false <![CDATA[The Chimney Sweeper's Boy]]> 104507 19 Writing as Ruth Rendell, Barbara Vine has earned the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement. In <I>The Chimney Sweeper's Boy</I>, Vine proves herself the equal of her alter ego and a master of the psychological thriller--as well as the police procedural--in this riveting novel. Why bestselling novelist Gerald Candless assumed a new identity years before his marriage and the birth of his two daughters isn't revealed until the penultimate chapter of the book, but the effect of his deception on his family drives Vine's deft character studies. In Gerald's wife, Ursula, and his daughters, Hope and Sarah, Vine has created three complex women in the thrall of an equally complicated and compelling man. As Sarah unravels the mystery of her father's deception, Gerald gradually becomes a more sympathetic figure. But Ursula, whose strange marital bargain with Gerald and whose distant relationship with her daughters tug at the heart, stays with the reader long after this distinguished, literary mystery is finished. <I>--Jane Adams</I> 2831053 1998 The Chimney Sweeper's Boy total:313|5:77|4:124|3:85|2:20|1:7| 313 1183 417 42 4 1 false false Wed Dec 03 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 20:15:43 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 20:31:10 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed May 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 08:50:40 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 08:57:12 -0700 2009
This one is classic Barbara Vine. You know the "mystery" right away. It's the way the mystery is solved and how the story unfolds that's intriguing. You can see it coming about 100 pages from the e...more...]]> 5 0 false true Tue Mar 10 07:19:38 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 07:33:24 -0700 2009 3 or 4 times
As is usually the case with Vine, the past casts its shadow down the years - What was Gerald Candless's connection to a London murder tha...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Oct 03 00:00:00 -0700 1999 Mon Oct 26 08:04:59 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 08:15:12 -0700 2009 2
It's a mystery novel, but not not a murder mystery. The...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Nov 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Oct 20 19:16:19 -0700 2009 Wed Nov 04 20:44:59 -0800 2009
I found myself feeling irritated by the two very selfish daughters who treat their mother like she doesn't exist, and I'm bothered that by the end of the book, they STILL don't realize what their mother went th...more...]]> 4 1 true false Mon May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 10 16:13:24 -0700 2008 Mon May 19 09:53:23 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jun 01 19:39:49 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 19:54:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Jul 04 16:41:37 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 04 16:41:37 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Dec 22 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 21:15:19 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 21:18:08 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 14 09:11:03 -0700 2008 Wed May 14 09:18:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Dec 11 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 07 19:04:03 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 17:57:26 -0800 2008
Still, in the intervening ten years, I'd forgotten most of what the book was about. I remember being disappointed the firs...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sun Dec 02 17:25:49 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 02 17:26:32 -0800 2007
Noted author Gerald Candless dies at 71, leaving an embittered wife and two adoring daughters, Sarah and Hope. Sarah is approached by her father's publisher with the suggestion that she pe...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 07:01:03 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 07:04:20 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jul 23 09:36:04 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 23 09:39:16 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 15:58:21 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 16:00:22 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Sep 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 18:09:11 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 18:09:48 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 25 21:03:36 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 22:05:11 -0700 2009 14 CD's - 16 hours

Very enjoyable mystery. I added other Barbara Vine novels to my recorded books queue.]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 22 03:44:26 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 03:45:01 -0700 2009 1 2 0 false false Tue Feb 10 17:19:09 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 17:19:37 -0800 2009 4 2 false false Fri Oct 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 10:49:55 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 12:59:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2805168