The Publisher Says: "With you or without you," Margaret insists, and at these words George knows his only choice is to follow her. I will say the pacing felt a little off in places. I couldn't always quite work out the timeline of events. I don't think this necessarily had a huge negative impact on the plot in any way, it just gave me that feeling of being lost a few times. Also to note, the ending (which I absolutely adored) is one that's ambiguous, and I know this is something a lot of readers don't enjoy, so it's worth pointing out!⁠ Bentley (Deceased), R v | [1999] Crim LR 330 | England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) | Judgment | Law | CaseMine". www.casemine.com . Retrieved 28 September 2020. At last Ralph induced him to hold the shell but by then the blow of laughter had taken away the child’s voice. Piggy knelt by him, one hand on the great shell, listening and interpreting to the assembly. Peter Medak is scathing in his portrayal of the legal system. He has done an excellent job in showing the nature of the trial that was conducted for Bentley. In the courtroom, one can easily see that the judge and lawyers are towering over Bentley and asking him questions that the poor fellow couldn’t even fathom. Bentley was given no chance to save himself. The movie does well to question the proceedings of the trial and the rationale behind its judgement. It raises several pointed questions, like, how the court established Bentley’s intention to murder when he did not possess a gun in the first place?

A tree exploded in the fire like a bomb. Tall swathes of creepers rose for a moment into view, agonized, and went down again. The little boys screamed at them. Derek William Bentley (30 June 1933– 28 January 1953) was a British man who was hanged for the murder of a policeman during a burglary attempt. Christopher Craig, then aged 16, a friend and accomplice of Bentley, was accused of the murder. Bentley was convicted as a party to the crime under the English law principle of joint enterprise, as the burglary had been committed in mutual understanding and bringing deadly weapons. The outcome of the trial, and Home Secretary David Maxwell Fyfe's failure to grant clemency to Bentley, were highly controversial. I noticed a blurb mentioning this is meant to be literary horror, which tempered my expectations of jump scares, etc. slightly - but it's still a very slow drag of a book. I've read classic horror and enjoyed it, so complex wordiness is not the issue here, it's repetition and boring language used. Characters drink a lot of tea and wine. And if the idea of a maybe-possessed widower getting with his dead wife's twin unsettles you, I wouldn't recommend. Maxwell Fyfe, in the words of the letter sent out, failed to discover any sufficient ground to justify him in advising Her Majesty to interfere in the due course of the law. Alfie recently lost his wife, Pippa, and raising twin daughters, Sylvie and Cassia. His daughters are found standing at the foot of his bed in the middle of the night reporting a man is in their room. When the evidence is not there, he discounts it as psychological and missing their mom. He begins to have nightmares also and is afraid his dark secrets are haunting him. When he ask Pippa's twin sister Julia, a psychiatrist to come and observe the girls speaking to an imaginary friend, setting the table for him and speaking of what he is going to do them he needs some clarity of a dangerous presence.Bentley’s parents began a campaign to clear their son’s name, which was taken over by his sister Iris after they died during the 1970s. In 1993, forty years after he was put to death, Bentley was finally granted a royal pardon. The book features several passages that I thoroughly enjoyed, particularly in terms of the author's choice of words and phrasing. In just a few sentences, the author conveys an immense sense of despair and more. The crime scandalised the nation – especially as Bentley was known to have learning difficulties and Craig avoided a death sentence due to the fact that he was only 16 when he pulled the trigger.

Enlisting the help of his sister-in-law, a psychotherapist, they make a plan to figure out what is actually haunting the girls. Things take a turn though when the girls wake Alfie one night stating, 'Daddy, there's a man in our room...' The synopsis stated this as being a "creeping, gothic psychological suspense" and that is exactly what was delivered. Any horror novel involving children is sure to send shivers down my spine but when they are twins, living in this vast abode, and with their trauma so recent in their minds it was transformed massively into something I struggled reading after dark. There were a couple places towards the end where I got a little lost, but that could totally just be my own issue. Wandering mind and all that. Besides those couple of spots though, overall, I was extremely invested in this. The Krays” was about the most notorious gangsters in recent British history, twin brothers who ruled the East End in a reign of terror and violence. “Let Him Have It” is about a gentle youth, mentally subnormal, who falls in with a crowd of boys he admires, and is badgered by one of them into going along on a break-in.In 1948, Bentley and another youth were arrested for theft and sentenced to three years at Kingswood Training School on what is now Kennard Road, Bristol. Alfie wakes one night to find his twin daughters at the foot of his bed, claiming there’s a shadowy figure in their bedroom. When no such thing can be found, he assumes the girls had a nightmare. My father’s in the Navy. He said there aren’t any unknown islands left. He says the Queen has a big room full of maps and all the islands in the world are drawn there. So the Queen’s got a picture of this island.” I really enjoyed my time with this story. I did end up listening to the audiobook and appreciate that it included the use of dual narration. Having a different voice for both Alfie and Julia helped to bring the story to life.