Remarkably clever. I think he must be a fan of Wilkie Collins. The unreliable narrator keeps you guessing throughout. The ending was a bit abrupt and the characters less than likable.The extreme language and perversity made it the most anti- Victorina, victorian novel ever. Good read ( )

Ratings on GoodReads don't do justice to this book. Way better than any mystery I have ever read. It is not so much about the crime. The author dissects unfathomable darkness of people who even let kinship take a backseat to further their good. ( )

Slow pacing story, not at all exciting so I put it away without even finishing it. ( )

Listened to this as an Audible book. The narration was excellent, the story not so much. It's a grim tale of mystery and betrayal, without much sub-stratum of likeability. The main character is victimized, but also a victimizer. The mise-en-scene is interesting: marshy, dour 19th century England in claustrophobic small-town society. ( )

Couched in true Victorian fashion as a rediscovered manuscript, Rustication is told in diary format, unveiling the story of Richard Shenstone. In winter 1863 Richard returns home from Cambridge, whence he has been ignominiously expelled (a fact he chooses to keep quiet for now), hoping for an indulgent welcome from his sister and recently widowed mother. Their newly straitened circumstances have brought his mother to a bleak, windswept, isolated house on the edge of a salt-marsh. As if the location wasn’t grim enough, Richard swiftly realises that he isn’t quite as welcome as he thought he’d be. Worse still, he isn’t the only one who’s hiding something, and he’s about to find that no one can be trusted...

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2019/02/07/rustication-charles-palliser/ ( )