The Vet's Daughter

This is a terrific novel, no question about it. It is short but dense with detailed observations by an acute albeit hugely inexperienced narrator. She is frustratingly accepting of her various fates, and yet also admirably watching out for her own interests. Thus, like all the characters, she is complex. On the other hand, there are evil beings herein, who may even outdo Dickens in that department. The narrator is a female David Copperfield, but with some decided twists that make the novel quite unDickensian in the end. In fact, the literal end(ing) almost undoes the whole novel, in my opinion. (SPOILER ALERT. The following comments might "give away" the ending a bit.) Besides a different trajectory from what a Dickens reader would expect, as well as what nature herself would allow -- so far so good, though -- a downright sin is that the very ending simply makes no sense with regard to the narrative structure of the book. Nevertheless, as I say, the novel is a must-read for anyone who loves good writing and truly gripping narrative.

I originally bought this because I'm slowly working my way through the NYBR Classics list. I'm really torn with this one. Alice had an ethereal quality that the author portrayed perfectly, vividly. On the other hand there were some gaps in the story itself. When I got to the end I couldn't help feeling that I'd missed something along the way. A strange story with a decidedly gothic feel.

The Vet's Daughter is one of a kind. The writing itself is gorgeous, and if you are a writer, the attention to hyper-detailing and hallucinatory images alone would make this short novel worth your time. Comyns has created a world view where the narrator doesn't grow up to understand reality in the same terms as those surrounding her, which makes for a fascinating, supernatural tale.

Terrific book, great story, great writer- ok shape; as a used book I don't expect perfection

I am reading all of Barbara's books. She astounds me. Her heroines are vivid, tragic, amusing, brave and enduring. I love love love this writer and this book was spectacular.

This is a really fabulous and strange little book that was recommended to me by a writing teacher. Magical, hallucinatory, intriguing, and surprisingly little-known, I'd recommend this book to other readers who enjoy strong female protagonists, magical realism, the unexpected, and the extraordinary.

The writing in this book is so strange and vivid... reading this small book left me breathless. It starts out as a small story about a wretched girl and her horrible upbringing, then becomes kind of a fantasy, which I didn't so much care for. But still, the whole book is so original that I have recommended it to a bunch of friends.

An interesting example of magical realism in a British novel of the sixties... Well worth reading, if only because it is a literary curiosity.

Hard to find her work

A wonderful quirky book which I read after reading 'Our spoons came from Woolworths' and 'The Juniper tree' by the same author- both of which I also loved. The Vet's daughter tells of young girl living in a totally dysfunctional famiy with her invalid mother and abusive and drunken vet father. The girl Alice Rowlands looks after her very sick mother until she dies and is then left with a father of whom she is terrified and who treats her as a servant looking after both he, his lady friend and the father's collection of animals. This book is so surreal and unusual and with such black humour that one must not be put off by the basic storyline. Alice finds that she can levitate and this eventually leads to the books very unpredictable ending. This is a book I just could not put down and I cannot recommend it enough. This is a totally new writer for me and I just wish that she had written more books before she died.

I felt it was a weird yet beautiful one, if that makes sense. Alice Rowlands, the narrator, grows up like a shadow in her unpredictable family. Her home is a place where affection is scarce and fear fills every quiet moment. And I have to say it plainly: I hated her father. Every scene with him made my stomach tighten because his cruelty was so casual and so constant. The story begins in a harsh, painfully ordinary world and then slowly slips into something strange and uncanny. The shift feels natural, almost like Alice’s inner world is reaching for a place where she can finally breathe when real life offers her nothing. That gentle blend of the mundane and the surreal is what makes the novel even more beautiful. Comyns’ writing is simple and delicate, yet it carries a weight that lingers. I am genuinely glad I came across her work. I would definitely recommend it. However, note that the book deals with emotional abuse, neglect, and controlling family dynamics. None of it is graphic, but the atmosphere can feel heavy. If you are okay with that, this little novel is absolutely worth reading.

Seventeen-year-old Alice lives in Edwardian times in a gloomy Battersea house (near ‘a great red railway arch that crossed the road like a heavy rainbow’) with her dying mother, her cruel bully of a father and various unhappy animals, hoping for better things to come. I hadn’t heard of Comyns until this fourth novel of hers (1959) was suggested in the group that, pre-Covid 19, was revisiting twentieth-century fiction. It’s a dark little book, which I won’t spoil by telling more of the story. There’s a dash of magical realism which works movingly within a story otherwise governed by normal laws of cause and effect. The writing is lovely. Graham Greene praised the book’s ‘innocent eye which observes with childlike simplicity the most fantastic or the most ominous occurrence’. (He might also have praised her greater ability than his to bring Clapham Common faithfully to life! – I was frustrated by how vague and plain wrong the Common was in The End of the Affair.) Recommended, though best have something jolly lined up to follow it.

A dark and gothic novella about a 17 year old girl navigating existence after her mother’s demise. Narrated from the POV of the girl, the story is quirky and humorous on the surface while laden with existential themes. And when you think you have figured it out, it shocks you with its dark twists and turns. I enjoyed reading this book and found it truly unique. Do check the trigger warnings before reading it!