Sin (Virago Modern Classics)
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Sin, like Josephine Hart's third novel The Stillest Day, is an explicitly cautionary tale. Ruth Ashbridge is, from childhood, obsessively jealous of her orphaned cousin Elizabeth. At first, her envy leads her into only minor misbehaviour--adopting her smile, stealing her jewellery and silk underwear. Yet these small thefts quickly escalate into major transgressions as Ruth sets about stealing Elizabeth's husband and her happiness.
The confessional nature of Hart's first-person narrative suits the outpouring of hatred and envy. Ruth's position is succinctly summed up: "Like Satan before the Fall, I came to hate the very nature of goodness, to fear its power." However, her emotion is occasionally overemphasised and the descriptions of her overwrought, resulting in Ruth sounding unintentionally comic. She says of her own marriage to Dominick: "We were balanced. His love. My coldness."
With Sin, Josephine Hart aims to create a modern biblical parable. In order to foreground the didactic content of her novel, Hart keeps characterisation to a minimum, shunning the complex psychology and narrative tension of her first novel Damage. In Hart's world, sin--succumbing to an impulse in complete disregard of its consequences--leads inescapably to tragedy. Through that tragedy, the heroine will learn too late the true value of goodness. --Vanessa Cook --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
the New York Times
'..the narrative is stripped down to a single, inexorable storyline that centres on the destructive power of passion..a tour de force'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Unlike some of the other reviewers I have not seen Damage, or read Josephine Hart's other books. I came to it with an open mind.
It is a dark tale of a woman's obsession with her beautiful adopted older sister, and her resentment and growing hate for the beautiful, tall and lean, blond Elizabeth. The prose is precise and jagged. At time disjointed, but always beautiful.
I found the description of Ruth's stealing personal items from her sister and squirreling them away and bringing them out as fetishes when the need took her, piquantly sordid.
The Lake incident was heartbreaking and I had to stop reading and compose myself. Tragedy follows tragedy and we see Ruth gradually taking on the identity of Elizabeth. Disturbing at times. An emotional car smash; one cannot help but read in utter fascination.
It is a dark tale of a woman's obsession with her beautiful adopted older sister, and her resentment and growing hate for the beautiful, tall and lean, blond Elizabeth. The prose is precise and jagged. At time disjointed, but always beautiful.
I found the description of Ruth's stealing personal items from her sister and squirreling them away and bringing them out as fetishes when the need took her, piquantly sordid.
The Lake incident was heartbreaking and I had to stop reading and compose myself. Tragedy follows tragedy and we see Ruth gradually taking on the identity of Elizabeth. Disturbing at times. An emotional car smash; one cannot help but read in utter fascination.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having recently read Damage by the same author I was impatient to read Sin. Sin tells the somewhat disturbing tale of a woman obsessed with her sister with a mixture of love and hatred. The story is extremely readable, in fact I read it in one sitting, but the story is disturbing, and unlike Damage, I found it impossible to relate to Ruth, the main character, and unusually found myself totally disliking her. Both Damage and Sin are sinister tales of lust and spite, and although similar I can’t say that I actually enjoyed Sin, it had no particular outcome and left me feeling uncomfortable. However the book is very well written, and indeed is an easy read, but it tells the tale of an unkind, bitter and twisted individual and is frankly rather depressing. This will not however put me off reading further offerings by the same author, as I greatly appreciate her ability to describe emotion and engross the reader.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having recently read Damage by the same author I was impatient to read Sin. Sin tells the somewhat disturbing tale of a woman obsessed with her sister with a mixture of love and hatred. The story is extremely readable, in fact I read it in one sitting, but the story is disturbing, and unlike Damage, I found it impossible to relate to Ruth, the main character, and unusually found myself totally disliking her. Both Damage and Sin are sinister tales of lust and spite, and although similar I can’t say that I actually enjoyed Sin, it had no particular outcome and left me feeling uncomfortable. However the book is very well written, and indeed is an easy read, but it tells the tale of an unkind, bitter and twisted individual and is frankly rather depressing. This will not however put me off reading further offerings by the same author, as I greatly appreciate her ability to describe emotion and engross the reader.
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