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Le Jeune homme et la mort
Drusilla est belle, jeune et... très bien mariée à un homme d'affaires sans intérêt. Elle devait immanquablement croiser la route de Gray. Gray est un peu artiste et surtout très très fauché mais il possède une qualité exquise: c'est un amant délicieux. Enfin pas au point de renoncer aux fourrures ni aux diamants... A moins que Gray ne se laisse convaincre d'éliminer le gêneur. Le jeu en vaudrait la chandelle, épouser une veuve richissime... Le problème, c'est que Gray est parfaitement inoffensif!
Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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About the author
Ruth Rendell
457 books1,630 followersA.K.A. Barbara Vine
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, who also wrote under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, was an acclaimed English crime writer, known for her many psychological thrillers and murder mysteries and above all for Inspector Wexford.
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, who also wrote under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, was an acclaimed English crime writer, known for her many psychological thrillers and murder mysteries and above all for Inspector Wexford.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
October 26, 2019
Despite a rather stodgy prologue The Face of Trespass is a gripping novel that is almost as unnerving as The Bridesmaid (for me, Ruth Rendell’s best work).
In short the protagonist, Graham (‘Gray’), literally bumps into his nemesis, the married Drusilla (‘Dru’) in a London street and they begin an affair of some abandon. Gray is a penniless writer and Dru a neglected housewife. If only, she laments, ‘Tiny’ her millionaire husband were to have an accident.
You’ll note I just used the word ‘nemesis’ – and it is quickly apparent that Dru intends to deploy her lover to achieve her ends with scant regard for his. Thus enfolds a tale of clever manipulation – of Gray by Dru, and of the reader by the author. You are faced with the dilemma that you want things to work out for Gray, but this entails the corrupting of both his and your moral compasses.
What appear to be sizeable diversions turn out to be of significance, and there are several surprising twists in the tail (not least a perplexing canine sub-plot that is both a red herring, and not).
Confused? Intrigued? I was – but as the suspense intensified, I was glad that I had made it past the prologue. Oh, and the epilogue is far more rewarding!
In short the protagonist, Graham (‘Gray’), literally bumps into his nemesis, the married Drusilla (‘Dru’) in a London street and they begin an affair of some abandon. Gray is a penniless writer and Dru a neglected housewife. If only, she laments, ‘Tiny’ her millionaire husband were to have an accident.
You’ll note I just used the word ‘nemesis’ – and it is quickly apparent that Dru intends to deploy her lover to achieve her ends with scant regard for his. Thus enfolds a tale of clever manipulation – of Gray by Dru, and of the reader by the author. You are faced with the dilemma that you want things to work out for Gray, but this entails the corrupting of both his and your moral compasses.
What appear to be sizeable diversions turn out to be of significance, and there are several surprising twists in the tail (not least a perplexing canine sub-plot that is both a red herring, and not).
Confused? Intrigued? I was – but as the suspense intensified, I was glad that I had made it past the prologue. Oh, and the epilogue is far more rewarding!
May 19, 2019
Slow burn character study of obsession unconquered and the inexorable descent into despair.
4.5 stars
Long before authors such as Karin Fossum were telling the stories of those on the fringes of a broken society; the disenfranchised, the marginalised and the dysfunctional, this was Ruth Rendell’s forte and for her stunning psychological insights and understanding of human nature alone she went unparalleled. When combined with her vivid descriptive powers, and a narrative replete with ominous undertones, her prose could bristle with despair and the misery of misunderstanding and an atmosphere of perilous jeopardy pervade. The Face of Trespass is a devastating character study of an obsessive loner ravaged by a disastrous love affair and barely clinging to the final strands of sanity. Originally written in 1974 and at just 182 pages it is considered to be Rendell’s breakthrough novella and signalled a shift in her output from the more traditional detective stories to the darker and more psychological astute novels produced under her Barbara Vine alter ego.
The story begins with the newly elected Member of Parliament for Waltham Abbey, Andrew Laud, addressing the old boys’ society of his school and discussing what became of Graham “Gray” Lanceton, now one of Andrew’s constituents. After the initial success of a first novel published two years previously and the promise that it afforded, it appears that a severe case of writers block and a messy love affair have reduced Gray to living like a hermit in a weatherboard hovel at the bottom of a forest road. This sets the reader up for an extended third-person character study and insight into Gray’s diabolical life and the bad luck of a man who admittedly doesn’t help himself for he hasn’t done a days work in three years. Living in a derelict rent free hovel with no hot water, no calendar and precious little contact with the outside world he leaves the phone off the hook for fear of being lured back by Drusilla, the beautiful and petulant married woman he is besotted by who lives just four miles away in Loughton with her wealthy and far older husband. When readers meet Gray the affair is over but his misery is evident as he broods, wallows and subsists on the meagre £4 each week he withdraws from his dwindling royalties.
The desperate love affair is told via a series of intermittent flashbacks with Rendell signalling within the first fifty pages that the reason why their liaison has ended is because of Drusilla’s continual demands for Gray to murder her husband, Tiny, and allow the amorous duo to live on her inherited wealth. The characterisation of Drusilla gives a real sense of her unstable and flighty brittleness and almost compels the reader to care about Gray’s predicament. Everything about Gray’s situation is so pitiable and replete with despair and his inexorable slide from one diabolical situation to a further catastrophe imbues the narrative with unease. With an ailing mother and stepfather in France, promises to dog sit and a move back up to London underway, the pressure is on the responsibility loathing Gray. However it is with the reconnection with Drusilla in the second half of the novella that threatens to bring Gray’s ultimate undoing and Rendell systematically heightens the tension as the days to their reunion tick down and Gray’s willpower crumbles..
The period detail is wonderful and the reliance on postal letters and landlines means this particular story is very much of its day and practically impossible to conceive of in the modern world. Add to that the fact that so many of Gray’s mishaps are believable run-of-the-mill occurrences and Gray’s blackly comic humour and own self-awareness about his lack of compunction make for a surprisingly droll novella. If it wasn’t for the slow burn start to this novel and the initial preamble describing Gray’s current dire situation, lack of finances and atrocious domestic conditions that meant the character study was slow to exert its grip then this would have been a sensational five star triumph. As it is The Face of Trespass is a worthy 4.5 alone and is a fascinating and horrifying story that undoubtedly merits reading.
4.5 stars
Long before authors such as Karin Fossum were telling the stories of those on the fringes of a broken society; the disenfranchised, the marginalised and the dysfunctional, this was Ruth Rendell’s forte and for her stunning psychological insights and understanding of human nature alone she went unparalleled. When combined with her vivid descriptive powers, and a narrative replete with ominous undertones, her prose could bristle with despair and the misery of misunderstanding and an atmosphere of perilous jeopardy pervade. The Face of Trespass is a devastating character study of an obsessive loner ravaged by a disastrous love affair and barely clinging to the final strands of sanity. Originally written in 1974 and at just 182 pages it is considered to be Rendell’s breakthrough novella and signalled a shift in her output from the more traditional detective stories to the darker and more psychological astute novels produced under her Barbara Vine alter ego.
The story begins with the newly elected Member of Parliament for Waltham Abbey, Andrew Laud, addressing the old boys’ society of his school and discussing what became of Graham “Gray” Lanceton, now one of Andrew’s constituents. After the initial success of a first novel published two years previously and the promise that it afforded, it appears that a severe case of writers block and a messy love affair have reduced Gray to living like a hermit in a weatherboard hovel at the bottom of a forest road. This sets the reader up for an extended third-person character study and insight into Gray’s diabolical life and the bad luck of a man who admittedly doesn’t help himself for he hasn’t done a days work in three years. Living in a derelict rent free hovel with no hot water, no calendar and precious little contact with the outside world he leaves the phone off the hook for fear of being lured back by Drusilla, the beautiful and petulant married woman he is besotted by who lives just four miles away in Loughton with her wealthy and far older husband. When readers meet Gray the affair is over but his misery is evident as he broods, wallows and subsists on the meagre £4 each week he withdraws from his dwindling royalties.
The desperate love affair is told via a series of intermittent flashbacks with Rendell signalling within the first fifty pages that the reason why their liaison has ended is because of Drusilla’s continual demands for Gray to murder her husband, Tiny, and allow the amorous duo to live on her inherited wealth. The characterisation of Drusilla gives a real sense of her unstable and flighty brittleness and almost compels the reader to care about Gray’s predicament. Everything about Gray’s situation is so pitiable and replete with despair and his inexorable slide from one diabolical situation to a further catastrophe imbues the narrative with unease. With an ailing mother and stepfather in France, promises to dog sit and a move back up to London underway, the pressure is on the responsibility loathing Gray. However it is with the reconnection with Drusilla in the second half of the novella that threatens to bring Gray’s ultimate undoing and Rendell systematically heightens the tension as the days to their reunion tick down and Gray’s willpower crumbles..
The period detail is wonderful and the reliance on postal letters and landlines means this particular story is very much of its day and practically impossible to conceive of in the modern world. Add to that the fact that so many of Gray’s mishaps are believable run-of-the-mill occurrences and Gray’s blackly comic humour and own self-awareness about his lack of compunction make for a surprisingly droll novella. If it wasn’t for the slow burn start to this novel and the initial preamble describing Gray’s current dire situation, lack of finances and atrocious domestic conditions that meant the character study was slow to exert its grip then this would have been a sensational five star triumph. As it is The Face of Trespass is a worthy 4.5 alone and is a fascinating and horrifying story that undoubtedly merits reading.
September 10, 2011
Rendell's non-Wexford mysteries tend to be extended portraits of loneliness. in this novel, the narrative is almost minimalist, with action replaced by an intense character study of the lonely central character: an extreme close-up of perspective that is almost oppressive at times - particularly in the first half of the novel. strange and beautifully written but overall rather inherently minor note. if the idea of a thoughtful but depressing chamber piece for two (or three) appeals to you, one set in a lonesome cabin in a country environment and featuring a possibly insane protagonist, then this psychological mystery is for you.
February 23, 2019
I lost another review. Wrote it all out. Hit save and it was gone.
:(
Trying again...
Gray Harston is both obsessed and depressed. Living off the rather meager royalty income of his first novel, his current address is a 'hovel,' a shack in the woods owned by a friend. He's barely enough money to feed himself and is waiting for the inspiration to write again. When he bumps into a girl - literally, he does - who falls in love with him and promises him a fortune if she kills her wealthy husband...
Well, there's more to it than this. It's complex. It's involved. Gray's also got a dying mother, a friend who wants him to take care of her dog while she goes to Australia, and a few other acquaintances all with various needs of their own. Suffice to say, Gray's in deep and though I should have seen where this was all going - I didn't!
Great read in the vein of Patricia Highsmith or even Shirley Jackson.
Four stars.
:(
Trying again...
Gray Harston is both obsessed and depressed. Living off the rather meager royalty income of his first novel, his current address is a 'hovel,' a shack in the woods owned by a friend. He's barely enough money to feed himself and is waiting for the inspiration to write again. When he bumps into a girl - literally, he does - who falls in love with him and promises him a fortune if she kills her wealthy husband...
Well, there's more to it than this. It's complex. It's involved. Gray's also got a dying mother, a friend who wants him to take care of her dog while she goes to Australia, and a few other acquaintances all with various needs of their own. Suffice to say, Gray's in deep and though I should have seen where this was all going - I didn't!
Great read in the vein of Patricia Highsmith or even Shirley Jackson.
Four stars.
March 3, 2014
A perfect little book, and it inspired me to bake a delicious Dundee Cake.
December 31, 2019
Ruth Rendell's earlier novels, especially those in her Wexford series (but let's not forget Master of the Moor), can be a bit of a lottery, but this one, The Face of Trespass, is a tautly told winner.
Gray Lanceton wrote a successful novel but then, because of the onset of a torrid love affair with the married Dru Janus, went into a prolonged bout of writer's block. The block became worse a few months ago when he split up with Dru over her insistence that they should plan to murder her hugely wealthy older husband Tiny and live the high life on her inheritance. Now Gray lives in a rundown shack in Epping Forest, wondering where his next meal will come from, hoping the phone will ring and Dru propose a reconciliation while also hoping it won't.
Then comes the news his mother his dying . . .
The Face of Trespass is a portrait of obsession -- for Gray's infatuation with Dru is nothing short of that -- and of victimhood. At any fork in the road of life, Gray has a tendency to make the wrong choice. Even worse, when the right choice faces him straight on, he still turns reflexively away from it. He's a born sucker, a sap, one of those natural victims that con tricksters can spot a mile off.
If the novel has any demerit it's that Gray is such a ninny that he sometimes becomes irritating: I quite often wanted to pick him up and shake some sense into him. At the same time I recognized quite a lot of myself in him, and so could hardly help but grudgingly like him for that reason.
The story's final resolution is perhaps a tad contrived but it still worked for me: as I read those last few pages I kept realizing how lots of minor incidents that I'd barely noticed as I'd read about them earlier in the novel in fact dovetailed in beautifully with each other to give, at last, the true explanation of events.
In later years Rendell might have taken twice the number of pages to tell this tale (especially if writing as Barbara Vine), and sometimes the greater expansiveness worked in her favor. Here, though, I enjoyed the relative spareness of her prose -- indeed, I think that overall The Face of Trespass may be the best written of her novels that I've read, which is saying something.
Gray Lanceton wrote a successful novel but then, because of the onset of a torrid love affair with the married Dru Janus, went into a prolonged bout of writer's block. The block became worse a few months ago when he split up with Dru over her insistence that they should plan to murder her hugely wealthy older husband Tiny and live the high life on her inheritance. Now Gray lives in a rundown shack in Epping Forest, wondering where his next meal will come from, hoping the phone will ring and Dru propose a reconciliation while also hoping it won't.
Then comes the news his mother his dying . . .
The Face of Trespass is a portrait of obsession -- for Gray's infatuation with Dru is nothing short of that -- and of victimhood. At any fork in the road of life, Gray has a tendency to make the wrong choice. Even worse, when the right choice faces him straight on, he still turns reflexively away from it. He's a born sucker, a sap, one of those natural victims that con tricksters can spot a mile off.
If the novel has any demerit it's that Gray is such a ninny that he sometimes becomes irritating: I quite often wanted to pick him up and shake some sense into him. At the same time I recognized quite a lot of myself in him, and so could hardly help but grudgingly like him for that reason.
The story's final resolution is perhaps a tad contrived but it still worked for me: as I read those last few pages I kept realizing how lots of minor incidents that I'd barely noticed as I'd read about them earlier in the novel in fact dovetailed in beautifully with each other to give, at last, the true explanation of events.
In later years Rendell might have taken twice the number of pages to tell this tale (especially if writing as Barbara Vine), and sometimes the greater expansiveness worked in her favor. Here, though, I enjoyed the relative spareness of her prose -- indeed, I think that overall The Face of Trespass may be the best written of her novels that I've read, which is saying something.
May 10, 2015
This is one of Ruth Rendell’s stand-alone novels, one of those where she chooses a subject to be pitied and then reveals exactly how flawed the human race is.
It cheers people knowing others are unhappy, don’t you think?
Gray Lanceton had started his literary career with promise, well enough that he’d had more money to spend than he thought but for the last three years he hasn’t written a word. Living in a hovel on the edge of a forest his only contact the milkman and his once a week foray to the bank to withdraw four pounds to live off and to the library to choose a selection of books. What went so wrong? What happened to the young man who appeared to have life at his fingertips? Gray had met Drusilla, a young bored and beautiful wife to a wealthy older man but before the story starts the affair had finished; Drusilla had made one demand too far.
It was a pity, he thought, that uncomplicated joy lasts so short a time, that it must always give way rapidly to practicalities and plans.
The beauty of Ruth Rendell’s books is how she draws damaged characters so very well and in so few words, this book is less than 200 pages but deeply satisfying from the first to last page. We get an impression of Grey through his own despairing eyes but later get an impression of what he was from his friends and most revealing of all, from his step-father.
Inside each one of us is a frightened child trying to get out. The measure of our maturity is the extent to which we are able to keep that child quiet, confined and concealed.
The Face of Trespass was written in 1977 and as always with these older books I loved the detail of the period, where you went into a bank to withdraw money, one where four pounds could last someone a week?
It cheers people knowing others are unhappy, don’t you think?
Gray Lanceton had started his literary career with promise, well enough that he’d had more money to spend than he thought but for the last three years he hasn’t written a word. Living in a hovel on the edge of a forest his only contact the milkman and his once a week foray to the bank to withdraw four pounds to live off and to the library to choose a selection of books. What went so wrong? What happened to the young man who appeared to have life at his fingertips? Gray had met Drusilla, a young bored and beautiful wife to a wealthy older man but before the story starts the affair had finished; Drusilla had made one demand too far.
It was a pity, he thought, that uncomplicated joy lasts so short a time, that it must always give way rapidly to practicalities and plans.
The beauty of Ruth Rendell’s books is how she draws damaged characters so very well and in so few words, this book is less than 200 pages but deeply satisfying from the first to last page. We get an impression of Grey through his own despairing eyes but later get an impression of what he was from his friends and most revealing of all, from his step-father.
Inside each one of us is a frightened child trying to get out. The measure of our maturity is the extent to which we are able to keep that child quiet, confined and concealed.
The Face of Trespass was written in 1977 and as always with these older books I loved the detail of the period, where you went into a bank to withdraw money, one where four pounds could last someone a week?
April 23, 2014
Here’s Ruth Rendell in familiar territory – an obsessive loner reflecting on the past and the wrong choices which got them into an unhealthy situation. What marks this one out is the uncommon level of self-awareness Rendell allows Guy Creevey to have – he is acutely conscious of his lack of moral fibre, realising full well that if he allows his former (married) lover back into his life, no good will come of it. This proves remarkably astute, given what follows – a factor which adds considerably to the overall strength of the novel.
Other factors include a reworking of Rendell’s own experience as a local reporter – where her failure to attend a society dinner meant she was unaware the guest speaker had died until her editor lambasted her for failing to include it in her report. It’s easily done, of course, and I sympathise with the need to exorcise this career-ending mistake in fiction!
There are also the laugh-out-loud sections where Guy is forced to endure his stepfather’s cooking – meals created with typical French culinary arrogance but without the necessarily expensive ingredients to make them because the person responsible is too tight-fisted to buy them.
Rendell is a particular favourite author of mine, and ‘The Face of Trespass’ certainly reminds me of why.
Other factors include a reworking of Rendell’s own experience as a local reporter – where her failure to attend a society dinner meant she was unaware the guest speaker had died until her editor lambasted her for failing to include it in her report. It’s easily done, of course, and I sympathise with the need to exorcise this career-ending mistake in fiction!
There are also the laugh-out-loud sections where Guy is forced to endure his stepfather’s cooking – meals created with typical French culinary arrogance but without the necessarily expensive ingredients to make them because the person responsible is too tight-fisted to buy them.
Rendell is a particular favourite author of mine, and ‘The Face of Trespass’ certainly reminds me of why.
February 16, 2022
I listened to this one, and I am lucky I did because I wouldn't have finished it otherwise. The main character is a spineless manchild, and is stupidly obsessed with a hideous greedy self-centered woman.
He has nothing nice to think about anyone, acts like he is better than everyone else, and believes the world is supposed to fall at his feet (and honestly she is the same). Neither wants to take responsibility for anything.
The story itself is boring because of the main character. Definitely not one of Rendell's better works.
He has nothing nice to think about anyone, acts like he is better than everyone else, and believes the world is supposed to fall at his feet (and honestly she is the same). Neither wants to take responsibility for anything.
The story itself is boring because of the main character. Definitely not one of Rendell's better works.
January 22, 2012
This book - published in 1974 - came to me via a friend who was cleaning out his cottage and is one of many currently sitting on my books shelves awaiting to be read.
This book provides more suspense within its less than 200 pages than many writers can within novels 2 and three times its length. No cast of thousands. No myriad of sub plots. Just a simple story told exceptionally well with a twist at the end.
This book provides more suspense within its less than 200 pages than many writers can within novels 2 and three times its length. No cast of thousands. No myriad of sub plots. Just a simple story told exceptionally well with a twist at the end.
May 19, 2017
The terror of a phone that is never answered, or that never rings; in a way, that is what this book is all about. A deceptively nasty little tale with a neat summation. Gray can't bring himself to kill his lover's husband and drifts off into a hermit like existence of dreams, only to be brought back with a single phone call. The heartlessness of it all, especially seen through the naive, love addled eyes of Gray is actually quite thrilling.
November 26, 2011
Well written and relatively "novely" for a mystery. But the fact that it was written in the 1970s shows, in the sense that you can see the denouement coming a mile away. It reminds me Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in that way; when it was first written, the plot must have been shocking or felt fresh, but now many novels have been written with that plot line. Luckily, Ruth Rendell is worth reading for her writing alone.
July 25, 2017
This is the best non-Wexford Ruth Rendell book I have read to date, yet at first, I thought it boring, and almost decided not to finish it. It begins as a tale of a passionate affair that has come to an end, but, as always with Rendell’s characters, there is a lot more that lies beneath the seems-to-be. In this one, I didn’t see the ending coming!
November 22, 2024
De cover staat symbolisch voor de inhoud van het boek: een ouderwetse telefoon die van de haak ligt met op de kiesschijf een foto van een mooie jonge vrouw. Hoofdfiguur Gray is een schrijver die na het uitbrengen van zijn eerste, tamelijk sukselvolle, boek aan writer's block lijdt, leeft teruggetrokken in zijn "gribus" als een soort clochard op het randje van complete armoede. Centaal in zijn leven staat de telefoon die hij bewust van de haak legt terwijl hij in gedachten beleeft hoe men hem probeert te bellen.
Na enkele korte hoofdstukjes kom je dat allemaal te weten en verwacht je het begin van het eigenlijke verhaal. Tevergeeefs, zal blijken. De schrijfster, toch werelberoemd als één van de grootste detectiveschrijfsters aller tijden (Wexford), laat zich in deze pscychologische detective helemaal gaan. Tot op de laatste paar bladzijden blijft ze het dagelijkse leven en het verleden van Gray minutieus uitrafelen. Vanuit zijn eigen verwrongen standpunt en zonder eigenlijk echt wat nieuws te brengen.
Het is een eeuwig herhalen van de denkwereld van een uitgeblust narcist die zichzelf helemaal laat gaan.
Zoals de titel zegt en het verhaal aan de lezer wel snel duidelijk maakt, dit kan niet goed aflopen. Het eenzijdige verhaal klopt niet helemaal (of helemaal niet) en hij trapt met open ogen in "De valstrik". Op de laatse bladzijden krijgen we dan nog een onverwachte plottwist. Terwijl Gray zich al heel fatalistisch bij zijn lot had neergelegd. 150 bladzijden minder en dit had een goed kortverhaal kunnen zijn.
Na enkele korte hoofdstukjes kom je dat allemaal te weten en verwacht je het begin van het eigenlijke verhaal. Tevergeeefs, zal blijken. De schrijfster, toch werelberoemd als één van de grootste detectiveschrijfsters aller tijden (Wexford), laat zich in deze pscychologische detective helemaal gaan. Tot op de laatste paar bladzijden blijft ze het dagelijkse leven en het verleden van Gray minutieus uitrafelen. Vanuit zijn eigen verwrongen standpunt en zonder eigenlijk echt wat nieuws te brengen.
Het is een eeuwig herhalen van de denkwereld van een uitgeblust narcist die zichzelf helemaal laat gaan.
Zoals de titel zegt en het verhaal aan de lezer wel snel duidelijk maakt, dit kan niet goed aflopen. Het eenzijdige verhaal klopt niet helemaal (of helemaal niet) en hij trapt met open ogen in "De valstrik". Op de laatse bladzijden krijgen we dan nog een onverwachte plottwist. Terwijl Gray zich al heel fatalistisch bij zijn lot had neergelegd. 150 bladzijden minder en dit had een goed kortverhaal kunnen zijn.
January 31, 2020
7,5
Sinceramente no sé por dónde empezar con esta historia. Cogí este libro de la estantería sin saber nada de él o de su autora porque solo buscaba algo ligero antes de las lecturas obligatorias de la uni. Al principio, a pesar de que no se me estaba haciendo larga su lectura, tenía la sensación de que no pasaba nada. Esto cambia en la segunda mitad del libro y el final, aunque previsible, pienso que es un buen cierre para la historia. Definitivamente ha sido un libro que me ha sorprendido para bien.
Sinceramente no sé por dónde empezar con esta historia. Cogí este libro de la estantería sin saber nada de él o de su autora porque solo buscaba algo ligero antes de las lecturas obligatorias de la uni. Al principio, a pesar de que no se me estaba haciendo larga su lectura, tenía la sensación de que no pasaba nada. Esto cambia en la segunda mitad del libro y el final, aunque previsible, pienso que es un buen cierre para la historia. Definitivamente ha sido un libro que me ha sorprendido para bien.
February 11, 2019
Near the very end of the novel, Rendell mentions schadenfreude and I wondered if she wasn’t having a playful dig at the reader. I for one was taking pleasure in Gray’s slow realisation of what was happening to him. Taking pleasure only because it was obvious that he was being played and his cringeworthy lovesick thoughts had become insufferable. Many times I wanted to reach into the book and shout “Wake up, you idiot!” Still, the punishment did seem spectacularly harsh.
The quite dull first two thirds had me wondering when the mystery might begin, but the final third did win me over in the end. It was well done, however I felt there were a number of plot holes which dragged it down.
- I’ve read enough detective stories to know that the copper should be asking himself one question after a murder – “Who stands to benefit the most from this?” and so I found it pretty unbelievable that the blame would fall on Gray and the cop wasn’t willing to entertain any notions of the wife being involved.
- Wouldn’t a perennially broke Gray just phone the vet to give him permission to operate on the dog rather than travelling over from France just to say “go ahead”?
- Potentially not a plot hole, but it wasn’t really explained… the letter Gray wrote to Tiny was from June 6th in the previous year. Did Drusilla plan this that far in advance and hope that Gray would contact her a year later, or did she just see her opportunity when he happened to call her again after so many months?
The quite dull first two thirds had me wondering when the mystery might begin, but the final third did win me over in the end. It was well done, however I felt there were a number of plot holes which dragged it down.
- I’ve read enough detective stories to know that the copper should be asking himself one question after a murder – “Who stands to benefit the most from this?” and so I found it pretty unbelievable that the blame would fall on Gray and the cop wasn’t willing to entertain any notions of the wife being involved.
- Wouldn’t a perennially broke Gray just phone the vet to give him permission to operate on the dog rather than travelling over from France just to say “go ahead”?
- Potentially not a plot hole, but it wasn’t really explained… the letter Gray wrote to Tiny was from June 6th in the previous year. Did Drusilla plan this that far in advance and hope that Gray would contact her a year later, or did she just see her opportunity when he happened to call her again after so many months?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2018
Well I suppose this was ok, but not amazing, or even that good. The storyline was actually fairly interesting and had good potential with quirky, distinctive characters and settings (I liked the extreme contrast of Drusilla's extravagant lifestyle and Gray's hovel). BUT it moved painfully slowly, and you could see what was going to happen a mile away (apart from maybe from the very last bit). I wanted to give Gray a good shake and tell him to pull it together. If you're looking for a fast paced, action passed thriller this definitely isn't it. If you're looking for a chilling psychological thriller then it's probably not the one either.
August 17, 2011
A wonderful character study of an author who follows his successful first novel with an extreme case of writer's block — a slovenly hermit who wants to avoid social life and all its responsibilities. But wait!… isn't this a mystery novel? In the last few pages a sequence of surprises bombard protagonist Gray, but at the very end we learn of another surprise he's yet to encounter. A classic mystery which left me wondering why it had not been made into a movie. Added to my reading list with all of Rendell's works after reading her Death Notes in August 2005.
November 17, 2007
Even though I read initially this a while ago, I always remembered it - it's one of those slow descent into madness books that is so believeable you are shocked at what you will accept from the main character. This one, however, ends with a great twist. I recently reread it because I finally found it again by accident. It is the story of a writer so obsessed with a woman that he will do anything for her. Anything.
December 25, 2021
This was not what I expected. The book was very much based on the internal thoughts and reflections of the main character, v and initially I found this intriguing and interesting. But as I got into the story, I realised I didn't like character (weak, lazy, insipid) and I knew exactly where the storyline was heading.
Via audible.
Via audible.
October 11, 2014
I am a big fan of Ruth Rendell and have read dozens of her books. But this early novel is one of her weakest. She was trying out her wings here, but had not yet become a writer with the startling creativity and deep psychological insights that she later became.
January 11, 2015
This strange character study, of another wonderfully realized Rendell hermit, explodes into excruciating suspense from a wildly unconventional source. I would have liked another scene with the killer at the quickly executed conclusion- but still a satisfying thriller.
February 7, 2016
The kind of obsessive, self-fooling love that Graham has for a rich debutante who happens to be married already is an example of why Kiss wrote "Love Sucks"! A well-written look at obsession and loneliness.
November 25, 2016
Horribly predictable all the way through. Not one sympathetic character, very disappointing.
October 27, 2023
Slow , stodgy all along until the end. Not what you expect of Ruth Randell. A weak man obsessed with a younger lover who is prepared to do anything for her. Disappointing .
January 2, 2021
Overall I enjoyed this. It was an audiobook. It was slow in places but not enough for me to give up on it. The narrative was excellent and the descriptive writing really drew me in. Good ending which pulled everything together. I imagined the girl as much older though and surprised she was only twenty four in the book. She came across as being in at least her forties to me. The time period really struck me as well with £6.00 being extremely expensive for perfume and the earnings of an accountant being £3000 per annum. I was frustrated with the lead character on many occasions and wanted to say you are being taken for a ride ... but he loved her and they do say love is blind. It certainly is in this case. I would have given more of a rating but it was very slow for the most part. As I said it was only the actual writing rather than the story that kept me listening to this.
April 2, 2020
This is one of a dozen old Rendells I picked up for free at a library. I preferred her non-Wexford novels and had really liked "The Vault" and "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me," but at first I thought I was going to be disappointed with this one. It moved so slowly in the beginning, and I found Dru to be a clearly untrustworthy and unappealing character. But then it picked up. And by the time I got to the last few chapters, I couldn't put it down and was trying to read more slowly to make it last. While Gray obviously made some stupid assumptions, there were still enough surprises to warrant a satisfying ending.
June 2, 2023
Not my usual genre, but a friend left it to me, so... Must be something in it....
Well, what a writer, quite outside my expectations of all being plot-based (as modern best-selling crime novels – passed on to me like this one – seem to be, but I would love to hear of those that are not).
In this novel, she is very people and character-centred. The main characters are full, but even the very minor ones come to life. Nevertheless, the plot is great, and the expected happens, then unhappens, then happens again. And the locations and general descriptions work pretty well too.
Brilliant, and just lost one star for a slight unevenness in places; well I thought so anyhow.
Well, what a writer, quite outside my expectations of all being plot-based (as modern best-selling crime novels – passed on to me like this one – seem to be, but I would love to hear of those that are not).
In this novel, she is very people and character-centred. The main characters are full, but even the very minor ones come to life. Nevertheless, the plot is great, and the expected happens, then unhappens, then happens again. And the locations and general descriptions work pretty well too.
Brilliant, and just lost one star for a slight unevenness in places; well I thought so anyhow.
March 25, 2024
I found a used paperback of this book, and I'm so glad I didn't read the publisher's summary of the plot on the back. I like to start reading a book as unaware as possible of the characters and plot (let alone the ending). I prefer the purer experience of allowing the author the present these to the reader on their terms. Rendell is such a unique master of this art of unfolding. The Face of Trespass is a great example. Clunky summaries meant to sell books either give too much away or miss the point entirely.
March 13, 2021
This is a fairly old Rendell novel, but worth tracking down. The first third of the story moves much too slowly and if I wasn't a huge Rendell fan, I'd have given up. I hung in a bit and it was worth it. There are a couple of plot twists at the end, one that creeps up on you and one that is a total surprise. The cast of characters is interesting, the dialogue believable. Some terrible editing (mis-spellings!) brings you to a full stop every now and again.
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