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** 'The Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams is a debut and new and emphatic voice; this story of the reunion of two batty sisters in their huge and crumbling house completely grips and the lepidopteran theme is totally convincing. (Rodney Troubridge, Waterstone’s )
** 'A rewarding read. Latent rivalries resurface as the sisters secretly question which of them has the greater grip on reality in this tantalising family mystery. (Waterstones Books Quarterly )
** 'Adams succeeds in carefully building up an atmosphere of penumbral suspense, creeping towards a tense climax. (LITERARY REVIEW )
** 'Adam s' compelling story unfurls over a single weekend as two sisters, together again in their sixties in their dilapidated family home, are forced to confront the consequences fo the terrible chain of events that began with Vivien's near-fatal childh (PSYCHOLOGIES )
** 'A rewarding read. Latent rivalries resurface as the sisters secretly question which of them has the greater grip on reality in this tantalising family mystery. (Waterstones Books Quarterly )
** 'Adams succeeds in carefully building up an atmosphere of penumbral suspense, creeping towards a tense climax. (LITERARY REVIEW )
** 'Adam s' compelling story unfurls over a single weekend as two sisters, together again in their sixties in their dilapidated family home, are forced to confront the consequences fo the terrible chain of events that began with Vivien's near-fatal childh (PSYCHOLOGIES )
PSYCHOLOGIES
'THE BEHAVIOUR OF MOTHS is an intricately crafted story, told with just the right balance of claustrophobia and compassion.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"The Behaviour of Moths" has airs of "Grey Gardens", "Sunset Boulevard", "Great Expectations" and various other stories of batty old recluses living in rotting mansions, but it is a very original tale. The narrator, Virginia (Ginny) is a very unreliable one - she sees the world differently to everyone else and doesn't always see the obvious. Although she claims to be an expert on moths, she's clearly not because she makes many mistakes in the science she mentions (I prefer to think of these mistakes as mistakes on Ginny's part, not mistakes on the author's part). Ginny's very safe, secure world, rattling around in her family home, is rocked by the return of her younger sister (Vivian) after almost 50 years.
The narrative flashes back and forth between the present day and the 1950s as we learn the history of the family and how Ginny came to live alone. As homet-truths start to be revealed by Vivian, Ginny has to face facts that her version of events isn't the same as everyone elses.
The book is wonderfully written in a lovely, evocative style and the characterisation of Ginny (who is about 70) is almost childlike, but then she has never really grown up and does live in the past, which suits her perfectly. Ginny is obsessive with respect to time and order and routine and her characterisations are very well researched. She describes her scientific work in minute details but this is full of errors (chemicals that don't exist, mechanisms of poison action that are wrong), probably due to Ginny's delusions of being an expert when she's really not one.
I do hope for a sequal - or prequal - or at least more books from Poppy Adams. This one was wonderful.
The narrative flashes back and forth between the present day and the 1950s as we learn the history of the family and how Ginny came to live alone. As homet-truths start to be revealed by Vivian, Ginny has to face facts that her version of events isn't the same as everyone elses.
The book is wonderfully written in a lovely, evocative style and the characterisation of Ginny (who is about 70) is almost childlike, but then she has never really grown up and does live in the past, which suits her perfectly. Ginny is obsessive with respect to time and order and routine and her characterisations are very well researched. She describes her scientific work in minute details but this is full of errors (chemicals that don't exist, mechanisms of poison action that are wrong), probably due to Ginny's delusions of being an expert when she's really not one.
I do hope for a sequal - or prequal - or at least more books from Poppy Adams. This one was wonderful.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
My book group read this book, and it split the group into camps - one person hated it, two loved it (one even loved it so much she read the whole book in one day) a couple liked it pretty much, and the others didn't get very far into reading it. I was in the 'liked it pretty much' camp. It certainly generated lots of discussion. It has a perfect example of an unreliable narrator, and a lot of the discussion was about how much of Ginny's story we could believe, with opinions varying from pretty much none of it, to most of it. I thought it was a compelling read (and even the girl who hated it said she wanted to keep reading, and she hated it because she didn't like Ginny's character, and she didn't like all the detail about moth catching and killing). I do like books that tell you about stuff like the moth detail in this book, so that didn't put me off. The book felt pretty claustrophobic, and none of us (apart from the girl who hated it) saw the end coming, so most of us were suitably shocked.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I loved this book! For me it was a totally absorbing window into someone with Asperger's syndrome and completely convincing - reminded me of The Curious incident of the dog in the night-time. Beautifully written.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An enjoyable read
I thought this was quite a weird book, but an enjoyable read, well written and it caused a lot of discussion at our bookclub so overall pretty good.
Published 3 months ago by Rachel
A good read
I didn't read this myself as it was a present for my grandmother. However, she told me that the story was very good, with some very moving parts and a brilliant finish.
Published 7 months ago by DanP101
Mothic Modern Classic
Ginny and Vivi were close as sisters but then at 15 Vivi left and didn't come home for 47 years. Home, is Bulburrow Court, a grand country pile which Ginny has not left in all... Read more
Published 7 months ago by primitivegrrl
wonderful central character
A very enjoyable read with a fascinating and highly unusual central character. The comparison with Mark Haddon is very apt.
Published 10 months ago by M. R. Cheung
Entertaining and literary, but lacking in resolution...
The Behaviour of Moths is a book about two sisters (Vivien - the extrovert one, and Virginia / Ginny, the introvert geek), and how their lives drift apart, and the time when they... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Federhirn
Disappointing
This is the debut novel of Poppy Adams, a documentary film maker for the BBC and Channel 4.
The book made the Costa First Novel Shortlist in 2008 but was beaten by Sadie Jones... Read more
The book made the Costa First Novel Shortlist in 2008 but was beaten by Sadie Jones... Read more
Published 12 months ago by TraceyC
A disappointment
I'm glad I bought this book at a charity shop rather than Amazon, I was bitterly disappointed! I thought this was supposed to be a 'thriller'. It was far from that. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Bookworm Lady
A chilling slice of modern gothic - but forget the ending!
This is a chilling slice of modern gothic. The narrator is consumed with the unspoken desire not to exist, to leave no mark or trace. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Geoff Sawers
Wow, what a debut.
What a fantastic novel. My Dad bought it for me (he's 80, I'm 45, just to clear up any doubt that we might be novice book buyers/readers) as a birthday present collection of 'first... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Anstey Spraggan
Mixed feelings
Although I can appreciate that the book has been well-written, I found reading it hard work. I really hate giving up on books so I persevered even though I didn't really enjoy it;... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Sophie Cross
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