false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175010465m/466705.jpg 466705 15 A new novel from Barbara Vine (or Ruth Rendell, her alter ego) is always cause for celebration, and in this exceptional psychological thriller, she displays all her mastery of craft to draw the reader into an unfamiliar world. She paints a vivid picture of the roots of obsession in the history of a young woman whose love of high places has been marked by tragedy, guilt, and exile from her family's home. <p> Clodagh Brown has always been frightened by enclosed spaces and loved climbing, a phobia and passion that resulted in the death of her high school sweetheart. As a college student living in the basement of a distant relative's home in Maida Vale, a slightly shabby London neighborhood, she encounters a group of peers who share both of these psychological quirks and introduce her to the steep rooftops of her new surroundings. Clodagh soon falls in love with Silver, a young man whose top-floor apartment across from her flat houses a diverse and fascinating group of people. Their youthful idealism and moral certainties are often at odds with conventional values and legal niceties. While Clodagh and Silver carry the story, their peers present ample opportunities for Vine to showcase her talent for imagining a multiplicity of lives and personas--from Liv, the Swedish au pair who can clamber over rooftops like a mountain goat but is terrified of what awaits her on level ground, to Jonny, whose pathological need to dominate the others, particularly Liv, leads to the shocking and tragic denouement. When the climbers chance upon a top-floor flat where a couple and their adopted mixed-race son are hiding from the authorities (who would remove the child from their care), Vine's ability to alter pace without sacrificing story or character really stands out. <I>Grasshopper</I> is an acutely drawn, immensely satisfying book. <I>--Jane Adams</I> 958704 11 6 2000 Grasshopper total:164|5:29|4:59|3:58|2:16|1:2| 164 589 222 16 2 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 17:26:50 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 07:44:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sun Dec 09 14:43:48 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 09 14:53:08 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 06:13:09 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 03:45:06 -0700 2008
My main problem with this book was I really disliked the heroine, whom I presume we were supposed to empathise and sympat...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 21 17:15:54 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 21 17:20:31 -0800 2008 2 x more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 05:31:17 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 05:32:43 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 24 21:28:13 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 24 21:33:29 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 10 22:53:29 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 30 21:50:08 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat May 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 15:05:26 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 15:06:11 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 05:25:32 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 04:13:57 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Jun 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 08:33:49 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 08:40:24 -0700 2008 The story itself begins very strangly, but bear with it.
the tale unfolds from the past to the present and to the future. if i reveil the content it would spoil the plot.
Stan Jacobs]]> 4 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Apr 26 06:15:04 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 27 11:19:14 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Mon Jul 21 07:26:20 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 07:33:17 -0700 2008 2 4 0 false false Sun Mar 30 19:57:52 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 19:58:33 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 06 20:15:33 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 06 20:17:32 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Wed Jul 22 11:21:26 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 14:28:43 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Sun Jul 19 10:40:08 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 10:41:16 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 16 02:21:39 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 02:21:39 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Nov 14 19:22:43 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 14 19:23:27 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sun Nov 01 20:47:10 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 01 20:47:10 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Oct 29 18:42:46 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 18:42:46 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=466705