Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
NYRB Classics (2003), Paperback, 152 pages
Description
In this Freudian fantasy, Alice Rowlands lives with a father glowering 'like a disappointed thunderstorm', a fast-fading mother and a beastly menagerie in a dark house in 1930s Battersea. With her mother's death, life becomes almost intolerable for Alice, whose father treats her as a slave. Then kind 'Blinkers', the vet's assistant, arranges for her to live with his mother in the country. There, Alice revels in the beauty of nature and falls head over heels for Nicholas, the lovely boy who takes her skating, motoring, and smiles at her. But Nicholas has other fish to fry, and Alice is forced to fall back on a talent for rising above her troubles . . . Back in London, that talent comes to the attention of her father -- who rapaciously propels Alice towards fame on Clapham Common . . .… (more)
Media reviews
The Vet’s Daughter combines shocking realism with a visionary edge. ....Harrowing and haunting, like an unexpected cross between Flannery O’Connor and Stephen King, The Vet’s Daughter is a story of outraged innocence that culminates in a scene of appalling triumph.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Porius
Alice Rowland was the daughter of a Vet. This Vet was one of the most objectionable on literary record. He ignored his first wife as she lay dying and took up, soon thereafter, with some trollope who showed only a little more fellow feeling than the Vet did himself.
Alice somehow along the way
Well things go badly. Alice and the trollope are crushed to death by a crowd of gawkers. Ending the unhappy story on an unhappy note.
Barbara Comyns is a master at this maudlin story-telling. Magical-Realism or whatever you call it, things eldritch are always right around the corner.
Alice somehow along the way
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learns that she has the power, like D.D. Home, to leave her body. To levitate in air. When the Vet gets wind of this he sees an opportunity, of course. He sets up a demonstration, with the help of two mountebanks, featuring his flying daughter. The heartless Vet had disowned Alice earlier in the story. Well things go badly. Alice and the trollope are crushed to death by a crowd of gawkers. Ending the unhappy story on an unhappy note.
Barbara Comyns is a master at this maudlin story-telling. Magical-Realism or whatever you call it, things eldritch are always right around the corner.
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LibraryThing member OmieWise
This book was so excellent that I promptly read two more of Comyn's books: Who was changed and who was dead, and Sisters by a river. Both were excellent, although Sisters was the better of the two. The Vet's Daughter is properly the best of the three, being more well-wrought and having a better
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structure. Show Less
LibraryThing member vancouverdeb
The Vet's Daughter started out wonderfully, with a Dickens flair to it. Alice Rowlands is the unfortunate daughter of a brutal and bitter man . Her mother, long brutalized and beaten by her father , lies dying in her bed. Alice tried to tend to both her father and her mother. Not far into the
3 stars.
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novel, Alice's mother dies and Alice suspects that her father has sped along the death of her mother. After her mother dies, her father soon takes up with a trollop named Rosa Fisher. Rosa moves into the family home and is dreadfully jealous and cruel to Alice. Eventually Alice is sent away to be a companion to an elderly woman. There is somewhat of a gothic and frightening aspect to the home in which Alice serves. Events go wrong there too, and so Alice is sent back home to live. In the course of these events, Alice gradually realizes that she has a supernatural power that did not fit the story for me. The ending culminates in Alice using her supernatural powers - or not - it is a challenge to discern. Either way, I did not care for the ending, though it could be taken as a triumph or a tragedy, depending on your point of view. For me, it was a surprising and difficult ending to the story.3 stars.
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LibraryThing member Kasthu
Barbara Comyns’s novels are hard to explain. They’re very dark and macabre; she writes about very tough subjects with a very detached eye, unemotionally writing about people and the things that happen to them.
The Vet’s Daughter is one of them. The story is told from the point of view of Alice
As I’ve said, Barbara Comyns’s novels are very unemotional, despite the fact that she writes about tough subjects. What I liked about Alice’s character is that she’s so detached from all the horrible things that happen to her. I think a weaker person would have broken down from the emotional strain, but Alice has an incredible strength of will, despite the fact that she doesn’t seem to have anything to live for. She talks about the things that happen to her as if they’re a matter of course and not unusual.
The characters in the book are wonderfully diverse and Dickensian, right down to Mrs. Peebles and the sinister couple that have been hired to live in her house. I loved the “supernatural” aspect of the novel; it seemed symbolic of Alice’s ability to emotionally detach herself from her surroundings. The Vet’s Daughter is a stunning novel, and going on to my list of best reads for this year.
The Vet’s Daughter is one of them. The story is told from the point of view of Alice
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Rowlands, who lives in a London suburb with her abusive father and sick mother. When her mother dies, her father takes up with a bad woman, who attempts to lead Alice down the wrong track, so to speak. Eventually, Alice discovers that she has a secret talent, which eventually leads to what might be her salvation.As I’ve said, Barbara Comyns’s novels are very unemotional, despite the fact that she writes about tough subjects. What I liked about Alice’s character is that she’s so detached from all the horrible things that happen to her. I think a weaker person would have broken down from the emotional strain, but Alice has an incredible strength of will, despite the fact that she doesn’t seem to have anything to live for. She talks about the things that happen to her as if they’re a matter of course and not unusual.
The characters in the book are wonderfully diverse and Dickensian, right down to Mrs. Peebles and the sinister couple that have been hired to live in her house. I loved the “supernatural” aspect of the novel; it seemed symbolic of Alice’s ability to emotionally detach herself from her surroundings. The Vet’s Daughter is a stunning novel, and going on to my list of best reads for this year.
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LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
Delightful, dark, and a skosh bizarre, this novel keeps the reader slightly off-balance as we listen to Alice Rowland recount her life in Edwardian London with an abusive father, a dying mother, and little hope of betterment until a young veterinarian comes to act as locum tenens for her father and
Reviewed in 2013
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offers her the chance to be a companion to his invalid mother. A touch of romance, a touch of the occult, and an ending that may be viewed as tragic or transcendent. Reviewed in 2013
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LibraryThing member brenzi
”A man with small eyes and a ginger moustache came and spoke to me when I was thinking of something else. Together we walked down a street that was lined with privet hedges. He told me his wife belonged to the Plymouth Brethren, and I said I was sorry because that is what he seemed to need me to
This is the opening paragraph and I hope you get the feeling I did on reading it. The author has immediately draped the novel in darkness, which she maintains throughout. It also brought up a number of questions: who is this stranger? Who are the Plymouth Brethen? Why was he so despondent? It just seemed like such a stark way to start the narrative. This same man makes a brief appearance at the culminating events at the end of the novel with still no explanation of his significance. So I keep thinking about him.
I finished this novel yesterday but had to give it some time to simmer before I could write a few words about this very dark novel. I couldn’t really decide what I thought about it. I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Alice Rowland is the seventeen year old eponymous daughter and she faces many challenges. Her mother is gravely ill, her father is abusive and she would desperately like to be somewhere else when her mother dies and her father brings the local tart into the house to be his “housekeeper.” A savior attempts to save her by asking her to become a companion for his elderly mother in a distant village. Things continue to go downhill for her and she is faced with a Dickensian couple who maintain the woman’s residence and generally take advantage of her. Alice is forced to return home where her father continues his abuse of her until he discovers she has a gift he thinks he can capitalize on.
The horrifying culminating event presents Alice and her gift. This actually threw me for a loop and I find it interesting that some reviewers characterized this as Alice’s triumph. I didn’t see it that way at all but I did find the novel to be riveting and could hardly put it down. The writing is spare and the novel is stark. But absolutely fascinating. And I wonder when I’ll stop thinking about these well drawn characters.
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say and I saw he was a poor broken down sort of creature. If he had been a horse, he would have most likely worn kneecaps. We came to a great red railway arch that crossed the road like a heavy rainbow; and near this arch there was a vet’s house with a lamp outside. I said, ‘ You must excuse me ,’ and left this poor man among the privet hedges.”This is the opening paragraph and I hope you get the feeling I did on reading it. The author has immediately draped the novel in darkness, which she maintains throughout. It also brought up a number of questions: who is this stranger? Who are the Plymouth Brethen? Why was he so despondent? It just seemed like such a stark way to start the narrative. This same man makes a brief appearance at the culminating events at the end of the novel with still no explanation of his significance. So I keep thinking about him.
I finished this novel yesterday but had to give it some time to simmer before I could write a few words about this very dark novel. I couldn’t really decide what I thought about it. I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Alice Rowland is the seventeen year old eponymous daughter and she faces many challenges. Her mother is gravely ill, her father is abusive and she would desperately like to be somewhere else when her mother dies and her father brings the local tart into the house to be his “housekeeper.” A savior attempts to save her by asking her to become a companion for his elderly mother in a distant village. Things continue to go downhill for her and she is faced with a Dickensian couple who maintain the woman’s residence and generally take advantage of her. Alice is forced to return home where her father continues his abuse of her until he discovers she has a gift he thinks he can capitalize on.
The horrifying culminating event presents Alice and her gift. This actually threw me for a loop and I find it interesting that some reviewers characterized this as Alice’s triumph. I didn’t see it that way at all but I did find the novel to be riveting and could hardly put it down. The writing is spare and the novel is stark. But absolutely fascinating. And I wonder when I’ll stop thinking about these well drawn characters.
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LibraryThing member japaul22
This is an odd little book that I loved. It's about Alice, the 17 year old daughter of a mean, abusive, drunk veterinarian. At the beginning of the book her mother is dying. There are odd animals all over the house, adding to the dark and weird vibe in the house. After her death her father takes up
On top of all of this, Alice seems to have some special powers to make herself levitate. At first, of course, the reader will assume this is just a dream she is having, but later in the book it becomes clear that this is actually happening. This power has major consequences for Alice and those around her.
I thought this book was extremely clever and well written. I'd like to read more of Comyns's work if it's all as odd and interesting as this was.
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with a woman of loose morals and questionable merit. She moves into the house, relegating Alice to an even lower and more precarious position in her father's house. Fortunately (???), Alice meets a veterinary assistant working with her father, who takes and interest in her and seems to want to marry her. He arranges a way for her to get out of the house by going to be a companion for his solitary and deranged mother. On top of all of this, Alice seems to have some special powers to make herself levitate. At first, of course, the reader will assume this is just a dream she is having, but later in the book it becomes clear that this is actually happening. This power has major consequences for Alice and those around her.
I thought this book was extremely clever and well written. I'd like to read more of Comyns's work if it's all as odd and interesting as this was.
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LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
The eponymous vet's daughter is Alice, who lives with her mother and father, the veterinarian. The vet is a brutal and sadistic bully to his wife and daughter (and to his patients). Alice and her mother spend their days in fear of the vet. As with many of Comyns's novels, the story seems at first
This was a strange book, and I guess you could call it a typical Comyns work, but I've liked the other books I've read by her better.
3 stars
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to be well-grounded in reality, with a touch of quirkiness, but soon there is a heavy dose of a lurking and sinister menace. After Alice's mother dies (and Alice has been the victim of an attempted rape), she has what we think is a dream-like, hallucinatory levitation experience. Her naivetee and lack of real world experience lead her to believe that everyone has such experiences, and we are soon questioning reality.This was a strange book, and I guess you could call it a typical Comyns work, but I've liked the other books I've read by her better.
3 stars
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LibraryThing member BibliophageOnCoffee
That ending was...unexpected.
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1959
Physical description
152 p.; 8.12 inches
ISBN
1590170296 / 9781590170298