Audiobook The Vet's Daughter written by Barbara Comyns. 'A small Gothic masterpiece. I have read it many times, and with every re-read I marvel again at its many qualities - its darkness, its strangeness, its humour, its sadness, its startling images and twists of phrase' Sarah Waters. Growing up in Edwardian south London, Alice Rowlands longs for romance and excitement, for a release from a life that is dreary and lonely.