Uncle Paul

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Mildred has recently left her second husband (again) and taken refuge in a rented cottage on the outskirts of Southcliffe. The issue, which immediately horrified Isabel but somehow entirely escaped Mildred, is that the cottage Mildred is renting is the same property in which she spent her honeymoon with her first husband, the eponymous Uncle Paul.

This novel begins with Meg receiving a telegram for her sister, asking her to come and help. Meg has a sister, Isabel, plus an older, half-sister, Mildred, who looked after her, after her mother’s death. Mildred has a difficult relationship with husband, Hubert, and has done one of her flits, rushing off to Isabel. The problem is that Isabel, who has two young sons, is currently on a caravan holiday at the seaside, with second husband, Philip. With two sisters full of neuroses and issues, Meg sees no other option but to go and sort out their problems. The story follows a call from Isabel to Meg begging her to come and talk sense into Mildred who is intent on staying in the same cottage where Uncle Paul was arrested fifteen years before. Both Mildred and Isabel seem to think that Paul is now out of prison and coming for revenge on one or all of the sisters who caused his incarceration. However, to Meg’s surprise, Isabel doesn’t require help with her own mundanely taxing domestic troubles. Rather, she wants Meg to intervene in the latest drama involving their much older half-sister, the rich and highly vexing Mildred.

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Now, on his release from prison, is he returning for revenge, seeking who betrayed him? Or are all three women letting their nerves get the better of them? Though who really is Meg’s new lover? And whose are those footsteps …? Meg learns to be more accepting of the perspective of others; to not dismiss the silliness of women, who don't have good vocabs and rational faculties. And, then, she falls prey to the most demeaning of horrors. One night at the cottage, she screams herself hoarse, calling for her sister's help, who is an arm's length away in the other bedroom. But, Meg's door has been bolted from the outside - and there is no response from Mildred. Excellent book. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a Christie or a psychological slow burn thriller.

Fremlin is always wonderful for her acute observations and for the social history embedded in her books and, for the first half, the creepy element felt like an add on to me that rather distracted from all the delights of awkward children (Cedric, the boy who knows everything; Peter and 'sharkie' who lives under the caravan steps), squabbling with fellow guests at a nearby hotel over when to light a fire, and the inevitable colonel who wants to run everything. I don't know if I liked this at all. I've recently read her debut novel The Hours Before Dawn, published in 1958. This one, her second novel is also a "domestic noir," published 1959. There are similar elements, the focus on women, very often the drudgery of domestic work; and women's roles as wife and mother. In the 50s there was the fairly rigid separation by gender: men in the work-place and women at home. It was generally younger, un-married women who had jobs - and this is Meg's situation, in her early 20s Fremlin was an advocate of assisted suicide and euthanasia. In a newspaper interview she admitted to assisting four people to die.[1] In 1983 civil proceedings were brought against her as one of the five members of the EXIT Executive committee which had published “A Guide to Self Deliverance” , but the court refused to declare the booklet unlawful.

Celia Fremlin’s Uncle Paul is an engrossing, slow-burning psychological thriller that skilfully blends suspense, family dynamics and the infuriating complexities of human relationships. Originally published in 1959, its gripping narrative and insightful exploration of the psyche ensure that it remains surprising and impactful despite certain aspects of the story now appearing a tad dated.