The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns

The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns

'A small Gothic masterpiece . . . I have read it many times, and with every re-read I marvel again at its many qualities' SARAH WATERS
'A wonderful and original novel' ALAN HOLLINGHURST
'The strange off-beat talent of Barbara Comyns [whose] innocent eye observes with child-like simplicity the most fantastic or the most ominous occurrence' GRAHAM GREENE
'Quite simply, Comyns writes like no one else' MAGGIE O'FARRELL

I comforted myself with the knowledge that at least I wasn't earthbound like most people.

In a house full of screeching animals in Edwardian South London, Alice lives in the shadow of her domineering father. Longing to escape, she retreats ever deeper into a world of memories, fantasies and rapturous longings - until she discovers an extraordinary secret power of her own. But the strange events that unfold lead her, dressed in bridal white, to a scene of ecstatic triumph and disaster among the crowds on Clapham Common.

Blackly funny and indelibly haunting, The Vet's Daughter combines shocking realism with a visionary edge.

INTRODUCED BY JANE GARDAM

Born in 1909 at Bidford-on-Avon, Barbara Comyns was educated mainly by governesses until she went to art schools in Stratfordupon-Avon and London. She started writing fiction at the age of ten and her first novel, Sisters by a River, was published in 1947. She also worked in an advertising agency, a typewriting bureau, dealt in old cars and antique furniture, bred poodles, converted and let flats, and exhibited pictures in The London Group. She was married first in 1931, to an artist, and for the second time in 1945. With her second husband she lived in Spain for eighteen years. She died in 1992.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780349019666
ISBN 10	0349019665
Title	The Vet's Daughter
Author	Barbara Comyns
Series	Virago Modern Classics
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Virago
Year published	2026-01-23
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.