John and Laura Baxter are recovering from the death of their daughter Christine from meningitis in the 1950s when they take a trip to Venice. At a restaurant table they encounter a pair of Scottish spinster twins. One of these, Heather, is a seer and informs Laura that a little girl has been sitting alongside the Baxters at table. Laura is open to the suggestion but John is sceptical.
Later in the day John observes a young girl skipping over moored gondolas. The Scottish sisters warn the Baxters to leave Venice to avoid tragedy. The narrative is thickened by the activities of a serial killer and rapist who is disembowelling Venetian prostitutes. There is a shocking and unanticipated climax to this story which may, or may not, satisfy lovers of the mystery genre.
There is subtlety in the telling of this ghost story which makes it all the more chilling and worth the read.
This du Maurier story was brought to the screen in 1973 by Nicolas Roeg with Donald Sutherland as John and Julie Christie as Laura. (Don’t Look Now (1973) – IMDb)
Published in Penguin Modern Classics paperback
Originally published 1971
ISBN-10 : 0141188375
