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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
The prose is deceptively simple but dazzling in that simplicity, and Tey doesn't give two figs about the normal conventions of mystery writing, which make her novels feel fresh. In this novel, an orphan named "Brat" Farrar runs into a man who mistakes him for Simon Ashby. When the stranger realizes that Brat is the doppleganger of Simon, a young man who is shortly to inherit a fortune, he talks Brat into pretending to be Simon's long-lost brother Patrick. Brat decides to give the deception a go less for the money and more for the challenge of trying to pull it off, but develops deeply mixed feelings after he is treated warmly and kindly by all the Ashbys except Simon, who is the only one still suspicious of Brat's claim to be the long-lost brother. I really enjoyed this book a great deal and will be reading more by Tey.
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A classic mystery that is barely a mystery. A family novel where a long-thought-dead sibling returns. The ending is a bit rushed, but not too surprising.
I enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t really a “page turner” of a mystery. I always like reading about life in English villages. I was surprised that despite being written in 1949, it didn’t seem really dated.
I would probably give this book a 4-star rating at any other time. It is extremely well written and I was surprised to be drawn into the book immediately. I couldn't remember where I had gotten the idea to read this and feared it would be a bit dull for some reason. Not so. This was an audio page-turner. I won't say much about the story because it is described in all the blurbs and it is hard to say much that hasn't all ready been written. Many main points are revealed early on. It is the tension that is so thrilling.
The fifth star goes to the vague chance of timing. I read this just when I needed to read it. It gave me the distraction I needed just at the right time. Also, listening to this was excellent. Carol Boyd did the narration and was perfect. I could disappear into my headphones and be cosseted by all the words flowing around me. OK, cosseted by a mystery might seem odd. I mean the storytelling. The absolute luxury of having someone read a story (well) to you where you hang on to every single word. That is a glorious situation to be in for a bookworm. For that, I give the fifth star.
The fifth star goes to the vague chance of timing. I read this just when I needed to read it. It gave me the distraction I needed just at the right time. Also, listening to this was excellent. Carol Boyd did the narration and was perfect. I could disappear into my headphones and be cosseted by all the words flowing around me. OK, cosseted by a mystery might seem odd. I mean the storytelling. The absolute luxury of having someone read a story (well) to you where you hang on to every single word. That is a glorious situation to be in for a bookworm. For that, I give the fifth star.
"Someone had said that if you thought about the unthinkable long enough, it became quite reasonable."
This was one of the books mentioned in The End of Your Life Book Club that peaked my interest and that I decided to try out. The idea sounds promising: Brat Farrar, having a striking resemblance to the Ashby family, impersonates their long lost teenage boy Patrick who was thought to have killed himself. With his accomplice, Brat studies the family and their farm in excruciting detail and then proceeds to fool first the lawyers, then the family themselves into accepting him as Patrick. But are they really fooled? Surely a premise like this has enough material for so many scenarios to play out, so many reactions, hurdles and traps that Brat had to deal with to maintain his façade. Yet a large part of the book is dedicated to horses, their training, their lineages, the races, or the tenants of the Ashbys...and it's not even a big book. I admire conciseness but this felt like a missed opportunity, as it ignored the great iceberg of psychological depth a deception like this could involve. It also included a very tidy ending which I'm not crazy about.
I don’t know why exactly I enjoyed this book so much, but I really did.
Far be it from me to pit woman against woman, but du Maurier did this plot so much better in The Scapegoat. Still, I enjoyed this one a great deal.