Ruth Rendell, A Dark-Adapted Eye

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The first novel written by Rendell under the

nom-de-plume

of Barbara Vine,

A Dark-Adapted Eye

could be read as a long argument against the death penalty. It also established a perennial theme of the Vine novels, how extreme passion within families, particularly between parents (especially mothers) and children, is ultimately unfathomable and yet has profound effects on succeeding generations. Desire is “dark” in two senses for Vine’s novels. It can motivate cruelty, violence and crime, as well as manifesting as something darkly unknowable about the nature of human beings. In

A Dark-Adapted Eye,

an apparently ordinary woman, Vera, is hanged in the 1950s for the murder of her beloved sister, Edith (known as Eden). Each sister has claimed to be the biological mother of a child, Jamie,…

1368 words

Citation: Rowland, Susan A.. "A Dark-Adapted Eye". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 June 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16821, accessed 19 March 2024.]

16821 A Dark-Adapted Eye 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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