Second paragraph of third story (“The Apple Tree”):

It was a fine clear morning in early spring, and he was shaving by the open window. As he leant out to sniff the air, the lather on his face, the razor in his hand, his eye fell upon the apple tree. It was a trick of light, perhaps, something to do with the sun coming up over the woods, that happened to catch the tree at this particular moment; but the likeness was unmistakable.

Six very spooky stories by the author of Rebecca, the title story being well known as the basis of another Hitchcock film. Apart from “The Birds”, which gave me sleepless nights when I first read it at the age of 12, the other really effective piece is “The Apple Tree”, where a woman gets posthumous revenge for a bad marriage though manipulation of vegetation. But they are all splendidly creepy. Two out of six are definitely not sff, but at least three of the other four are, so I’m booking this as genre rather than non-genre in my tally. You can get it here.

Unfortunately Virago don’t give a credit for the striking cover. (They have published a more recent hardback edition with a different cover, by Neisha Crosland.)

This was my top unread book by a woman. Next on that pile is A Restless Truth, by Freya Marske.