Vee I just learned something new as well !

You are such a font of information :0)

Wikipedia has a good explanation of 'unreliable narrator' as well, basically that the credibility of the POV character telling the story ( usually in first person) is compromised, either because the person is lying, concealing important facts, or has a skewed perception of reality. In the 2 books by Emma Newman which I read recently, both had first person narratives where I spent most of the book trying to figure out what was real and what was in the narrator's imagination.

Wikipedia: Unreliable Narrator

Hmmmm.......I think there might be a few unreliable narrators in my own family !

LOL, Bon, me too! Especially the self-appointed family geneology researcher. :)

Donna

Thanks yoyo. I think sometimes the same could be said of some Wikipedia entries . . . rather like Hollywood blockbuster historical 'dramas' that bear little reality to events!

Thanks for the explanations everyone. I see now it's a plot device to demonstrate a skewed perpective. I was thinking all around the box but never in it. I missed it by a mile and I feel like a dope. It all makes sense now. (blush)

It's also a good narrative device for creating suspense and surprise endings. This is another good essay on its effective use (if you've never read Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, beware this essay delivers major spoilers).

Unreliable Narrator - Agatha Christie

Vee......is the term " Ancient lights" still used or known in the UK ?

I am reading a delightful book by Beverley Nichols ( 1947 ) in which he refers to this as a way of explaining the necessity of hedges to hide gardens from onlookers !

I love his talent for telling a rousing tale !

yoyo from memory . . . ancient lights meant a right of a householder to daylight so as to protect them from a neighbour (for eg) putting up a building/wall/structure next to their window(s) making it difficult for them to see out or for light to shine in.

English people are rather fond of hedges, fences, walls surrounding their properties plus gates leading up garden paths to the front door with the added defence of a loud and savage dog.

These days there are often on-going battles between people who love 15 foot trees that overshadow their neighbours property. The 'quick-growing' leyandii used to be very popular and at last I think the Courts have decided they can be classed as over-grown bushes so can by cut down. But on the whole we don't go in for building housed in the middle of woods/forests . . . partly because much it has been felled over the centuries . . . and what is left is heavily protected,

I don't know of anyone over here who still reads Beverley Nichols; he used to be considered very effete although I'm probably not allowed to say so . . . and obviously it doesn't detract from the quality of his work.

Yoyo, I adore Beverley Nichols' gardening books, Merry Hall, Laughter on the Stairs, Sunlight on the Lawn, Down the Garden Path, etc. Several years ago I read most of his work and a biography, and I think he wanted to be taken much more seriously as an intellect, but instead became known for his charming gardening books.

Vee, your assessment is correct, he was as close to "out of the closet" as one could be back then without risking arrest, and was quite frustrated by the need to hide who he was.

I have read several of his books years ago and have many more that I have not read yet. I always knew he was gay but I'm not sure why. This book which I"m currently enjoying is The Village In The Valley and it is exactly about what you describe, Vee. The village of Allways is in an outrage because a wealthy woman wants to sell off big parcels of her lands for apartment buildings and industry....though BN can't imagine what industry that could be out where this village is situated. His way with words is just simply a delight to read.

One of the best books I've ever read with an unreliable narrator is Wallis's War' by Kate Auspitz. It's first person narrator Wallis Simpson, and though a novel, is footnoted to real comments by and about her. Wallis is depicted as pretty clueless and is used by important people in the government to get Edward off the throne. Exceedingly well written.