A Helping Hand: Celia Dale

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With her eye for moral bankruptcy and what lies beneath seemingly respectable façades, Dale creates a world that is uniquely, wonderfully horrifying.’ Spectator I found Celia Dale's 1988 novel about a pair of female con artists in England worthwhile, but I was expecting it to be a murder mystery. True, someone dies as a result of one of the cons, but officialdom doesn't appear to notice the suspicious death or produce an investigator until halfway through the book, and anyway the tale is not really about an investigation. It's more of a character study.

In summary, then, an icy, utterly terrifying domestic noir that will chill you to the bone. All the more haunting for its grounding in apparent normality – the flat, characterless feel of the suburban setting is brilliantly evoked. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin. Interests and obsessions 19th Century 19th century British literature 19th century French literature 19th century Russian Literature 20th century Britain 20th century British fiction 20th century literature aging american crime fiction american fiction american noir fiction Australian fiction Balzac best of year Biography British crime fiction British fiction British Library Crime Classics California classic noir comic fiction crime fiction dysfunctional families femme fatale French crime fiction French fiction French literature German literature german literature month Golden Age of detective fiction Hard Case Crime holiday Hollywood humour infidelity Irish fiction Italian crime fiction Kindle La Comédie Humaine London made into film Memoirs miserable marriages murder New York New York Review Books noir noir fiction non-fiction obsession Paris PI series Poisoned Pen Press Pushkin Press Pushkin Vertigo Quotes relationships romans durs Rougon-Macquart Russian literature Russian Revolution Scottish crime fiction Scottish fiction series detective series novel series PI short stories short story collection siblings Simenon unreliable narrator vintage crime writer's life WWII Zola It’s a good thing really that Mrs. Fingal is not a particularly sympathetic character. Good for the reader that is. Maisie Evans, so experienced in the care of the elderly knows just what to do. … Celia Dale's writing is quiet, clever, subtle - and terrifying. I can't think of anyone whose stories of suspense I appreciate more.' Ruth RendellWith stealthy prose, Dale spins a story of kindness exploited, in a totally beautiful, terrifying suburban horror.’ The Face magazine Maisie:] ‘What d’you have to go out for? Oh, look what you’ve done, spilled egg on my nice clean tray cloth!’ While Maisie proceeds to wear down Mrs Fingal by restricting her movements, Josh can be equally sinister in his own chilling way, neglecting his charge for other, more interesting activities. As such, Mrs Fingal is left feeling lonely and confused, declining mentally and physically under the Evanses’ ‘care’.

Josh and Maisie Evans are Good Samaritans and enjoy lending a helping hand to lonely elderly ladies. Auntie Flo had lived with them for years until her death, leaving the Evans's her Estate, such as it was. It is natural, therefore, when they meet Mrs Fingal on holiday in Rimini that Mrs Fingal comes to live with them and stays in Auntie Flo's old room. Before the holiday is over, Cynthia decides she wants to live with Maisie and Josh which suits Lena. She practically begs the Evanses to take her aunt off her hands. After all, why not? The Evanses are experienced caretakers of the elderly. Mrs. Evans always seems to have various medicines on hand, and she’s a dull woman, respectable, caring, a wonderful cook and an avid crafter. Josh pays attention to Mrs. Fingal who soaks up male attention, so it’s an arrangement that suits everyone. And what a warm welcome the Evanses give Mrs Fingal when she arrives. It’s just a feeling. They take care of her, there’s no one else, poor thing. But I don’t know why they do it. They seem kind, they take care of her – but they don’t care for her.’ (p. 214) Celia Dale died on the 31st December 2011, just short of her hundredth birthday. - Excerpted from FantasticFiction

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The scheme proves watertight, and the women frequent betting shops, libraries, bingo halls, supermarkets, the post office (on pension days) and park benches (in fine weather), marking out their next target. I don't think the style is anything too special, but it's good and it works and honestly, that's the most important thing. The main focus is on how these characters and a range of old ladies see the world. There was a lot of wisdom about the psychological effects of declining faculties and also about 20-something Janice's belated awakening to life. There's a subtext about how we all blind ourselves to things we're not ready to see. Frankly, dear, I don’t. It would only unsettle her. She’s settled into our little home so well that I think it’s really only kind to leave her to her own little ways and routines. You know what old folk are, they get used to things being just as they like them, just as they’re used to. She’s as happy as a sandboy with me and Josh knowing just what she likes, and anything coming in new from the outside might only upset her again.’ (p. 118) Celia Dale’s writing is quiet, clever, subtle – and terrifying. I can’t think of anyone whose stories of suspense I appreciate more.’ Ruth Rendell

Mrs Fingal, a wealthy widow, finds the couple a refreshing change to her resentful niece and their understanding and sympathy to her situation, her loneliness and need for companionship, makes them the perfect people to look after her. Moving in with them is the ideal solution - one that is satisfactory to all parties. Not very much is known about the author Celia Dale except for a few scant details. Celia Dale was born in 1912 and she was daughter of the actor, James Dale and was married to the journalist and critic, Guy Ramsey until his death in 1959. She worked in Fleet Street and as a publishers adviser and book reviewer. Some of her books were dramatised on radio and TV. Dales first book appeared in 1943 but it was her later novels where she branched out in to the realms of psychological crime. In all, Dale produced thirteen novels and a collection of short stories. A fascinating portrayal of dysfunctional relationship, resentments, greed and opportunities very sharply observed’ Paul Burke, Crime Time FM Middle-aged Josh and Maisie Evans lead an unremarkable, unassuming life. When Auntie Flo, who has lived with them for years, dies and leaves them her Estate, they head to Italy on holiday, to take in the sea air and let the sun soak into their bones. It’s there they meet Mrs Fingal. A wealthy widow, she lives with her grown-up niece Lena and it’s pretty clear that neither is happy with the situation. So when Josh and Maisie bond with Mrs Fingal, over ice-cream and gentle toddles, it’s only natural that they all decide she should must move in with them once home. It suits everyone.

Only Graziella, the innocent pregnant woman from Italy, can bring some light into this dingy, oppressively bland suburban setting. It's at times heavy handed, but it's not overwraught. Another twisted tale from Celia Dale and one that I can’t help but think could’ve only come from someone writing in their later years. This feels like Dale reflecting on fears of the elderly, she herself was in her 70s when she wrote this, and it’s an effective one.

Celia Dale took everyday domestic situations and gave them a bitter twist. In Helping with Enquiries there are only three main protagonists, their story revolving around the murder of the mother. In A Helping Hand the vulnerability of the elderly is masterfully portrayed. Dale won the 1986 Crime Writers Association Veuve Cliquot Short Story Award for Lines of Communication which appears in her short story collection, A Personal Call and other stories which show that Dale had the short story down to a fine art. Her final book in 1988 was Sheeps Clothing.

Books by Celia Dale

The reader becomes complicit in the abuse, as Dale writes Cynthia, the victim, as a clingy, needy woman, who latches on to men and flirts.