The Scapegoat in Retro Reads

Feb 07, 2017 debbicat *made of stardust* rated it it was amazing

Shelves: enchanted-readers-club, favorite-authors, buddy-read, 2017-reads

Very clever and enjoyable! I am not sure what I can say about this that hasn't already been said in other reviews...but, I can tell you for certain that I loved it. So, I can add that to the others that truly enjoyed this novel. It was unexpected. It wasn't even what I thought it would be about when I had so many times passed it over for something else. I might not had read it had it not been for my reading group picking it as a buddy read and, well, I like to read with those gals.

The book has ...more

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Mar 09, 2009 Misfit rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Two strangers, identical in appearance, a chance meeting and lives are forever changed. English John meets French Count Jean and share dinner and drinks as they discuss the remarkable likeness the two share. But Jean's financial problems drive him to render John unconscious, switch identities and leave him in his place to deal with his failing glass factory and fractious family. John soon finds himself in the midst of a mine-field dealing with a pregnant "wife", a couple of mistresses (one of th ...more

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Sep 24, 2018 Elinor rated it it was amazing

This classic novel has it all -- complex characters struggling in a bizarre situation, set in a historic chateau in the charming French countryside.

The riveting plot involves two identical men who meet by accident and one of them hoodwinks the other into changing places. John the Englishman becomes Jean the Frenchman, who owns the chateau. Since he speaks flawless French, the reader is expected to believe that John can step into his new role without detection -- and for the most part, he does. ...more

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Sep 16, 2018 Susan in NC rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 stars - What a wonderful book: du Maurier’s beautiful writing, fascinating characters, and intriguing puzzle - what’s not to like? I read this book for the first time as this month’s choice for the Retro Reads book group.

I read this book in two marathon sittings, listening along to the audiobook (very helpful for French pronunciations, and keeps me on pace) - really makes the story fly by! I didn’t know what to expect of this story of switched identities between doppelgängers, but it was qui ...more

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Oct 15, 2018 Hana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: retro-reads

A very subtle psychological study of a dysfunctional family and the strange chance that changes all their lives.

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Jun 26, 2017 Sewingdervish rated it really liked it

started out a little slow take me a few days to get into it but once I was into it I was into it! this book is very complex and made you think and you never knew quite what you were hoping for. Classic du Maurier, it became a little bit dark, but this resolution was a little easier to live with than some du Maurier conclusions.

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Sep 16, 2018 Kathryn Guare rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: riveting-retro

By far the most engrossing, entertaining and sophisticated "doppleganger" story I've ever come across!

It is amazing how well Du Maurier sustains the tension and a certain sinister discomfort from one scene to the next throughout the course of this book. She wastes no time in getting the suspense underway. The two men - strangers to each other – who look exactly alike, are already face to face by the third page in the first chapter, and the encounter is not lighthearted. One of them, John, is th ...more

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