Hours Before Dawn

Review Excellent . This sharp, tense, clever novel, still readable and relevant all these years later, is a testament to changing social attitudes. ― Literary Review Celia Fremlin, who died aged 94 in 2009, can be labelled the grandmother of psycho-domestic noir, usually filled with women undergoing danger. Fremlin wrote rather better that most of her of literary grandchildren, as the reprint of her 1958 debut novel demonstrates. Louise is the exhausted mother of a crying baby. To make ends meet, she and her husband take in a lodger, a middle-aged woman. Slowly, a sinister atmosphere builds up. There's something wrong, Louise suspects - or is her tiredness driving her mad? ― Sunday Times Celia Fremlin is an astonishing writer, who explores that nightmare country where brain, mind and self battle to establish the truth. She illuminates her dark world with acute perception and great wit. -- Natasha Cooper Tightly plotted and admirably concise... Fremlin expertly ratchets up the tension, notch by notch. -- Laura Wilson Highly intelligent entertainment, beautifully written with wit and humour. -- Frances Fyfield It grips like grim death. ― Spectator A true timeless classic... the writing style is sharp, evocative and ageless... the well-metered descent from normality to sinister is like watching the sun go down, knowing you are terrified of the dark. The insidiousness drips in, filling the reader with suspicion, yet we must wait until the end to understand the enormity of the evil within Louise's house. ― Crime Review Product Description Discover the original psychological thriller... Winner of the 1960 Edgar Award for best mystery novel 'A lost masterpiece.' PETER SWANSON 'A flawless masterclass in tension from the talented Ms Fremlin.' SARAH HILARY Louise would give anything - anything - for a good night's sleep. Forget the girls running errant in the garden and bothering the neighbours. Forget her husband who seems oblivious to it all. If the baby would just stop crying, everything would be fine. Or would it? What if Louise's growing fears about the family's new lodger, who seems to share all of her husband's interests, are real? What could she do, and would anyone even believe her? Maybe, if she could get just get some rest, she'd be able to think straight. In a new edition of this lost classic, The Hours Before Dawn proves - scarily - as relevant to readers today as it was when Celia Fremlin first wrote it in the 1950s. Book Description Discover the original psychological thriller, as a sleep deprived young mother struggles to stay sane. About the Author Celia Fremlin (1914-2009) was born in Kent and educated at Berkhamsted School for Girls and Somerville College, Oxford, where she read classics and philosophy. During the Second World War she worked for the Mass Observation project, an experience that resulted in her first published book, War Factory (1943, available in Faber Finds), which recorded the experiences and attitudes of women war workers in a radar equipment factory outside Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Her first published novel of suspense was The Hours Before Dawn (1958), which went on to win the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe award for best crime novel in 1960. Over the next 35 years Fremlin published a further eighteen titles, including three collections of stories. Faber Finds is proud to be reissuing Celia Fremlin's complete oeuvre in paperback and ebook. '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 'Celia Fremlin is an astonishing writer, who explores that nightmare country where brain, mind and self battle to establish the truth. She illuminates her dark world with acute perception and great wit.' Natasha Cooper Celia Fremlin (1914-2009) was born in Kent. Her first published novel of suspense wa