No Night Is Too Long

Barbara Vine

Editions

Review

A young male student embarks on a passionate homosexual affair with his tutor, whilst studying at an East Anglian university (Vine's favourite area of England, apparently). What follows is at first superficially a description of the affair and its course - but the relationship takes a more sinister turn, with the older man's growing obsession with his younger lover.

Add to this the usual psychological complications which are so much a trademark of Barbara Vine - in this case, the younger man falls for the tutor's sister - and the stage is set for a terrific drama. A field trip to the wilds of the North Atlantic ends in tragedy, and our narrator confesses to a terrible crime. The prose is lyrical, and the story compelling - Vine is masterful at keeping the reader's concentration where she wamts it - so much so that it's almost easy to forget that this is a thriller.  Right until the very end, that is. - review by Dan Fenton