The Blank Wall

by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding

Persephone book no:

41 42 43

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WITH A PUBLISHER'S NOTE
240pp
ISBN 9781903155325

Raymond Chandler once asked his English publisher, 'Does anybody in England publish Elisabeth Sanxay Holding? For my money she's the top suspense writer of them all.'

First published in 1947, The Blank Wall is a novel which explores both the everyday realities of the American home front – rationing and shortages, writing letters to a husband at war, and managing a household – but also the darker, more unexpected challenges that arise in times of crisis. Lucia Holley, a mother of two in New York with a husband serving in the Navy, finds herself unexpectedly entangled in a web of criminal activity. Fiercely protective of her family, she is forced to navigate deception and danger to protect them and their reputations.

Elisabeth Sanxay Holding beautifully blends the thriller genre with the domestic, creating a novel that is both gripping and unsettling. The Blank Wall is a masterful exploration of suspense, in which the dangers of war are mirrored by the quiet, yet equally treacherous, perils of home life.

The Blank Wall is not only a compelling suspense novel, but also a striking portrayal of quiet heroism, maternal love and the heroine's relationship with those around her, especially her children and her maid. It is a truly outstanding example of the psychological thriller genre, as well as a highly unusual one due to its female focus.

The Blank Wall was filmed as The Reckless Moment, with James Mason, in 1949 and as The Deep End, starring Tilda Swinton, in 2001.

Also available as a Persephone eBook.

Endpaper

A late 1940s furnishing fabric was our choice of endpaper for The Blank Wall; it was manufactured and sold in the USA.

Picture Caption

Still from the 1949 film adaptation of The Blank Wall: The Reckless Moment starred Joan Bennett and James Mason.

Read What Readers Say

Gaby Wood, ’The Observer’

In my opinion, a perfect thriller - because its thrills arise accidentally, incidentally, and then, in collusion with human nature, conspire to take over the plot… Who really did it, and whether they get caught, becomes almost superfluous, Here the suspense is embedded in a tragedy of manners…. A classic of suspense fiction.

Antonia Fraser, ‘The Spectator’

‘The Blank Wall’ is on the one hand an illustration of the old adage, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave / When first we practise to deceive. On the other hand it is a brilliant psychological thriller with twists and turns, both morally and amorally, worthy of the great Patricia Highsmith herself… [although] Sanxay Holding was Highsmith’s senior by thirty-two years. That admirable institution, Persephone Books, has produced an edition, complete with Edward Bawdenesque endpapers, which makes this racy, suspenseful tale a pleasure to read. I certainly feel I have been introduced to a masterpiece.

mslizreads via Instagram

Quite a page-turner… it’s also an interesting snapshot of women’s lives in the early 1940s, particularly the challenges and frustrations of everyday domestic life, the imposed dependence on men (financial and otherwise), and the relationship between a (white) housewife and her (black) servant.

Categories: America Mothers Overseas Thrillers