This book was an unexpected delight. I’d never heard of the book or the author, but I gave it a go, and I’m glad I did. It was claustrophobic and stifling and tense, while also being quite slow-paced and immersive. Not much happens plot-wise, but it does examine new motherhood and the weight of domesticity really well. Also the prose is beautiful. I’d love to read more Celia Fremlin novels. 

Also, is it just me or (SPOILER) does the ending suggest that the narrator believes that her baby actually isn’t hers at all? This is a much darker and more interesting ending to me, so I hope I’m not just imagining it.

Wow what a suspenseful, thrilling book. The author was able to weave in the plot, characters, and mystery to create a heightening effect. Would recommend!

This is a great read. I enjoyed the suspense and rising horror and suspicion. It is expertly plotted and the ending satisfyingly believable. It is of its time but this does not detract but adds to its merits. A brilliant story. Recommended

You don't have to live in the 1950'is to experience a lot of the things this young mother is going through. I was forever thinking "Why, you too?". Other mothers with "opinions", lack of sleep, and sometimes you are so tired you don't know what's what, boy could I relate to that. Thankfully the creepy crime creeping in was all in the book.
Wonderful read, sometimes depressing, sometimes funny, and sometimes chilling.

Utterly fantastic; a page-turning thriller filled with suspense, tension, and a fascinating protagonist.

Originally published in 1958 this book has recently been reprinted by Faber & Faber. It is an unsettling, creepy and sinister story told by a narrator who is physically and emotionally exhausted trying to look after her young family and (incredibly useless) husband, and who meanwhile suspects that their new lodger is not all she appears to be. 

Parts of this novel are very 'of its time' - husband goes out to work, expects wife to cook, clean, mend and iron clothes, take care of the children - he really is totally useless! But aside from this, I found the whole thing quite gripping and enjoyable.

Astounding psychological insight, and. creepiness: I could hardly hold back looking at the end: having experienced motherhood, much (too much) rang true. What a treasure to have found!

I couldn't put this down. I got lost in it! I wish books today could be more like this!

Ten Second Synopsis:
Louise is exhausted from caring for her third child when the family take on a lodger. At first, nothing seems amiss, but as time passes and Louise struggles to retain her grip on reality through sleeplessness, the lodger's behaviour begins to appear more sinister.

The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin is a psychological thriller based upon those oft hideous first months of sleeplessness, exhaustion and physical and mental barrenness that can follow the birth of a child. We are so glad we came across this novel because even as the attitudes and situations depicted in the book are clearly of their time, I have yet to come across a book that so flawlessly transcends social change to appear as relevant and likely today as ever.

Although the book is a mystery with a psychological focus, Fremlin deals with the events with a remarkable sense of dry wit.  I initially thought that the book might be a bit dreary in tone, dealing as it does with an exhausted new mother, but Fremlin's writing is incredibly enjoyable and droll and I couldn't help having a bit of a giggle at certain wry observations.  This really helped carry the book and was part of the reason, I suspect, that I got through this one in a couple of chunky sittings.

The descriptions of the life of a stay-at-home mother with multiple children and a new addition are so absolutely spot on that it is obvious that Fremlin knows whereof she speaks.  Indeed, this edition features an introduction that describes how Fremlin based the story on her own experiences with one of her children.  The walking-dead exhaustion, the scrutiny of judging members of the public, the feeling that one must certainly be losing one's mind when sleeping and nursing upright in a kitchen cupboard seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do to avoid waking the household during a night feed will be familiar to anyone who has ever had to live with and care for an infant who is a difficult sleeper.  

Similarly, contemporary readers will recognise people of their acquaintance in Mark, Louise's "man of the house" husband, who seems to have little idea why Louise can't keep it together on less than three hours of sleep a night, and the family's neighbours who are by turns nosy, complaining and downright outrageous.  There are a few bits of the book that are "of the period" such as the moments when the mothers in the story are quite happy to leave their unattended infants for hours on end to attend to some other task or errand, but overall, the situations faced by Louise and new mothers of today are remarkably similar.

The psychological thriller aspect of the story relating to the family's lodger, the mysterious Ms Vera Brandon, unfolds slowly and almost as an afterthought in Louise's hectic, chaotic life.  This is somewhat made up for in the end however, with an action-packed and sinister denouement that features danger, death and daring escapes.  

I thoroughly recommend this as the perfect pick for a fun and creepy holiday read, although it may not be wise to pick it up just now if you are a new mother.

I am so sorry I didn't have time to read this book before the publication date. No review

Originally written in 1958, this was Celia Fremlin's debut novel, winning the Edgar award for Best novel in 1960. She then went on to have a successful and interesting career and indeed life. This is the first book I have read by her. Indeed, to my shame, I had never heard of her prior to this book. This is something however, I am quite eager to remedy in the future. 
This book follows main character Louise who is trying to juggle domesticity with three small children. Sleep deprived and getting little help from anyone, she struggles with the day to day chores and her grasp on reality is slowly slipping away from her. When the family takes in a lodger, at the same time as things start to spiral out of control for Louise, she can't help but speculate whether the lodger is playing a bigger roll in her downfall. Several things happen to make her query her own sanity and, with others dismissive of her fears, takes it upon herself to find out what is really going on.
I have read quite a few crime novels set in this era and I have found the majority to be timeless in their readability. This novel was no different and it was refreshingly easy to slip back in time and follow events from that era.
I found the relationship between husband and wife to be well presented. In those days, the wife's job was homemaker and mother and the husband didn't contribute to the household apart from as provider. Louise's descriptions of her daily life, in the days without time-saving gadgets was an eye opener for me. Scrubbing floors to a weekly timetable, preparing meals to the second the husband requires, especially when he pops home to see her at mid day because he thinks she need some support when all the while he is just causing her more grief having to cater for another! 
The book is quite creepy in nature too. But subtly rather than the more in-your-face way that books seem to be written these days. Its a slow burner that chips away at Louise's sanity every so often having her question the next strange thing. It's also refreshing and quite eye-opening to see the aftermath of what happened. How the British stiff upper lip shone through and the way that people simply just got on with things in those days, mostly over a nice cup of tea.

A housewife with several children, a useless husband, and a mysterious lodger tries to see if her fear have any foundation of if she's just going insane due to a lack of sleep.

The basic plot beats of this have been re-used time and time again in films and novels after its publication, but the plot is still engaging and fresh because it just feels original, not watered down. But for me this is all negated by the cumbersome, plodding pace of the novel. The writing really easily evokes the ungodly repetivite hellish routine that was a housewife's life in the old days. Every character except for the main one seems like an annoying obstacle in her way, designed by fate to demolish every shred of dignity. Her husband is a doofus, her kids are just vessels, carrying loud sounds, dirt, and sheer unbearable stupidity. It's no wonder that she's afraid of going mad, I know I did.
From the very first chapter, the barrage of awfulness that this poor woman is subjected to made me feel just straight up uncomfortable. And yes, that's the point, that's what it was written for. But it worked just way too well and I found myself trying to finish each chapter as fast as possible not to find out the ending but to get away from this despicable atmosphere.

In short, if you aren't averse to reading about unbearable assholes, this is a fine book in all other regards. It's just really, really full of assholes. Good god.

Here is a review by Jennifer: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2008805400

Stunning. The original of the species, I absolutely loved it and will seek out more of the author's work

My favourite book of the year so far. I loved it. The plot is simple, there are no real twists to distract you (at least not in the way we've become accustomed to) and the quality of the writing is outstanding.

Louise Henderson is a young mother. She has two daughters of six and four and a baby of a few months old. This baby, Michael, will not sleep and Louise is suffering from intense sleep deprivation. Her life is a monotony of chores left undone, fending off neighbours who complain about the noise her children make and dealing with the ghastly Mrs Hooper who seems to think that Louise is there to be condescended to. The family take in a lodger, Miss Brandon who Louise doesn't like. She catches her lying and soon becomes suspicious of her. But what is she up to? Is she after Louise's husband or is it something more sinister. As Louise gets less and less sleep her tension rises and unfortunately she has no one to turn to.

A simple plot and yet this book is unforgettable because of the characterisation and the attention to detail. Mrs Hooper is the embodiment of every young mother's nemesis. A know it all who makes grand pronouncements about child rearing while allowing her children to run wild and off loading them at every opportunity. The nurse at the mother and baby clinic who doesn't listen to Louise's concerns properly but deals with them in a peremptory manner. The next door neighbour who instead of offering to help a woman who is clearly struggling instead spends all her time complaining. Mark, Louise' s husband who is a product of his time, sees childcare as a woman's job and blames Louise for this unwanted (by him) third child. And Louise herself who stumbles around trying to cope, fearful and downtrodden. They are all memorable.

But it is the writing that really drew me in. It reminded me both of Katherine Mansfield in the way it moved seamlessly from what was happening externally to Louise's internal monologue and of Irene Nemirovsky in the attention to detail. The observations of motherhood at that time (late fifties) are astute and acerbic.

Highly recommended.

Excellent book.  Great main characters and plot.  I would recommend this book.

Very good book well worth a read kept me reading till the end.

Oh, has there ever been another book more appropriate to my life? Louise is a mother whose baby does not sleep. He has her up at all hours of the night and she is exhausted and delirious. The descriptions of how she felt were like reading about my own life. Rushing to get the crying baby at 2 a.m. and feeding, rocking, bouncing for ages only to have him wake as soon as she put him back in the crib. I have to say it somehow made me feel a little less hopeless knowing that a fictional woman 60 years ago went through the same thing as I am going through now. Unfortunately for Louise, she also had an unsupportive husband, 2 other children, and a new lodger who makes Louise nervous and uneasy. The story really revolves around Louise's lack of sleep and disconnection on top of some mystery surrounding the woman boarding with them. The story itself wasn't anything spectacular, but I did enjoy it both for its relevance to my own life as well as seeing how different things were in other ways in the 1950s. Louise would leave the baby home alone while she ran her daughters to school or leave him sitting in the pram in the garden while she did housework. The husband was awful, always yelling at Louise, "Can't you make the baby stop crying?" "We never should have had the brat!" "Can't you make them stop banging the door?" It was her responsibility to control the children, I guess, while also making sure to have his food prepared on time, have the house cleaned, and not let the baby's crying disturb him. While I felt a sort of bond with Louise over the sleep issues and I was interested in some of the cultural differences of the time period, the story itself was just okay.

The Hours Before Dawn is a gripping psychological mystery originally published in 1958. This new edition of the book termed a “lost classic” is a fantastic chance to read a simple yet tense story about a woman who just wishes her baby would stop crying in the night so she could sleep. Louise is exhausted and this does not help her growing suspicions about their new lodger—suspicions that her husband does not share—or her ability to perform the role of a perfect Fifties housewife.

The mystery element of the novel follows the trope of a woman battling her own issues (in this case sleep deprivation and the pressures of being a woman, wife, and mother) whilst trying to prove that she is not becoming paranoid as a result of them. Though it was written fifty years ago, the book has a timeless kind of feel, without many time-specific details and with a general sense of the universality of a woman not being believed and struggling to deal with societal and familial pressures. In some ways, however, the novel says a lot about a woman’s position in the 1950s in particular, with comments about how different mothers view advice on raising their children for example, but it also shows that many elements do not change. Louise’s struggle to keep her house and children in order to stop the neighbours asking questions could have been written in the modern day.

This new edition has a preface talking about the reissue and a useful biographical note about Celia Fremlin that give context to the book. However, it does not need context, as it is a sharp-witted and timeless psychological story about crime, paranoia, and sleeplessness, which deserves to be discovered by new generations of readers.