Uncle Paul: Welcome to the Nightmare Summer Holiday

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For she seemed to be looking once again into Uncle Paul’s queer dark eyes, so melancholy, and yet so alert. Three funny and vastly different sisters who sometimes irritated me but also humoured me in equal measures. I'd read a review saying it was old fashioned and dated but I didn't find it so at all, certainly no more so than any mid century Agatha Christie. The title to be read and discussed is sign-posted and on sale for the whole of the previous month (with a discount for those who make it known they intend to come) and everybody is welcome, whether first-timer, part-timer or regular-timer.

She seems largely unknown, but maybe this will be another hit for Faber, and bring her some of the recognition she deserves.Unfortunately, Mildred has also landed up in the area, smarting from a fall-out from her husband and renting a coastal cottage of her own. Years ago, Mildred was on honeymoon at the same resort with her husband, the eponymous Uncle Paul, when she discovered that he had attempted to murder his first wife. This exhausting topic, which was apt at the best of times to reduce Isabel to quivering uncertainty, seemed on this occasion to be straining her powers of decision almost to the point of paralysis. Finally, we have Meg and Isabel’s much older half-sister, Mildred, also on her second marriage; but despite being financially comfortable, her relationship with husband Hubert is somewhat unstable to say the least. It’s very well constructed, and the balance between tension and domestic dramas works surprisingly well.

Even with a bit of eye-rolling, this was a quick read and comes in toward the bottom of the 3-star group. Mildred has a difficult relationship with husband, Hubert, and has done one of her flits, rushing off to Isabel.First published in 1959 and recently reissued by Faber, Uncle Paul was Fremlin’s second book, and what a brilliant novel it is – a wonderfully clever exploration of what can happen when we allow our imagination to run wild and unfettered, conjuring up all sorts of nightmare scenarios from our fears and suspicions.

This has unexpectedly shot to one of my top ranking for the wonderful Celia Fremlin, an author seemingly being rediscovered thanks to Faber.There is Cedric the know-it-all, Peter who insists on everyone who goes up and down the caravan steps paying tribute to 'Sharkey' and Johnny, cheerily oblivious to the tension around him. Fremlin manages the tension extremely well here, dialling it up and down a few times as the story unfolds. Sure, the scenery is set beautifully and a lot of questions arose while reading but the suspense I’d expected was not quite there. There is an odd referral to - The Sleeping Beauty, in Fremlin's novel which happens to be a sort of peep-show on the pier - a sleeping snake! It’s like water running down a drain pipe - it couldn’t go any other way, But the Ugly Sisters - Ah, that’s the challenge!