What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

A fiction book from the 80s or 90s. I thought it was by Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine, but I've read lots of plot summaries of her books online and none of them mention this detail about the dispute over who is the child's mother.

The book is about two women (I'm pretty sure they are sisters) who live together in a remote cottage in the countryside. There are chapters told from each woman's point of view, and they both claim to be the mother of a child who lives with them. Because they live in the middle of nowhere, nobody saw either woman being visibly pregnant, so their neighbours can't say who is telling the truth (I think it was a home birth too, so no hospital records).

The story may also have been set before DNA testing, or else it wouldn't be that useful because the sisters have similar DNA. I can't remember if it is resolved at the end, but both sisters are very angry with each other and both insist they gave birth to the child. They each have a different explanation for who the father is and how they got pregnant. It might be one of those books where the reader is supposed to decide which story is more plausible.

Any help appreciated!

Sounds like A Dark-Adapted Eye by her under her pen name of Barbara Vine. There was a TV adaptation of this I saw, which definitely had the debate as to who the mother is. They had a scene to bias you in certain direction in that debate and I found myself wondering how the mechanics of the misleading act was possible given the time period. It was set in the 30s or 40s if I remember correctly. You do find out the true mother. Or at least you did in the adaptaion. I never went back to read the book.

Hey, this solves something for me too! I saw that TV movie as a youth and have been trying to figure out what it was. My mom taped it off TV and watched it during the day when my dad wasn't hogging the TV. I asked her and she has no memory of it.

I think I wasn't able to find it because I remembered historic clothing and thought "Victorian." This is set during WWII. I was just a kid who didn't know anything, so same thing, right?

I've read lots of plot summaries of her books online and none of them mention this detail about the dispute over who is the child's mother.

I guess because it's the book's main spoiler? I second Amanda's suggestion.

This must be it. Thanks for your help everyone. I'm glad it solved Diana's mystery too!

This is on YouTube and I watched it last night. It stars a young Helena Bonham Carter. It really doesn't get into the disputed maternity of the baby until the end - and that's all I remembered! For most of the movie it is assumed that the older, meaner sister got pregnant by the younger, prettier sister's boyfriend while her husband was stationed overseas. The main plot is the sisters' niece trying to figure out why one of them stabbed the other one.

So what is the nane of book.

A Dark-Adapted Eye

I have it. I just need to find it and I will be back with book in hand.