Vera
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First published in 1921, Elizabeth von Arnim’s Vera is a chilling psychological novel about a young woman whose marriage becomes a struggle for autonomy and self-preservation. Lucy Entwhistle, recently bereaved, marries the older Everard Wemyss, believing that his grief and apparent devotion offer the prospect of security and understanding. At his country house, The Willows, she gradually discovers that the tenderness of courtship has given way to a more unsettling pattern of control, manipulation and emotional intimidation.
Von Arnim’s restrained, ironic narration allows menace to emerge from ordinary domestic exchanges, exposing the dangers concealed beneath the language of protection and affection. Often discussed in relation to Rebecca, which Daphne du Maurier published nearly two decades later, the novel examines the vulnerability of women within unequal marriages and the social mechanisms that excuse domineering husbands. Darker than von Arnim’s better-known comedies, Vera is a powerful study of psychological coercion and one of her most enduring works.
From the book
“He had a way of making her feel that she was always wrong.”
— Elizabeth von Arnim, Vera
On Vera
“A dark and unsettling novel of marital power and psychological control.”
— Critical description