Take a photo of a barcode or cover
wendoxford 's review for:
The Franchise Affair
by Josephine Tey
I so enjoyed this book. It was clever but so far from the "clever" noir of contemporary crime. This is about the crime of dishonesty, character smearing, trial by newspapers, human nature and mob mentality ... plus ca change!
A mother and daughter who live frugally in a rundown isolated house are accused of kidnapping and abusing a schoolgirl – and all their lives are changed by what ensues. I gather this story is based on actual events. It encapsulates parochial living in semi-rural Britain in the 1940s - status, reputation, assumptions and appearances.
So many passages made me luxuriate in the writing (and manners) of the time and what could be said!
"Robert had never subscribed to the French taste for small sweet mouthfuls of unidentifiable liquids drunk at odd times" p125
"From the expressions on the faces of her audience she was summed up as a slut and no one would trust her with sixpence" p210
"You have no idea the sweeping-up hairdressing makes to a woman" p222
This is pure Golden Age crime fiction. Loved it
A mother and daughter who live frugally in a rundown isolated house are accused of kidnapping and abusing a schoolgirl – and all their lives are changed by what ensues. I gather this story is based on actual events. It encapsulates parochial living in semi-rural Britain in the 1940s - status, reputation, assumptions and appearances.
So many passages made me luxuriate in the writing (and manners) of the time and what could be said!
"Robert had never subscribed to the French taste for small sweet mouthfuls of unidentifiable liquids drunk at odd times" p125
"From the expressions on the faces of her audience she was summed up as a slut and no one would trust her with sixpence" p210
"You have no idea the sweeping-up hairdressing makes to a woman" p222
This is pure Golden Age crime fiction. Loved it