I read the book; have not seen the movie, so I'll relate the book storyline as best I can. SPOILER WARNING!!!! Sean P and E. Hurley never had an affair; she was a huge fan of his poetry and she adored the poet. That was all there was. The wife was a very confused woman, who did tried to seduced her husband's brother when they were in the island. However, it went nowhere, the brother was a decent guy, who admitted to having kinda of a crush on her once, but who was not going to pursued it at all. They returned to the boat and a storm developed much faster than anticipated. Elizabeth H. character is left to care for the little girl inside the lower compartment, even though she is absolutely terrified of the storm. At one point, the wife is left to hold on to the boat, Elizabeth H. comes up from the compartment to throw up. The wife calls her and when she turns the sail knocks her out of the boat. In the mess that follows in trying to rescue Elizabeth H. nobody realizes that the little girl had come up as well and gone overboard. She drowns.
The girl-murderer never confessed. She wrote it all in a letter that was mailed after her death. When the trial was over, her husband had sent her back to Norway because he did suspected her of the murders all along. The letter was mailed to him, who had since re-married and had children, but it never reached him. The letter was placed in a box with other documents from the time, but nobody ever paid attention to it until the wife discovered it in the box in the library. At the end of the book, she destroys the letter.
The book blew me away; I could not sleep the night I finished it.
reply
share