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'Britain's equivalent to Patricia Highsmith, Celia Fremlin wrote psychological thrillers that changed the landscape of crime fiction for ever: her novels are domestic, subtle, penetrating - and quite horribly chilling.' Andrew Taylor Appointment with Yesterday (1972), Celia Fremlin's eighth novel, concerns a woman who calls herself Milly Barnes. But this is not her real name - for 'Milly' is on the run, driven by her terrible panic that at any moment the remorseless arm of the law will catch up with her. 'Not less horrible than illicit deaths are the horrors that lurk in female domesticity, and Celia Fremlin has long been the mistress of their fictional presentation. Here, in the best so far of her always good books, she has fused both, in an excellent terror novel.' TLS
About the author
Celia Fremlin (1914-2009) was born in Kent and spent her childhood in Hertfordshire, before studying at Oxford (whilst working as a charwoman). During World War Two, she served as an air-raid warden before becoming involved with the Mass Observation Project, collaborating on a study of women workers, War Factory. In 1942 she married Elia Goller, moved to Hampstead and had three children. In 1968, their youngest daughter committed suicide aged 19; a month later, her husband also killed himself. In the wake of these tragedies, Fremlin briefly relocated to Geneva. In 1985, she married Leslie Minchin, with whom she lived until his death in 1999. Over four decades, Fremlin wrote sixteen celebrated novels - including the classic summer holiday seaside mystery Uncle Paul (1959) - one book of poetry and three story collections. Her debut The Hours Before Dawn won the Edgar Award in 1960.
Summary
Concerns a woman who calls herself Milly Barnes. But this is not her real name - for 'Milly' is on the run, driven by her terrible panic that at any moment the remorseless arm of the law will catch up with her.
