A Dark-Adapted Eye

By: Barbara Vine

Narrated by: Harriet Walter

Like most families, they had their secrets...

...and they hid them under a genteelly respectable veneer. No onlooker would guess that prim Vera Hillyard and her beautiful, adored younger sister, Eden, were locked in a dark and bitter combat over one of those secrets. England in the '50s was not kind to women who erred, so they had to use every means necessary to keep the truth hidden behind closed doors - even murder.

©1986 Kingsmarkham Enterprises Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Amazing Masterpiece Theatre miniseries, book is even better

Classic British mystery with characters to love and love to hate! The mystery unfolds to the reader through the eyes of the intrepid narrator...many twists and turns and the sense of place and time are outstanding!

Well-written, absorbing psychological mystery

I bought this on the basis of audible reviews and was not disappointed. This is not an edge-of-your-seat mystery. It unfolds slowly and moves deeper and deeper into the characters, their histories and their motivations. It is beautifully narrated by Harriet Walter. If you're looking for something to lose yourself in and spend some time with, I recommend it.

Keep Going

I found the beginning of this book boring but I stayed the course and glad I did.

Family history containing murder

Family history containing murder. Only at the end does it become clear who was murderer. The uncertainty of the why: craziness or child taking and that question is left to the reader’s imagination. It is a story of the English countryside in the World War Two era.

Even better in audio form

This has long been one of my favorite books. I've read it many times and recommended it to many other people. But it has been a few years since I last read it, and the narration, which I listened to while driving to and from NYC is wonderfully excellent.

This book requires a lot of thought, and is a perfect match for the audio format. Having the extra time to really appreciate the subtleties, mysteries, and deep character development is the strength of this format. You'd miss much of this when only reading. The narrator is top knotch, nailing the nuances and exploring the maturation of the main character over time. I can't recommend this one enough.

Winding story.

Love the title. Convoluted. Enticing. Puzzle of characters and events wrought to a final twist.

Wonderful, rich voice of narrator.

Top drawer psychological novel

One of my favorite novels of all time. The writing is superb and the chosen narrator is as well. Chills and shivers are no better delivered by situations such as those that can be imagined as real, that are in a sense no more than everyday tragedies. The author also imparts a wonderful sense of time and place. Just read it!

fascinating family intrigue

This is more an interesting and complicated look at the psychological workings of a family divided than it is a mystery.......though there are and remain several mysterious parts to the whole. It takes a while to get into the story, but as it continually unrolls it is more and more intriguing, drawing the listener deeper and deeper into the family machinations. The continuing family revelations experienced by the protagonist make sense of the title....A "Dark Adapted Eye" can see things that were formerly hidden in the darkness.

Terrific

My first Barbara Vine novel. She also writes under the name Ruth Rendell. I loved it. Beautifully written, some of the best narration In the 100 audible books I have listened to. I'm thrilled to have a new author whose works I can explore.

Best of Ruth R endell's (Vines) novels

Depiction of a fascinating, tragic. tale that could probably only have happened at that time and place. In 1940s England-- with a description of place and character as perfect in each detail as. ever done.
The author here is at the height of her power-- which is saying a lot!