Quiet Dell

A Novel

By: Jayne Anne Phillips

Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Night Watch, a spectacularly riveting novel based on a real-life crime by a con man who preyed on widows: “a brilliant fusion of fact and fiction” (Stephen King).

In Chicago in 1931, Asta Eicher, a lonely mother of three, is desperate for money after the sudden death of her husband. She begins to receive seductive letters from a chivalrous, elegant man named Harry Powers, who promises to cherish and protect her, ultimately to marry her and to care for her and her children. Weeks later, Asta and her three children are dead.

Emily Thornhill, one of the few women journalists in the Chicago press, wants to understand what happened to this beautiful family, particularly to the youngest child, Annabel, an enchanting girl with a precocious imagination and sense of magic. Determined, Emily travels to West Virginia to cover the murder trial and to investigate the story herself, accompanied by a charming and unconventional photographer equally drawn to the case. These heroic characters, driven by secrets of their own, will stop at nothing to ensure Powers is convicted.

A tragedy, a love story, and a tour de force of obsession, Jayne Anne Phillips’s Quiet Dell “hauntingly imagines the victims’ hopes, dreams, and terror” (O, The Oprah Magazine). It is a mesmerizing and deeply moving novel from one of America’s most celebrated writers.

Didn't expect this to be so good!

The basis of this book is a true life grisly story so I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't want something too lurid but had read very good reviews about the book so bought it. I am so glad I did. The author's writing is so elegant and I loved the way she weaves fiction into the facts of the story. If she had just stuck to the facts of the story it would not have been half as interesting. While some people might find the supernatural parts of the story a little strange I thought it was an affecting way to bring out the special personality of the youngest child in this tragic story.

Slow start, but good read once you get in

It could have been my mood, but when I started this book the first time, I couldn't focus so I listened to another couple of books instead. I came back to it eventually and am glad I did. The book had me wanting to learn more about the victims of the killer and other people involved in related events at the time. This is a well written imagined account of people involved in a true crime and beautifully focused on imagined lives and hopes rather than the horrible moments leading to death. Rightly, very little time is given to the killer except to support the story. The story may be fiction, but it is based on a true and horrendous crime.

Captures a bygone era but still relevant...

Any additional comments?

Substitue internet sites for old singles ads and you get the basic problem of how do you know if someone is who they present themselves to be? I like a good mystery, however, in this book the story is basically known at the beginning. The book is based upon (and in fact a quick search shows it follows the facts of the case closely) a true story. What made this so great to listen to is the language. The tone, the characters, even the whole tidy way things turn out was...well, right. It fit and yet was suprising. It caputered a time when social convention was quite clear and adhered to in appearance if not in fact. The whole thing could have been a sickening romance except that given the gruesome, tragic nature of the factual events, the dignity, kindness and humanity of the fictional characters gave balance to what would have otherwise been a revolting story of man at his worst.
This listen is a slow, meant-to-be savored listen. Its appeal will most likely not be universal, but for those who have the time it is truly an enjoyable listen. No junk fiction nausea, hangover or guilt. The reader did a great job in that her voice was never a distraction, she was believeable and her tone, the words and content all fit together quite beautifully. Would give it five stars but I feel obliged to save those for the truly exceptional.

Quiet Dell

The love story was forced in to alleviate the pain of the history lesson we endured.

Not Quiet in Quiet Dell

Being from the area I recall the places the story was done well but graphic love scene details could be omitted