Wish Her Safe At Home (New York Review Books)
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Review
This wonderful tale of eccentricity follows the transformation of dreary office worker Rachel Waring when she inherits a luxorious Georgian mansion. As her hold on reality gradually loosens the neighbours are left questioning her sanity. --Daily Express
[Benatar] is one of the talented. He writes wonderfully about failed lives, missed opportunities and the seductive dreams of second chances. Wish Her Safe at Home is a gripping and haunting story… --Sunday Times
[Benatar] is one of the talented. He writes wonderfully about failed lives, missed opportunities and the seductive dreams of second chances. Wish Her Safe at Home is a gripping and haunting story… --Sunday Times
Product Description
Who hasn't imagined winning the lottery or coming into an inheritance? Wouldn't it be great to chuck your old workaday life and live it up somewhere else? At the start of Wish Her Safe at Home, Rachel Waring seems to be experiencing a dream come true: out of nowhere, her great-aunt leaves her a mansion-and she moves in without delay. Gone is Rachel's administrative job, her mousy wardrobe, her downer of a roommate. From now on she will be a woman of leisure, devoted to beauty, creativity, and expression. She plants a garden, takes up writing, and impresses everyone she meets with her extraordinary optimism. But as we watch Rachel singing and joking away her days, we begin to wonder if she might be taking her transformation just a bit too far. In Wish Her Safe at Home, Stephen Benatar has created a masterpiece of humor and horror. In the words of The Times Literary Supplement, Rachel is "Scarlett O'Hara, Blanche DuBois, Snow White, and Miss Havisham all rolled into one."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book after reading an article about the author in a popular Sunday newspaper. It described the author and his struggles in getting his work out to the reading public. The years from when he started writing when he was young to now when in his 70's he has been taking his books to bookstores and promoting himself. It was an intriguing story and had me ordering this book straightaway, which I imagine others did. I read it in two days and found it so entrancing and beautifully told that I didn't want to put it down and was left thinking about it and its main character for longer than I have done on any recently read books. It took you into this womans life and I found myself recognising many of her thoughts and it was scary to see how similar we as human beings are in some of the ways we react to things. It certainly made me realise how intricate on many levels our characters can be. The only thing I would say is not to read the Introduction before you read the story. I didn't (which is unusual for me) and was glad that I didn't. When I read it after reading the book it was interesting to see how it had been interpreted but would have ruined the story and would have put thoughts in ones head which the reader needs to think through for themselves. I'm sure that article in the newspaper has brought or will bring the success that this author deserves and shows that there are lots of authors with brilliant books out there which need discovering and brought to our attention.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This really is a superb novel. (Originally published in 1982, this is the updated, revised edition.) From the outset, it's clear that there's obviously something not quite right about the main character, Rachel Waring... The way Stephen Benatar gradually draws the reader in is beautifully controlled and utterly compelling. This is a work of understated genius. I couldn't believe how good it was, and so I let my wife read it and she agrees. (She's a graduate in English and well-read and thinks it's not only unique but up there with the best books she's ever read...). Not suprising then that Professor John Carey - perhaps the most informed critic in the UK - says that he still regrets to this day that he didn't use his position as Chairman of the Booker Panel to ensure that this book won the Booker prize in 1982! A literary masterpiece!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In this absorbing and unsettling novel, the heroine, Rachel, inherits a house in Bristol, and sets about making a new life for herself there. Her bright demeanour, love of a happy tune, and care of her appearance, make her a woman we can like, despite her obvious eccentricity - she is painfully inept at interpersonal relationships, and quick to take offence. Gradually the story darkens as she slips into further delusions about herself and others, and begins conversing with a former, deceased, resident of the house. Her breakdown is so subtle and gradual that we are as frightened and shocked as she is by the ending.
If a mark of a great novel is to be thought-provoking and memorable then this is definitely one.
If a mark of a great novel is to be thought-provoking and memorable then this is definitely one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"If this were an invasion of the body snatchers, would you be one of...
Stephen Benatar, whose first two novels received wide acclaim and prize nominations but slow sales when they were published in the early 1980s, has been self-publishing and... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mary Whipple
One of the Best
Stephen Benatar's novel Wish Her Safe at Home is, according to John Carey's introduction, `an impressive study of [a] woman going quietly and genteelly crazy. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. D. James
Unusual, gripping, poignant
I bought this book having read an article about the author in 'The Week' which made me curious.
It is very cleverly written, as you gradually witness the developing... Read more
It is very cleverly written, as you gradually witness the developing... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Carole Anne Richards
what a find!
Recently I read an article about this author in the review section of one of the broadsheets.
Mainly concerned with the fact that he was promoting his books on the... Read more
Mainly concerned with the fact that he was promoting his books on the... Read more
Published on 27 May 2010 by John Craig
Wish Her Safe at Home; A story to delve directly into (Read...
The book arrived in timely fashion and in as-new condition. It's a captivating tale of fantasy slowly replacing unfulfilled dreams; a story of one's reconstructed outlook on life... Read more
Published on 18 May 2010 by Tina B
Unsettling slide into delusion
Unlike several wonderfully written novels, by women, which explore a journey into madness within the setting of a very dramatic scenario, this book, by a male author, writing... Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2010 by Lady Fancifull
overdue review
Purchased in August 2008 ,as Stephen Benatar was book signing in Waterstones at Watford.Took this on a short break away,did not read the introduction,as it advised the plot may be... Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2009 by Mrs. V. Rafferty
Beautifully crafted character study
Stephen Benatar was signing copies of his book in Waterstones Greenwich and approached me as I dashed in and out for an emergency gift. Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2008 by Lynne
gripping subtle thriller
I loved this book! Was lent to me by a friend, so knew little about it when I read it.
I don't want to give away too much, so won't describe the plot, but found it to be a... Read more
I don't want to give away too much, so won't describe the plot, but found it to be a... Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2008 by Daniel J. F. I'anson
Excellent tale of madness
I totally loved this book - a woman's descent into madness and you "see" inside her head - very disturbing but also warm, witty and satisfying. Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2007 by Sarah Reader
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