The Masters of the House - Softcover

Barnard, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006493262 ISBN 13: 9780006493266

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1995

Synopsis

The children of Ellen Heenan strive to hide their father's insanity, after his wife died in childbirth. At first his madness is interpreted as insatiable grief, but then people start to pry and the children realize they are playing a dangerous game.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Ellen Heenan’s older children could never have predicted that their mother’s death would drive their father over the edge and into madness. Nor could they have known that this would force them to take the first steps in a dangerous game – hiding his insanity at all costs.

In the beginning their efforts succeed beyond all expectation and their father’s strange behaviour is interpreted as desperate grief. But then the prying begins, and the children come to dread the scrutiny of blowsy Carmen O’Keefe. As her attentions become ever more aggressive, they start to wonder whether they have grasped the full truth behind the situation. Especially when they find a body...

“The psychological suspense is chilling”
THE TIMES

“Barnard at the very top of his form”
SCOTSMAN

About the Author:

Robert Barnard was born and brought up in Essex. After reading English at Balliol College, Oxford, he worked for a time for the Fabian Society, and in 1961 became lecturer in English at the University of New England, in New South Wales. He taught in Norway for seventeen years from 1966, and in 1983 came back to Britain to write full time. As well as nearly thirty mysteries, he has written books on Dickens, Agatha Christie and a history of English Literature. He and his wife now live in Leeds.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0006493262
• ISBN 13: 9780006493266
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 186