The Beguiled

Ok, this is a crazy-mad piece of fiction which takes the Southern Gothic genre and ramps it up so far that it teeters on the brink of bonkers black comedy - yet I enjoyed it hugely.

Set against the American Civil War, a group of girls and women are holed up in a schoolhouse while the fighting goes on around them. The introduction of a wounded soldier into this hothouse atmosphere releases high emotions of sexuality, jealousy, passion and lies... and not a little violence. Only this 'cat amongst the pigeons' tale soon starts to veer away and we're rapidly beginning to wonder whether it's actually a case of a pigeon amongst cats...

The story is told via the voices of the women who pass the narrative baton to and fro, and they're not so much characters as functions of the story. It's hard, sometimes, to keep them separate in the mind precisely because they're just names and actions, and there are places where I had to just go with the flow. Cullinan writes a restrained, elegant prose which is gloriously, wildly at odds with the things that happen and it's this refusal to allow the overblown events to be duplicated in an overheated writing style which makes this work.

A surprising and surprisingly enjoyable read - but definitely mad!

I am keen to see this film soon and so when I came across the book listed on NetGalley, I requested a review copy straightaway. I wasn't disappointed. This is a--dare I say it--beguiling tale that creeps up on you. I love the multiple (and unreliable) narrations that constantly make you question who is telling the truth and what is really going on in that house. The first person narratives also contribute to the sense of claustrophobia that pervades the story. We really get deep into each character's head without ever knowing for certain if their slant on events is accurate, or innocent. The Gothic overtones blend seamlessly with the drama, and by the end you really don't know what to think, unable to tell whether the good triumphed or if it was all a facade. I am interested to see how this will work in the film version, especially with Johnny cast a lot older than he is portrayed in the book. I guess I'll find out soon.