Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Fans of Hart's bestselling Damage will undoubtedly flock to the bookstores to snatch up her second novel, but they may be disappointed by this one, which essentially marks her as a one-note writer. Again there is an insistent yet oblique narrative voice; this time it belongs to Ruth, who is insanely envious of her cousin/sister Elizabeth, adopted by Ruth's parents when her own family died in an accident. Calling herself a ``malevolent creature,'' Ruth realizes that her desire to destroy kind, generous Elizabeth is the expression of a warped psyche. When she succeeds in seducing Elizabeth's husband, Sir Charles, Ruth exults in their lasciviously detailed red-hot sex, but after he repudiates her, she experiences terrible pain. The staccato sentences that successfully propelled Damage are here reduced to fragments so truncated they cry out for parody; elsewhere, Hart's prose is terminally overwrought: ``Ferocity had etched something high, cold and silver onto my face.'' Readers will discern a pattern in Hart's plot technique: obsession leads to evil, betrayal and lust, then to painfully ironic complications and eventually to tragic, symbolic retribution. The trouble this time around is that the melodrama palls and the frisson of suspense is lacking. 100,000 first printing; BOMC alternate. (Aug. )
Library Journal
This fascinating follow-up to Hart's astonishing debut novel, Damage ( LJ 2/15/91), focuses on the sin of envy, embodied here by the narrator, Ruth. Ruth is corrosively jealous of her orphaned cousin Elizabeth, who was raised and cherished by Ruth's parents as their own daughter. She hates the good, generous, kind Elizabeth and waits for the moment when she will be able to break her rival and take everything. Her compelling voice makes Sin as readable as Damage , but the root of her envy never seems completely believable, and the brevity of the novel works against the author's intent. Was Ruth (badly misnamed by her parents, as it turns out) born with this fatal streak of envy, or was she struck by it in the one episode from her childhood which Hart offers as explanation? Though flawed by its failure to clarify this central point, Sin remains a disturbing, provocative work, sure to be eagerly sought by readers of Damage . Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/92.-- Dean James, Houston Acad. of Medicine/Texas Medical Ctr. Lib.
From the Publisher
The reader looks on with mingled shock and fascination . . . a tour de force.” —The New York Times
“Shocking . . . unrelenting in its intensity . . . you won’t be able to put it down.” —Cosmopolitan
“A remarkable talent.” —Washington Post Book World
Library Journal - Audio
03/15/2017
For her entire life, Ruth has been consumed by the jealousy she feels toward her adopted sister, Elizabeth. Ruth believes she has always taken second place to Elizabeth, whose good nature and kindness make her the object of adoration for their parents. At a young age, Ruth's envy warped into hate, only to be amplified over the years. In adulthood, Ruth has become obsessed with Elizabeth and with destroying her. Without any remorse, Ruth sets out to steal Elizabeth's husband, in an attempt both to defeat her and become her. During the process, Ruth manages to ruin her own life as well. Naomi Frederick's reading is almost eerie, as it immerses the listener in Ruth's dark thoughts, without any distraction. Frederick gives a distinct voice to each of the many characters, making it easy to distinguish one from another and to follow the story. VERDICT While this is not a story to lift the spirit, it will appeal to adults who are interested in the conflict and consequences of a complex narrator. ["A disturbing, provocative work, sure to be eagerly sought by readers of Damage": LJ 7/92 review of the Knopf hc.]—Emma Manfredi, Glastonbury, CT
