A Helping Hand: Celia Dale

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A Helping Hand is a remarkably compelling slice of suburban horror, ideal for fans of Patricia Highsmith and Shirley Jackson – it really is that good. Fingal smiles as ‘gleefully’ as a ‘bride’; and Lena and Mrs Evans make up the bed with a rubber sheet in case of ‘disgusting’ accidents. Just as the Evanses’ plan is ticking along nicely, another player comes into the mix in the shape of Graziella – a sweet-natured Italian waitress from their holiday – in need of a place to stay. The novel’s first chapter is a masterclass in suburban unease, crammed with pension books and newspapers and tapestry footstools.

You know what old folk are, they get used to things being just as they like them, just as they’re used to. Celia Dale reminds me of Rachel Ingalls - both immensely tired, interested in the uncanny, subtle in their writing, overlooked but now finding a very deserved spotlight. Shirley Jackson’s The Road Through the Wall is a great example of this, as is Patricia Highsmith’s Deep Water.Hmm, I think comparing anything to Shirley Jackson sets a certain precedent, and whilst this was definitely similar in ways it didn’t quite deliver on the delicious sinister energy I was hoping for (though it was sinister but not quite with the same vibes! Even after finishing the book, you find yourself smiling, but also feeling uneasy with what you just read. It’s fascinating how suburbia so quickly became a place in books and films where white picket fences (or lace curtains), could conceal horrors. D. James in her writing and next time I read any of her work I will go in with slightly different expectations. Auntie Flo had lived with them for years until her death, leaving the Evans's her Estate, such as it was.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. When Auntie Flo, who has lived with them for years, dies and leaves them her Estate, they head to Italy on holiday, to take in the sea air and let the sun soak into their bones. Right from the very start, Dale hints at the Evanses’ true motivations for befriending these fellow Brits, with Maisie targeting Lena while Josh works his magic on Mrs F. Just writing about it was making me feel anxious, never mind the experience of reading the book itself!It’s a little like a form of sleep paralysis when your mind starts to wake from a dream but you can’t move your body because it’s still in sleep mode. The one and only thing I found to be on the negative side is that right after a rather stunning twist the story comes to a quick, almost rushed ending which was a bit disappointing, but in the long run it's really more about the getting there, and overall the novel is a true gut puncher. An absolute shoo-in for my end-of-year highlights, I devoured this brilliant, terrifying novel in my eagerness to reach the end. There is something deeply unnerving about a crime novel featuring an ordinary domestic setting – the type of story where sinister activities take place behind the veil of net curtains in the privacy of the protagonist’s home. Lena, for her part, is delighted to have an opportunity to offload her aunt onto someone else, leaving her free to focus on her work and entertaining men, while Mrs F can look forward to mild flirtations with Josh and some much-need company to stave off her loneliness.