Showing results for "Ethel Lina White" in Literature & Fiction

A novelist ambles down the lanes of a cosy country village, replete with Tudor houses and quaint cottages. In her writer's mind she pictures the sordid truth beyond the veneer, a seemingly laughable proposition - until the coming of the letters. Anonymous letters from a poisoned pen, sowing discord and defaming everybody from the Rector to the 'queen of the village' Miss Decima Asprey. Naturally, where there is venom in the air and dark secrets are threatening to come to light, the shadow of death is not far behind.

Ethel Lina White was born on the 2nd April 1876 in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, in Wales. Ethel started writing when she was only a child and published essays and poems in children’s papers. She was also a talented artist. Perhaps her best-known books are the ‘The Lady Vanishes’ and ‘The Spiral Staircase’ both of which were originally entitled differently but were republished with new names after being filmed. Whilst today she lacks attention, in her day she was as popular and as highly regarded as Agatha Christie.

Questa scrittrice britannica raggiunse la popolarità negli anni '30 e '40 come scrittrice di romanzi gialli. L'ambientazione di questo, in una casa isolata della campagna inglese, riporta al gusto dei classici thriller psicologici dell'epoca, di cui la Christie fu l'esponente più famosa. In questo volume, il cui secondo titolo era "Qualcuno deve vegliare", la suspence cresce di pagina in pagina, e nel corso del romanzo vengono seminati indizi per permettere al lettore di formare le proprie ipotesi, senza però che questo compito gli sia facile.

"The Lady Vanishes" erschien 1936 zunächst unter dem Titel "The Wheel Spins". Eine schöne Analogie, denn die Geschichte spielt nicht nur überwiegend in einem fahrenden Zug - auch die Protagonistin scheint ein bisschen durchgedreht zu sein: Iris, eine frivole junge Engländerin im Italienurlaub, erleidet am Rückreisetag am Bahnhof des glühend heißen Ferienorts einen Schwächeanfall. In letzter Minute landet sie in einem ebenfalls völlig überhitzen Abteil zwischen einer italienischen Familie, einer düsteren Baroness und Miss Froy, einer geschwätzigen Gouvernante, die sich um die immer noch schwache Iris kümmert, ihr aber bald auf die Nerven geht.

Hörspielbearbeitung und Regie: Regine Ahrem. Ein geheimnisvoller Mädchenmörder sorgt in der englischen Provinz für Angst und Schrecken. Immer näher rückt die Spur seiner Verbrechen zu dem einsamen Landhaus vor, in dem die junge Helen als Dienstmädchen arbeitet. Während draußen ein Gewitter tobt, das alle Straßen unpassierbar macht, mehren sich die Anzeichen, dass der Mörder bereits im Innern des Hauses ist.