"The Other House" - a thriller

[Gladys]

Have others read Henry James' 1896 suspense thriller, "The Other House"? With blatant and imponderable ambiguity on every page, the novel is so different from his understated earlier novel, "Washington Square" (1880). I intend to read "The Awkward Age" (1899) next.

While I found "The Other House" enticing reading, I had immense difficulty in seeing malignity in Rose Armiger until she was exposed as the murderer. On re-reading the first chapter, I see her family background was noxious, she hates children, harmless Mrs Beever dislikes her, and Rose speaks with cryptic irony.

Still, murdering Effie on the day she returns from a four year absence seems a bit much. Did she kill to win over Tony, or to frame and foil Jean Martle? Winning Tony, by renouncing at once her supposed engagement to Dennis, seems far-fetched. And is her motive simply blind jealousy?