reading it but always keep in mind that everyone's opinion is different and that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Perhaps I should have saved

that one for a poorer novel haha.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I thought this was a Good book, easy read I would recommend it to anyone that likes his other books.