← Back to discovery

Illusions

Charlotte Vale Allen

1987289 pagesabout 4–7 hours
1987
first published
  • 1987Weidenfeld and Nicolson · 289 pages · ENGISBN 9780297791584
  • 1987Atheneum · 289 pages · ENGISBN 9780689118913
  • 1987McClelland & Stewart · 289 pages · ENGISBN 9780771007453
  • 1988Penguin · 289 pages · ENGISBN 9780140109832

When Stanleigh Dunn, an award-winning author of children's books notable for her complexly intricate illustrations, meets Daniel Goddard on a flight to London, they are each (although unknown to the other) in the grip of a terrible loss. Their chance encounter develops into an ambivalent but sexually charged relationship that is colored by their grief. While she is both seductive and dismissing, he becomes progressively more obsessed until, finally, what began as the attempt of two wounded people to find solace in each other's company culminates in a shocking episode of kidnapping and sexual abuse whose powerful evocation will hold the reader in a thrall of horror and fascination.

Worth knowing

Romance levelSubplot

When and where

ThemesLove
How do you feel?