Simply wonderful, 25 Aug 2008
I first read Asta's Book in three days, and have lost count of the amount of times I have re-read it. The plot is original and gripping, the characters are wonderfully real, and the description of life in 1905 is fascinating.

A Must Read, 28 Apr 2006
Barbara Vine has written a masterpiece. In the USA it's called "Anna's Book", in the U.K. it's "Asta's Book". Completely engrossing, superbly drafted plot keeps your interest throughout the novel. A novel to be placed next to her award winning ,"A Dark-Adapted Eye" on your bookshelf. A must read.

WHODUNIT?..., 14 Sep 2003
This is a beautifully written, well-nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle of her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

WHODONIT..., 05 Nov 2002
This is a beautifully written, well nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

Gripping not gory, 27 Apr 2002
I picked this book out without realising it was written by Ruth Rendell. When I saw that Barbara Vine was her pseudonym I was disappointed. I thought that I'd have to plough through pages of gore and guts (I've seen too many trailers for Ruth Rendell murder dramatisations on the TV).

It wasn't at all like that. The murder wasn't gory and it wasn't gratuitous. The story was well woven and intelligent. I didn't feel patronised - I felt stretched when I'd read it.

I've read The Quincunx by Charles Palliser and Instance of a Fingerpost by Ian Pearson recently - both novels for those of you who want something a bit meaty to read.

Simply wonderful, 25 Aug 2008
I first read Asta's Book in three days, and have lost count of the amount of times I have re-read it. The plot is original and gripping, the characters are wonderfully real, and the description of life in 1905 is fascinating.

A Must Read, 28 Apr 2006
Barbara Vine has written a masterpiece. In the USA it's called "Anna's Book", in the U.K. it's "Asta's Book". Completely engrossing, superbly drafted plot keeps your interest throughout the novel. A novel to be placed next to her award winning ,"A Dark-Adapted Eye" on your bookshelf. A must read.

WHODUNIT?..., 14 Sep 2003
This is a beautifully written, well-nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle of her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

WHODONIT..., 05 Nov 2002
This is a beautifully written, well nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

Gripping not gory, 27 Apr 2002
I picked this book out without realising it was written by Ruth Rendell. When I saw that Barbara Vine was her pseudonym I was disappointed. I thought that I'd have to plough through pages of gore and guts (I've seen too many trailers for Ruth Rendell murder dramatisations on the TV).

It wasn't at all like that. The murder wasn't gory and it wasn't gratuitous. The story was well woven and intelligent. I didn't feel patronised - I felt stretched when I'd read it.

I've read The Quincunx by Charles Palliser and Instance of a Fingerpost by Ian Pearson recently - both novels for those of you who want something a bit meaty to read.

The banality of evil, 26 May 2008
I returned to this book after starting a psychology course, looking with more interest at the symbolism and the pathology of the characters in the book. In particular, I was curious about why Vine uses the title "The Minotaur". The most obvious answer is that the library in the house is the maze of the Minoan myth, and therefore John represents the Minotaur, imprisoned within it. This doesn't offer much by way of explanation, however: Vine could have written the book without the library being a maze, and John's Asperger's syndrome does not render him in any way monstrous or sinister. The real monster in the book is John's mother, who appears a classic case of Narcissistic personality disorder. In this context, Vine convincingly shows how a previously strong-minded and confident young woman becomes cowed by the thoroughly nasty Mrs Cosway and her equally bizarre, though less potent, daughters. Above all, what Vine does so well in this novel is to show how terrible and futile crimes can come about through the unchallenged ordinary wickedness of apparently average people. It reminded me of the phrase Hannah Arendt used to describe her impressions of Eichmann's participation in the holocaust: the banality of evil. The behaviour of Mrs Cosway and her daughters, when broken down into actions and conversations, would never be sufficient to attract the attention of the police, any more than the behaviour of some of the worst killers in recent history in the UK have, right up until the point at which the crime is committed or discovered. That is the real horror of the book; the fact the people involved seem not too different from people that we know, right up until the point that they do the unthinkable.

I am still confused about the use of the Minotaur myth, but perhaps that is because Vine is too skillful a storyteller to labour the parallel between the myth and the story she tells in the book. I would also love to know why she uses a Roman vase and a geode as such significant items in her story. Both point to an unknowable past, and although both items are beautiful, unique and symbolic. It's touches like these which raise this story to the top of this genre.

The Minotaur, 28 Apr 2008
Interesting story and intriguing characters I enjoyed reading about. It does feel a little old-fashioned but in a way this works as it places the book firmly in its time and place.

An achievement, 11 Apr 2007
Who needs vampires & gore when you've got Vine to give you the chills? Loved Kerstin, she seemed so human that it was comforting. The sisters and the mother are just plain disturbing from their lack of compassion (except Zorah) for their brother/son. It felt so horrific to read that John had never felt the security of touch because of his fear brought about I suspected by his mother. This novel moved me in a way I never imagined because I think Vine's aim for this book was different from what I expected. I think she simply wanted to tell a story of a mentally handicapped man living in a world even more in desperate need than he is, and she wanted us to judge for ourselves. She maybe wanted us to answer 'What would we do in Kerstin's place?'

Another Vine classic, 31 Dec 2006
Having just re-read this book in paperback after devouring it in hardback when it was first published, I'm confident that it's another Vine classic. Once again we have the classic outsider-meets-strange-insular-family and the author's characterisation remains first class. The story, although slow to begin with, builds up rather nicely with a few shocks towards the end. Throughout the novel the narrator (the family's Swedish nurse, Kerstin) is able to tell the story from her perspective, which is juxtoposed with the strange occurances and behaviours exibited.

This book is fairly similar in structure to 'A Dark Adapted Eye', but is a good read and I'd recommend to all fans of Vine's work.

The darkest of dark stories, 26 Dec 2006
Magnificent. This is a family with severe and serious relationship problems which seem to me to be caused solely by the mother's dark and obsessive possessiveness, coupled with her very dark and unguessable secret. Vine's imaginative powers have no end to their depth - she's supreme. This book has sex - one character sleeping with 2 sisters at the same time, a vicar,a very dodgy doctor, a family feud simmering mostly in silence but which occasionally raises itself above the parapet to be quoshed rapidly;intigue in spades;collusion in spades; a creepy library. This is juxtaposed with an idyllic country setting.
Vine is amazing. Long may she write such chilling novels which stop us in our tracks and prevent us from doing anything except turning the pages. I can only think in superlatives about this book.

Simply wonderful, 25 Aug 2008
I first read Asta's Book in three days, and have lost count of the amount of times I have re-read it. The plot is original and gripping, the characters are wonderfully real, and the description of life in 1905 is fascinating.

A Must Read, 28 Apr 2006
Barbara Vine has written a masterpiece. In the USA it's called "Anna's Book", in the U.K. it's "Asta's Book". Completely engrossing, superbly drafted plot keeps your interest throughout the novel. A novel to be placed next to her award winning ,"A Dark-Adapted Eye" on your bookshelf. A must read.

WHODUNIT?..., 14 Sep 2003
This is a beautifully written, well-nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle of her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

WHODONIT..., 05 Nov 2002
This is a beautifully written, well nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

Gripping not gory, 27 Apr 2002
I picked this book out without realising it was written by Ruth Rendell. When I saw that Barbara Vine was her pseudonym I was disappointed. I thought that I'd have to plough through pages of gore and guts (I've seen too many trailers for Ruth Rendell murder dramatisations on the TV).

It wasn't at all like that. The murder wasn't gory and it wasn't gratuitous. The story was well woven and intelligent. I didn't feel patronised - I felt stretched when I'd read it.

I've read The Quincunx by Charles Palliser and Instance of a Fingerpost by Ian Pearson recently - both novels for those of you who want something a bit meaty to read.

The banality of evil, 26 May 2008
I returned to this book after starting a psychology course, looking with more interest at the symbolism and the pathology of the characters in the book. In particular, I was curious about why Vine uses the title "The Minotaur". The most obvious answer is that the library in the house is the maze of the Minoan myth, and therefore John represents the Minotaur, imprisoned within it. This doesn't offer much by way of explanation, however: Vine could have written the book without the library being a maze, and John's Asperger's syndrome does not render him in any way monstrous or sinister. The real monster in the book is John's mother, who appears a classic case of Narcissistic personality disorder. In this context, Vine convincingly shows how a previously strong-minded and confident young woman becomes cowed by the thoroughly nasty Mrs Cosway and her equally bizarre, though less potent, daughters. Above all, what Vine does so well in this novel is to show how terrible and futile crimes can come about through the unchallenged ordinary wickedness of apparently average people. It reminded me of the phrase Hannah Arendt used to describe her impressions of Eichmann's participation in the holocaust: the banality of evil. The behaviour of Mrs Cosway and her daughters, when broken down into actions and conversations, would never be sufficient to attract the attention of the police, any more than the behaviour of some of the worst killers in recent history in the UK have, right up until the point at which the crime is committed or discovered. That is the real horror of the book; the fact the people involved seem not too different from people that we know, right up until the point that they do the unthinkable.

I am still confused about the use of the Minotaur myth, but perhaps that is because Vine is too skillful a storyteller to labour the parallel between the myth and the story she tells in the book. I would also love to know why she uses a Roman vase and a geode as such significant items in her story. Both point to an unknowable past, and although both items are beautiful, unique and symbolic. It's touches like these which raise this story to the top of this genre.

The Minotaur, 28 Apr 2008
Interesting story and intriguing characters I enjoyed reading about. It does feel a little old-fashioned but in a way this works as it places the book firmly in its time and place.

An achievement, 11 Apr 2007
Who needs vampires & gore when you've got Vine to give you the chills? Loved Kerstin, she seemed so human that it was comforting. The sisters and the mother are just plain disturbing from their lack of compassion (except Zorah) for their brother/son. It felt so horrific to read that John had never felt the security of touch because of his fear brought about I suspected by his mother. This novel moved me in a way I never imagined because I think Vine's aim for this book was different from what I expected. I think she simply wanted to tell a story of a mentally handicapped man living in a world even more in desperate need than he is, and she wanted us to judge for ourselves. She maybe wanted us to answer 'What would we do in Kerstin's place?'

Another Vine classic, 31 Dec 2006
Having just re-read this book in paperback after devouring it in hardback when it was first published, I'm confident that it's another Vine classic. Once again we have the classic outsider-meets-strange-insular-family and the author's characterisation remains first class. The story, although slow to begin with, builds up rather nicely with a few shocks towards the end. Throughout the novel the narrator (the family's Swedish nurse, Kerstin) is able to tell the story from her perspective, which is juxtoposed with the strange occurances and behaviours exibited.

This book is fairly similar in structure to 'A Dark Adapted Eye', but is a good read and I'd recommend to all fans of Vine's work.

The darkest of dark stories, 26 Dec 2006
Magnificent. This is a family with severe and serious relationship problems which seem to me to be caused solely by the mother's dark and obsessive possessiveness, coupled with her very dark and unguessable secret. Vine's imaginative powers have no end to their depth - she's supreme. This book has sex - one character sleeping with 2 sisters at the same time, a vicar,a very dodgy doctor, a family feud simmering mostly in silence but which occasionally raises itself above the parapet to be quoshed rapidly;intigue in spades;collusion in spades; a creepy library. This is juxtaposed with an idyllic country setting.
Vine is amazing. Long may she write such chilling novels which stop us in our tracks and prevent us from doing anything except turning the pages. I can only think in superlatives about this book.

A really great book, 22 May 2004
This book is really excellent. It is particularly meaningful if you are familiar with Suffolk (admittedly not many people are!)

the past extends its tentacles, 20 Feb 2004
Genevieve Warner, a young woman trapped in a hopeless affair and a loveless marriage, works at Middleton Hall, a home for the elderly. Most of the residents are pleasant enough, contentedly reminiscing about their lives to their carers, but Stella is different. Stella and Genevieve immediately form a bond, taking to one another, seeing little bits of their own personality and situation within the other. Unlike other residents, though, Stella is sharp, smart, and in control, and she does not share the memories of her past, so retains a definite air of mystery. But Stella is dying of lung-cancer, and now she feels a desperate need to tell someone the story of her eventful life, so that her secrets do not die with her, following her into the grave, unknown forever. Thus, she decides to tell her story to Genevieve, slowly unfolding a tale that is moving, powerful, and, ultimately, subtly horrific.

This, "The Brimstone Wedding", is yet another masterpiece of atmospheric fiction from Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell). Yet again she synthesises her twin storylines one in the past, one in the present brilliantly, and they eerily mirror each other down the generations. She builds the atmosphere brilliantly in both the time periods, and the suspense is continually ratcheted up, helped along by subtle and tantalising hints as to what exactly Stella’s shocking secret could possibly be.

This time around, the characters are also more likeable than is the norm for a Vine novel, so it has a warmer, deceptively (and dangerously) cosy feel, which is juxtaposed with the usual chilly atmosphere and down-to-the-bones and wonderfully detached writing style. They’re characters you are motivated to care deeply about, which serves to make this not only a powerful in places but also very moving. Certainly, there was one point when I even shed a few tears.

The story is told brilliantly, giving readers enough information to satisfy, but yet as little as possible, to ensure that they need continually to turn the page to find out more. It all culminates excellently with a shocking revelation about the true nature of Stella’s secret. This revelation is not overblown and exaggerated, as some authors might make it, instead Vine underplays it, clearing it entirely of melodrama and simply telling things exactly as they were, which forces the reader to actually think about it, thus bringing huge power to the climax.

This, a masterpiece that is the sum of many excellent parts, is a complete triumph for Vine, matching up very equally with my previous favourite of hers, the erotic and chilling genius that is "No Night Is Too Long". Neither of these books should be passed over by any reader worth their salt.

Engrossing, 20 Feb 2003
As always, novels by Barbara Vine keep the reader enthralled and 'The Brimstone Wedding' is no exception. The story focuses upon Jenny, who is a carer in an old people's home. Jenny realizes that she is no longer in love with her husband, Michael, and she becomes involved (and falls in love)with another man, who is also married. Jenny's lover tells her that he will leave his wife and his young, asthmatic daughter for her, but Jenny says that he must not, insisting that his family needs him. Jenny has also become very fond of Stella, a resident at the old people's home, and she soon finds herself confiding in Stella about her unhappy marriage and her affair. Stella listens patiently to Jenny, and gradually reveals her own secret, a secret kept hidden from her own family and laid bare to Jenny alone. Stella, knowing that she does not have long to live, records a message (not to be heard whilst Stella is alive) in which she reveals to Jenny, the dreadful secret she has kept in her heart for so many years. As the truth becomes clear to Jenny and she decides to take positive action in her life, little does she know that her life is about to take an unexpected (and unwelcome) turn.

chills and heartbreak, 07 Oct 2001
one of my favourite barbara vine novels. although it's about loss and disappointment, about bitter and hidden truths, about loves lost and hearts broken, it is one of vine's warmest books. the protagonists are sympathetic and people you care for. rarley, it seems to me, has vine written with so much love for her characters. a bad-time-feel-good-book, but in the typical vine vein.yes, there's chills, fear and violent death.

Poor than average for Ms Vine, 12 Sep 2000
I tried to like this book, I really did. I'd just finished reading another Ruth Rendell story -"Asta's Book" - and was looking foward to see what this one was like. It was not as good. It sagged in the middle. It had too much description and not enough plot and pace. And worst of all it suffered from "The Chimney Sweeper's Boy" syndrome: the twist at the end was too easy to guess. One could see it coming. The strength of Rendell's books come from their endings and these need to be haunting and to make you think, if only for a short while, after you have closed the book.

On the plus side the characters were well painted. This, however, needed to be backed by pace, less narrative and more dialogue.

Simply wonderful, 25 Aug 2008
I first read Asta's Book in three days, and have lost count of the amount of times I have re-read it. The plot is original and gripping, the characters are wonderfully real, and the description of life in 1905 is fascinating.

A Must Read, 28 Apr 2006
Barbara Vine has written a masterpiece. In the USA it's called "Anna's Book", in the U.K. it's "Asta's Book". Completely engrossing, superbly drafted plot keeps your interest throughout the novel. A novel to be placed next to her award winning ,"A Dark-Adapted Eye" on your bookshelf. A must read.

WHODUNIT?..., 14 Sep 2003
This is a beautifully written, well-nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle of her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

WHODONIT..., 05 Nov 2002
This is a beautifully written, well nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

Gripping not gory, 27 Apr 2002
I picked this book out without realising it was written by Ruth Rendell. When I saw that Barbara Vine was her pseudonym I was disappointed. I thought that I'd have to plough through pages of gore and guts (I've seen too many trailers for Ruth Rendell murder dramatisations on the TV).

It wasn't at all like that. The murder wasn't gory and it wasn't gratuitous. The story was well woven and intelligent. I didn't feel patronised - I felt stretched when I'd read it.

I've read The Quincunx by Charles Palliser and Instance of a Fingerpost by Ian Pearson recently - both novels for those of you who want something a bit meaty to read.

The banality of evil, 26 May 2008
I returned to this book after starting a psychology course, looking with more interest at the symbolism and the pathology of the characters in the book. In particular, I was curious about why Vine uses the title "The Minotaur". The most obvious answer is that the library in the house is the maze of the Minoan myth, and therefore John represents the Minotaur, imprisoned within it. This doesn't offer much by way of explanation, however: Vine could have written the book without the library being a maze, and John's Asperger's syndrome does not render him in any way monstrous or sinister. The real monster in the book is John's mother, who appears a classic case of Narcissistic personality disorder. In this context, Vine convincingly shows how a previously strong-minded and confident young woman becomes cowed by the thoroughly nasty Mrs Cosway and her equally bizarre, though less potent, daughters. Above all, what Vine does so well in this novel is to show how terrible and futile crimes can come about through the unchallenged ordinary wickedness of apparently average people. It reminded me of the phrase Hannah Arendt used to describe her impressions of Eichmann's participation in the holocaust: the banality of evil. The behaviour of Mrs Cosway and her daughters, when broken down into actions and conversations, would never be sufficient to attract the attention of the police, any more than the behaviour of some of the worst killers in recent history in the UK have, right up until the point at which the crime is committed or discovered. That is the real horror of the book; the fact the people involved seem not too different from people that we know, right up until the point that they do the unthinkable.

I am still confused about the use of the Minotaur myth, but perhaps that is because Vine is too skillful a storyteller to labour the parallel between the myth and the story she tells in the book. I would also love to know why she uses a Roman vase and a geode as such significant items in her story. Both point to an unknowable past, and although both items are beautiful, unique and symbolic. It's touches like these which raise this story to the top of this genre.

The Minotaur, 28 Apr 2008
Interesting story and intriguing characters I enjoyed reading about. It does feel a little old-fashioned but in a way this works as it places the book firmly in its time and place.

An achievement, 11 Apr 2007
Who needs vampires & gore when you've got Vine to give you the chills? Loved Kerstin, she seemed so human that it was comforting. The sisters and the mother are just plain disturbing from their lack of compassion (except Zorah) for their brother/son. It felt so horrific to read that John had never felt the security of touch because of his fear brought about I suspected by his mother. This novel moved me in a way I never imagined because I think Vine's aim for this book was different from what I expected. I think she simply wanted to tell a story of a mentally handicapped man living in a world even more in desperate need than he is, and she wanted us to judge for ourselves. She maybe wanted us to answer 'What would we do in Kerstin's place?'

Another Vine classic, 31 Dec 2006
Having just re-read this book in paperback after devouring it in hardback when it was first published, I'm confident that it's another Vine classic. Once again we have the classic outsider-meets-strange-insular-family and the author's characterisation remains first class. The story, although slow to begin with, builds up rather nicely with a few shocks towards the end. Throughout the novel the narrator (the family's Swedish nurse, Kerstin) is able to tell the story from her perspective, which is juxtoposed with the strange occurances and behaviours exibited.

This book is fairly similar in structure to 'A Dark Adapted Eye', but is a good read and I'd recommend to all fans of Vine's work.

The darkest of dark stories, 26 Dec 2006
Magnificent. This is a family with severe and serious relationship problems which seem to me to be caused solely by the mother's dark and obsessive possessiveness, coupled with her very dark and unguessable secret. Vine's imaginative powers have no end to their depth - she's supreme. This book has sex - one character sleeping with 2 sisters at the same time, a vicar,a very dodgy doctor, a family feud simmering mostly in silence but which occasionally raises itself above the parapet to be quoshed rapidly;intigue in spades;collusion in spades; a creepy library. This is juxtaposed with an idyllic country setting.
Vine is amazing. Long may she write such chilling novels which stop us in our tracks and prevent us from doing anything except turning the pages. I can only think in superlatives about this book.

A really great book, 22 May 2004
This book is really excellent. It is particularly meaningful if you are familiar with Suffolk (admittedly not many people are!)

the past extends its tentacles, 20 Feb 2004
Genevieve Warner, a young woman trapped in a hopeless affair and a loveless marriage, works at Middleton Hall, a home for the elderly. Most of the residents are pleasant enough, contentedly reminiscing about their lives to their carers, but Stella is different. Stella and Genevieve immediately form a bond, taking to one another, seeing little bits of their own personality and situation within the other. Unlike other residents, though, Stella is sharp, smart, and in control, and she does not share the memories of her past, so retains a definite air of mystery. But Stella is dying of lung-cancer, and now she feels a desperate need to tell someone the story of her eventful life, so that her secrets do not die with her, following her into the grave, unknown forever. Thus, she decides to tell her story to Genevieve, slowly unfolding a tale that is moving, powerful, and, ultimately, subtly horrific.

This, "The Brimstone Wedding", is yet another masterpiece of atmospheric fiction from Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell). Yet again she synthesises her twin storylines one in the past, one in the present brilliantly, and they eerily mirror each other down the generations. She builds the atmosphere brilliantly in both the time periods, and the suspense is continually ratcheted up, helped along by subtle and tantalising hints as to what exactly Stella’s shocking secret could possibly be.

This time around, the characters are also more likeable than is the norm for a Vine novel, so it has a warmer, deceptively (and dangerously) cosy feel, which is juxtaposed with the usual chilly atmosphere and down-to-the-bones and wonderfully detached writing style. They’re characters you are motivated to care deeply about, which serves to make this not only a powerful in places but also very moving. Certainly, there was one point when I even shed a few tears.

The story is told brilliantly, giving readers enough information to satisfy, but yet as little as possible, to ensure that they need continually to turn the page to find out more. It all culminates excellently with a shocking revelation about the true nature of Stella’s secret. This revelation is not overblown and exaggerated, as some authors might make it, instead Vine underplays it, clearing it entirely of melodrama and simply telling things exactly as they were, which forces the reader to actually think about it, thus bringing huge power to the climax.

This, a masterpiece that is the sum of many excellent parts, is a complete triumph for Vine, matching up very equally with my previous favourite of hers, the erotic and chilling genius that is "No Night Is Too Long". Neither of these books should be passed over by any reader worth their salt.

Engrossing, 20 Feb 2003
As always, novels by Barbara Vine keep the reader enthralled and 'The Brimstone Wedding' is no exception. The story focuses upon Jenny, who is a carer in an old people's home. Jenny realizes that she is no longer in love with her husband, Michael, and she becomes involved (and falls in love)with another man, who is also married. Jenny's lover tells her that he will leave his wife and his young, asthmatic daughter for her, but Jenny says that he must not, insisting that his family needs him. Jenny has also become very fond of Stella, a resident at the old people's home, and she soon finds herself confiding in Stella about her unhappy marriage and her affair. Stella listens patiently to Jenny, and gradually reveals her own secret, a secret kept hidden from her own family and laid bare to Jenny alone. Stella, knowing that she does not have long to live, records a message (not to be heard whilst Stella is alive) in which she reveals to Jenny, the dreadful secret she has kept in her heart for so many years. As the truth becomes clear to Jenny and she decides to take positive action in her life, little does she know that her life is about to take an unexpected (and unwelcome) turn.

chills and heartbreak, 07 Oct 2001
one of my favourite barbara vine novels. although it's about loss and disappointment, about bitter and hidden truths, about loves lost and hearts broken, it is one of vine's warmest books. the protagonists are sympathetic and people you care for. rarley, it seems to me, has vine written with so much love for her characters. a bad-time-feel-good-book, but in the typical vine vein.yes, there's chills, fear and violent death.

Poor than average for Ms Vine, 12 Sep 2000
I tried to like this book, I really did. I'd just finished reading another Ruth Rendell story -"Asta's Book" - and was looking foward to see what this one was like. It was not as good. It sagged in the middle. It had too much description and not enough plot and pace. And worst of all it suffered from "The Chimney Sweeper's Boy" syndrome: the twist at the end was too easy to guess. One could see it coming. The strength of Rendell's books come from their endings and these need to be haunting and to make you think, if only for a short while, after you have closed the book.

On the plus side the characters were well painted. This, however, needed to be backed by pace, less narrative and more dialogue.

Chilling and gripping, 11 Aug 2005
A great book! I do prefer her writing as Barabara Vine rather than Ruth Rendell, it must be said.

This offering is typical of Vine: more than a bit odd, creepy, an exploration of the darker aspects of human nature. It's fantastically well-written, and grabs a hold of you right from the beginning. Vine introduces her characters one by one, and gradually fills in the spaces in between them, all the way up to the very last page, when the whole story falls so perfectly and neatly into place.

It's a chilling tale in parts, one in which London's Tube network becomes a veritable protagonist, a true player in the story. Vine clearly did her homework before creating this fine book, so as to give the reader all the details one needs to *be* there, in the book. Only when one's one imagination can paint a more vivid picture does she merely sketch an outline for the reader to fill in.

I read this book whilst on holiday, enjoying the Maui sun. But it took me all the way to London, to the suburbs, to the bustling Underground stations, and to the frightening darkness of the deep line Tube tunnels. Truly exemplary writing!

Pulp Fiction on the London Underground, 15 May 2001
I read it last Xmas and it's a cracker!!! It has all the hallmarks of Vine - weirdness, suspense, ordinary characters doing extraordinary things and she's put a huge amount of research into it. I was hooked from beginning to end. I loved the way it focusses on a lot of characters and their stories are all sort of drawn together. When I say Pulp Fiction on London Underground, that'snot being derogatory...as I'd compare it to Tarrantino's film Pulp Fiction in how the disparate tales come together. I'm a bit biased as I have a love hate relationship with the tube.

review of King Solomon's Carpet, 04 Apr 2001
I think this is my favourite Vine novel. From its tragic opening to its end it concerns itself with the people and the places of the London Underground. The often bizarre and pathological relationships between the characters make the book a tense exploration of psychological abnormality,and there's a wonderful eccentricity in the atmosphere that combined with a really original plot development and brilliant ending makes this a great read.

Simply wonderful, 25 Aug 2008
I first read Asta's Book in three days, and have lost count of the amount of times I have re-read it. The plot is original and gripping, the characters are wonderfully real, and the description of life in 1905 is fascinating.

A Must Read, 28 Apr 2006
Barbara Vine has written a masterpiece. In the USA it's called "Anna's Book", in the U.K. it's "Asta's Book". Completely engrossing, superbly drafted plot keeps your interest throughout the novel. A novel to be placed next to her award winning ,"A Dark-Adapted Eye" on your bookshelf. A must read.

WHODUNIT?..., 14 Sep 2003
This is a beautifully written, well-nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle of her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

WHODONIT..., 05 Nov 2002
This is a beautifully written, well nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

Gripping not gory, 27 Apr 2002
I picked this book out without realising it was written by Ruth Rendell. When I saw that Barbara Vine was her pseudonym I was disappointed. I thought that I'd have to plough through pages of gore and guts (I've seen too many trailers for Ruth Rendell murder dramatisations on the TV).

It wasn't at all like that. The murder wasn't gory and it wasn't gratuitous. The story was well woven and intelligent. I didn't feel patronised - I felt stretched when I'd read it.

I've read The Quincunx by Charles Palliser and Instance of a Fingerpost by Ian Pearson recently - both novels for those of you who want something a bit meaty to read.

The banality of evil, 26 May 2008
I returned to this book after starting a psychology course, looking with more interest at the symbolism and the pathology of the characters in the book. In particular, I was curious about why Vine uses the title "The Minotaur". The most obvious answer is that the library in the house is the maze of the Minoan myth, and therefore John represents the Minotaur, imprisoned within it. This doesn't offer much by way of explanation, however: Vine could have written the book without the library being a maze, and John's Asperger's syndrome does not render him in any way monstrous or sinister. The real monster in the book is John's mother, who appears a classic case of Narcissistic personality disorder. In this context, Vine convincingly shows how a previously strong-minded and confident young woman becomes cowed by the thoroughly nasty Mrs Cosway and her equally bizarre, though less potent, daughters. Above all, what Vine does so well in this novel is to show how terrible and futile crimes can come about through the unchallenged ordinary wickedness of apparently average people. It reminded me of the phrase Hannah Arendt used to describe her impressions of Eichmann's participation in the holocaust: the banality of evil. The behaviour of Mrs Cosway and her daughters, when broken down into actions and conversations, would never be sufficient to attract the attention of the police, any more than the behaviour of some of the worst killers in recent history in the UK have, right up until the point at which the crime is committed or discovered. That is the real horror of the book; the fact the people involved seem not too different from people that we know, right up until the point that they do the unthinkable.

I am still confused about the use of the Minotaur myth, but perhaps that is because Vine is too skillful a storyteller to labour the parallel between the myth and the story she tells in the book. I would also love to know why she uses a Roman vase and a geode as such significant items in her story. Both point to an unknowable past, and although both items are beautiful, unique and symbolic. It's touches like these which raise this story to the top of this genre.

The Minotaur, 28 Apr 2008
Interesting story and intriguing characters I enjoyed reading about. It does feel a little old-fashioned but in a way this works as it places the book firmly in its time and place.

An achievement, 11 Apr 2007
Who needs vampires & gore when you've got Vine to give you the chills? Loved Kerstin, she seemed so human that it was comforting. The sisters and the mother are just plain disturbing from their lack of compassion (except Zorah) for their brother/son. It felt so horrific to read that John had never felt the security of touch because of his fear brought about I suspected by his mother. This novel moved me in a way I never imagined because I think Vine's aim for this book was different from what I expected. I think she simply wanted to tell a story of a mentally handicapped man living in a world even more in desperate need than he is, and she wanted us to judge for ourselves. She maybe wanted us to answer 'What would we do in Kerstin's place?'

Another Vine classic, 31 Dec 2006
Having just re-read this book in paperback after devouring it in hardback when it was first published, I'm confident that it's another Vine classic. Once again we have the classic outsider-meets-strange-insular-family and the author's characterisation remains first class. The story, although slow to begin with, builds up rather nicely with a few shocks towards the end. Throughout the novel the narrator (the family's Swedish nurse, Kerstin) is able to tell the story from her perspective, which is juxtoposed with the strange occurances and behaviours exibited.

This book is fairly similar in structure to 'A Dark Adapted Eye', but is a good read and I'd recommend to all fans of Vine's work.

The darkest of dark stories, 26 Dec 2006
Magnificent. This is a family with severe and serious relationship problems which seem to me to be caused solely by the mother's dark and obsessive possessiveness, coupled with her very dark and unguessable secret. Vine's imaginative powers have no end to their depth - she's supreme. This book has sex - one character sleeping with 2 sisters at the same time, a vicar,a very dodgy doctor, a family feud simmering mostly in silence but which occasionally raises itself above the parapet to be quoshed rapidly;intigue in spades;collusion in spades; a creepy library. This is juxtaposed with an idyllic country setting.
Vine is amazing. Long may she write such chilling novels which stop us in our tracks and prevent us from doing anything except turning the pages. I can only think in superlatives about this book.

A really great book, 22 May 2004
This book is really excellent. It is particularly meaningful if you are familiar with Suffolk (admittedly not many people are!)

the past extends its tentacles, 20 Feb 2004
Genevieve Warner, a young woman trapped in a hopeless affair and a loveless marriage, works at Middleton Hall, a home for the elderly. Most of the residents are pleasant enough, contentedly reminiscing about their lives to their carers, but Stella is different. Stella and Genevieve immediately form a bond, taking to one another, seeing little bits of their own personality and situation within the other. Unlike other residents, though, Stella is sharp, smart, and in control, and she does not share the memories of her past, so retains a definite air of mystery. But Stella is dying of lung-cancer, and now she feels a desperate need to tell someone the story of her eventful life, so that her secrets do not die with her, following her into the grave, unknown forever. Thus, she decides to tell her story to Genevieve, slowly unfolding a tale that is moving, powerful, and, ultimately, subtly horrific.

This, "The Brimstone Wedding", is yet another masterpiece of atmospheric fiction from Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell). Yet again she synthesises her twin storylines one in the past, one in the present brilliantly, and they eerily mirror each other down the generations. She builds the atmosphere brilliantly in both the time periods, and the suspense is continually ratcheted up, helped along by subtle and tantalising hints as to what exactly Stella’s shocking secret could possibly be.

This time around, the characters are also more likeable than is the norm for a Vine novel, so it has a warmer, deceptively (and dangerously) cosy feel, which is juxtaposed with the usual chilly atmosphere and down-to-the-bones and wonderfully detached writing style. They’re characters you are motivated to care deeply about, which serves to make this not only a powerful in places but also very moving. Certainly, there was one point when I even shed a few tears.

The story is told brilliantly, giving readers enough information to satisfy, but yet as little as possible, to ensure that they need continually to turn the page to find out more. It all culminates excellently with a shocking revelation about the true nature of Stella’s secret. This revelation is not overblown and exaggerated, as some authors might make it, instead Vine underplays it, clearing it entirely of melodrama and simply telling things exactly as they were, which forces the reader to actually think about it, thus bringing huge power to the climax.

This, a masterpiece that is the sum of many excellent parts, is a complete triumph for Vine, matching up very equally with my previous favourite of hers, the erotic and chilling genius that is "No Night Is Too Long". Neither of these books should be passed over by any reader worth their salt.

Engrossing, 20 Feb 2003
As always, novels by Barbara Vine keep the reader enthralled and 'The Brimstone Wedding' is no exception. The story focuses upon Jenny, who is a carer in an old people's home. Jenny realizes that she is no longer in love with her husband, Michael, and she becomes involved (and falls in love)with another man, who is also married. Jenny's lover tells her that he will leave his wife and his young, asthmatic daughter for her, but Jenny says that he must not, insisting that his family needs him. Jenny has also become very fond of Stella, a resident at the old people's home, and she soon finds herself confiding in Stella about her unhappy marriage and her affair. Stella listens patiently to Jenny, and gradually reveals her own secret, a secret kept hidden from her own family and laid bare to Jenny alone. Stella, knowing that she does not have long to live, records a message (not to be heard whilst Stella is alive) in which she reveals to Jenny, the dreadful secret she has kept in her heart for so many years. As the truth becomes clear to Jenny and she decides to take positive action in her life, little does she know that her life is about to take an unexpected (and unwelcome) turn.

chills and heartbreak, 07 Oct 2001
one of my favourite barbara vine novels. although it's about loss and disappointment, about bitter and hidden truths, about loves lost and hearts broken, it is one of vine's warmest books. the protagonists are sympathetic and people you care for. rarley, it seems to me, has vine written with so much love for her characters. a bad-time-feel-good-book, but in the typical vine vein.yes, there's chills, fear and violent death.

Poor than average for Ms Vine, 12 Sep 2000
I tried to like this book, I really did. I'd just finished reading another Ruth Rendell story -"Asta's Book" - and was looking foward to see what this one was like. It was not as good. It sagged in the middle. It had too much description and not enough plot and pace. And worst of all it suffered from "The Chimney Sweeper's Boy" syndrome: the twist at the end was too easy to guess. One could see it coming. The strength of Rendell's books come from their endings and these need to be haunting and to make you think, if only for a short while, after you have closed the book.

On the plus side the characters were well painted. This, however, needed to be backed by pace, less narrative and more dialogue.

Chilling and gripping, 11 Aug 2005
A great book! I do prefer her writing as Barabara Vine rather than Ruth Rendell, it must be said.

This offering is typical of Vine: more than a bit odd, creepy, an exploration of the darker aspects of human nature. It's fantastically well-written, and grabs a hold of you right from the beginning. Vine introduces her characters one by one, and gradually fills in the spaces in between them, all the way up to the very last page, when the whole story falls so perfectly and neatly into place.

It's a chilling tale in parts, one in which London's Tube network becomes a veritable protagonist, a true player in the story. Vine clearly did her homework before creating this fine book, so as to give the reader all the details one needs to *be* there, in the book. Only when one's one imagination can paint a more vivid picture does she merely sketch an outline for the reader to fill in.

I read this book whilst on holiday, enjoying the Maui sun. But it took me all the way to London, to the suburbs, to the bustling Underground stations, and to the frightening darkness of the deep line Tube tunnels. Truly exemplary writing!

Pulp Fiction on the London Underground, 15 May 2001
I read it last Xmas and it's a cracker!!! It has all the hallmarks of Vine - weirdness, suspense, ordinary characters doing extraordinary things and she's put a huge amount of research into it. I was hooked from beginning to end. I loved the way it focusses on a lot of characters and their stories are all sort of drawn together. When I say Pulp Fiction on London Underground, that'snot being derogatory...as I'd compare it to Tarrantino's film Pulp Fiction in how the disparate tales come together. I'm a bit biased as I have a love hate relationship with the tube.

review of King Solomon's Carpet, 04 Apr 2001
I think this is my favourite Vine novel. From its tragic opening to its end it concerns itself with the people and the places of the London Underground. The often bizarre and pathological relationships between the characters make the book a tense exploration of psychological abnormality,and there's a wonderful eccentricity in the atmosphere that combined with a really original plot development and brilliant ending makes this a great read.

Disappointing & annoying, 17 Feb 2008
An intriguing enough first chapter. The rest of the novel is ponderous and tedious. The 'shock' ending simply fails to convince.

A bit stilted, 14 Dec 2007
The Chimney Sweeper's Boy was the first Barbara Vine novel I'd read, although I have read several Ruth Rendalls (Vine's true persona). I found the same problem with this as with the others I'd read - a thin, stilted plot played out by two dimensional, unsympathetic characters. The story is of Gerald Candless, beloved father yet cruel, distant husband, whose daughter discovers some disturbing facts about his past while researching her memoir of his life and their relationship. The perspective switches between Sarah, the daughter, and Ursula, the neglected wife, whose memories and discoveries combine to draw a picture of the man.

So far, so thrilling. But I felt the story never really got off the ground. The plot lacked pace and, as with so many of Rendall's novels, the characters were by turns irritating and deeply unpleasant. There was no real examination of their feelings and motivations and, crucially, no satisfying conclusion - although the mystery of Gerald's past is revealed (after a clue so enormous you wonder how his apparently intelligent daughter missed it), several major issues, including Ursula's relationship with her daughters, were left frustratingly unresolved.

But for me, one of the biggest let downs was the excepts from Gerald's novels and descriptions of his plots. For someone who was supposed to be an excellent, Booker-nominated novellist, these were simply not up to scratch, which utterly destroyed the illusion.

''You could find out his whole life from his novels, yet not find it out at all.", 01 Dec 2007
With the death of successful author and Booker Prize nominee Gerald Candless, his family, living on the fog-shrouded coast of England, has a variety of responses. His wife Ursula, who has suffered his sexual rejection since the birth of their two daughters, now in their twenties, is at last free of his domination. His daughters, both of whom have been doted upon by their father, are devastated, and resentful that their mother, whom their father ignored, seems far less bereaved than they are. When older daughter Sarah, a college professor and writer, has her proposal for a biography of her father accepted by a major publisher, she expects this to be a healing experience. After all, her father kept journals and drew on his experiences for plots for his books--the raw material for a memoir is all there.

When Sarah begins her research, however, she discovers that her father's identity is as dark and fog-shrouded as the coast on which they live, that his name, parentage, upbringing, early work experiences, and entire past life may not be what she and her family have always believed. As Sarah delves into the past, this novel by Barbara Vine (the pseudonym used by Ruth Rendell for her most "psychological" novels) becomes a genealogical investigation into the life of a most mysterious man. Sarah's discoveries often come with a hard price, emotionally, affecting the memories she and her sister have of their revered father but, in many ways, liberating their mother and allowing the sisters to know her in new ways.

Vine reveals the mysteries of Gerald Candless in slow increments, her careful construction allowing the reader to share in the discoveries as information comes to Sarah through her research and that of an assistant she hires to act as a detective. The characters she meets along the way, while not fully developed, are nevertheless vibrant and individualized, and they keep the reader's interest high. While Sarah's own sexual behavior fails to ring true, her mother Ursula's confusion regarding her rejection by Gerald and her behavior after his death are both poignant and understandable. Fast-paced and filled with atmosphere, this mystery and the character at the heart of it will fascinate the reader who loves mysteries based on human relationships and human failings. Mary Whipple

Predictable?, 05 Jan 2007
I love Barbara Vine, but I admit that this was a slight disappointment in the plot's predictability. However, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the book, and I particularly loved the novels-within-a-novel; it was a nice touch.

Would come back for more., 22 Jun 2004
This is the first Barbara Vine book I have read and it has certainly not put me off trying more.

The story is well written and keeps the readers' interest throughout the book. The story is well crafted and moves well from the present to the past with good narrative descriptions of the characters' memories of previous events. That said the characters themselves are all pretty unlikable, especially Gerald Candless, and I found myself never being able to empathise with their opinions and views.

Other reviewers mention the dissapointing ending and I too found it a bit of a cop-out, although the exact nature of the end still made my eyes widen.

Grasshopper is the tale of Clodagh's recovery from the death of her best friend and liberation from the guilt her parents have imposed on her for the pylon-climbing that led to it; it is also the tale of new mistakes, and their disastrous consequences. In the London of the late 80s, Clodagh finds her own level--and it is way above the streets, with a roof-jaunting group of disaffected young people, each with a trauma of their own. For Swedish Liv, it is the nightmare of au-pairing; for Silver, it was abduction as a small boy; for the sinister young thug Jimmy, it was sexual abuse on a massive scale. When they graduate from merely clambering around to trying to do good, and help a couple on the run from the social services with a foster child, that is when the trouble starts... The audiobook adaptation is taut and passionate; Frances Barber's range of voices and characterisations adds immediacy to the strong characterisation and never becomes a mere series of comic impersonations, she retains a sense of this story's urgency even in the chunks of back-story that punctuate the main action. Duration: 5 hours--Roz Kaveney

Simply wonderful, 25 Aug 2008
I first read Asta's Book in three days, and have lost count of the amount of times I have re-read it. The plot is original and gripping, the characters are wonderfully real, and the description of life in 1905 is fascinating.

A Must Read, 28 Apr 2006
Barbara Vine has written a masterpiece. In the USA it's called "Anna's Book", in the U.K. it's "Asta's Book". Completely engrossing, superbly drafted plot keeps your interest throughout the novel. A novel to be placed next to her award winning ,"A Dark-Adapted Eye" on your bookshelf. A must read.

WHODUNIT?..., 14 Sep 2003
This is a beautifully written, well-nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle of her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

WHODONIT..., 05 Nov 2002
This is a beautifully written, well nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, she added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the reader's attention until the very last page is turned.

Gripping not gory, 27 Apr 2002
I picked this book out without realising it was written by Ruth Rendell. When I saw that Barbara Vine was her pseudonym I was disappointed. I thought that I'd have to plough through pages of gore and guts (I've seen too many trailers for Ruth Rendell murder dramatisations on the TV).

It wasn't at all like that. The murder wasn't gory and it wasn't gratuitous. The story was well woven and intelligent. I didn't feel patronised - I felt stretched when I'd read it.

I've read The Quincunx by Charles Palliser and Instance of a Fingerpost by Ian Pearson recently - both novels for those of you who want something a bit meaty to read.

The banality of evil, 26 May 2008
I returned to this book after starting a psychology course, looking with more interest at the symbolism and the pathology of the characters in the book. In particular, I was curious about why Vine uses the title "The Minotaur". The most obvious answer is that the library in the house is the maze of the Minoan myth, and therefore John represents the Minotaur, imprisoned within it. This doesn't offer much by way of explanation, however: Vine could have written the book without the library being a maze, and John's Asperger's syndrome does not render him in any way monstrous or sinister. The real monster in the book is John's mother, who appears a classic case of Narcissistic personality disorder. In this context, Vine convincingly shows how a previously strong-minded and confident young woman becomes cowed by the thoroughly nasty Mrs Cosway and her equally bizarre, though less potent, daughters. Above all, what Vine does so well in this novel is to show how terrible and futile crimes can come about through the unchallenged ordinary wickedness of apparently average people. It reminded me of the phrase Hannah Arendt used to describe her impressions of Eichmann's participation in the holocaust: the banality of evil. The behaviour of Mrs Cosway and her daughters, when broken down into actions and conversations, would never be sufficient to attract the attention of the police, any more than the behaviour of some of the worst killers in recent history in the UK have, right up until the point at which the crime is committed or discovered. That is the real horror of the book; the fact the people involved seem not too different from people that we know, right up until the point that they do the unthinkable.

I am still confused about the use of the Minotaur myth, but perhaps that is because Vine is too skillful a storyteller to labour the parallel between the myth and the story she tells in the book. I would also love to know why she uses a Roman vase and a geode as such significant items in her story. Both point to an unknowable past, and although both items are beautiful, unique and symbolic. It's touches like these which raise this story to the top of this genre.

The Minotaur, 28 Apr 2008
Interesting story and intriguing characters I enjoyed reading about. It does feel a little old-fashioned but in a way this works as it places the book firmly in its time and place.

An achievement, 11 Apr 2007
Who needs vampires & gore when you've got Vine to give you the chills? Loved Kerstin, she seemed so human that it was comforting. The sisters and the mother are just plain disturbing from their lack of compassion (except Zorah) for their brother/son. It felt so horrific to read that John had never felt the security of touch because of his fear brought about I suspected by his mother. This novel moved me in a way I never imagined because I think Vine's aim for this book was different from what I expected. I think she simply wanted to tell a story of a mentally handicapped man living in a world even more in desperate need than he is, and she wanted us to judge for ourselves. She maybe wanted us to answer 'What would we do in Kerstin's place?'

Another Vine classic, 31 Dec 2006
Having just re-read this book in paperback after devouring it in hardback when it was first published, I'm confident that it's another Vine classic. Once again we have the classic outsider-meets-strange-insular-family and the author's characterisation remains first class. The story, although slow to begin with, builds up rather nicely with a few shocks towards the end. Throughout the novel the narrator (the family's Swedish nurse, Kerstin) is able to tell the story from her perspective, which is juxtoposed with the strange occurances and behaviours exibited.

This book is fairly similar in structure to 'A Dark Adapted Eye', but is a good read and I'd recommend to all fans of Vine's work.

The darkest of dark stories, 26 Dec 2006
Magnificent. This is a family with severe and serious relationship problems which seem to me to be caused solely by the mother's dark and obsessive possessiveness, coupled with her very dark and unguessable secret. Vine's imaginative powers have no end to their depth - she's supreme. This book has sex - one character sleeping with 2 sisters at the same time, a vicar,a very dodgy doctor, a family feud simmering mostly in silence but which occasionally raises itself above the parapet to be quoshed rapidly;intigue in spades;collusion in spades; a creepy library. This is juxtaposed with an idyllic country setting.
Vine is amazing. Long may she write such chilling novels which stop us in our tracks and prevent us from doing anything except turning the pages. I can only think in superlatives about this book.

A really great book, 22 May 2004
This book is really excellent. It is particularly meaningful if you are familiar with Suffolk (admittedly not many people are!)

the past extends its tentacles, 20 Feb 2004
Genevieve Warner, a young woman trapped in a hopeless affair and a loveless marriage, works at Middleton Hall, a home for the elderly. Most of the residents are pleasant enough, contentedly reminiscing about their lives to their carers, but Stella is different. Stella and Genevieve immediately form a bond, taking to one another, seeing little bits of their own personality and situation within the other. Unlike other residents, though, Stella is sharp, smart, and in control, and she does not share the memories of her past, so retains a definite air of mystery. But Stella is dying of lung-cancer, and now she feels a desperate need to tell someone the story of her eventful life, so that her secrets do not die with her, following her into the grave, unknown forever. Thus, she decides to tell her story to Genevieve, slowly unfolding a tale that is moving, powerful, and, ultimately, subtly horrific.

This, "The Brimstone Wedding", is yet another masterpiece of atmospheric fiction from Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell). Yet again she synthesises her twin storylines one in the past, one in the present brilliantly, and they eerily mirror each other down the generations. She builds the atmosphere brilliantly in both the time periods, and the suspense is continually ratcheted up, helped along by subtle and tantalising hints as to what exactly Stella’s shocking secret could possibly be.

This time around, the characters are also more likeable than is the norm for a Vine novel, so it has a warmer, deceptively (and dangerously) cosy feel, which is juxtaposed with the usual chilly atmosphere and down-to-the-bones and wonderfully detached writing style. They’re characters you are motivated to care deeply about, which serves to make this not only a powerful in places but also very moving. Certainly, there was one point when I even shed a few tears.

The story is told brilliantly, giving readers enough information to satisfy, but yet as little as possible, to ensure that they need continually to turn the page to find out more. It all culminates excellently with a shocking revelation about the true nature of Stella’s secret. This revelation is not overblown and exaggerated, as some authors might make it, instead Vine underplays it, clearing it entirely of melodrama and simply telling things exactly as they were, which forces the reader to actually think about it, thus bringing huge power to the climax.

This, a masterpiece that is the sum of many excellent parts, is a complete triumph for Vine, matching up very equally with my previous favourite of hers, the erotic and chilling genius that is "No Night Is Too Long". Neither of these books should be passed over by any reader worth their salt.

Engrossing, 20 Feb 2003
As always, novels by Barbara Vine keep the reader enthralled and 'The Brimstone Wedding' is no exception. The story focuses upon Jenny, who is a carer in an old people's home. Jenny realizes that she is no longer in love with her husband, Michael, and she becomes involved (and falls in love)with another man, who is also married. Jenny's lover tells her that he will leave his wife and his young, asthmatic daughter for her, but Jenny says that he must not, insisting that his family needs him. Jenny has also become very fond of Stella, a resident at the old people's home, and she soon finds herself confiding in Stella about her unhappy marriage and her affair. Stella listens patiently to Jenny, and gradually reveals her own secret, a secret kept hidden from her own family and laid bare to Jenny alone. Stella, knowing that she does not have long to live, records a message (not to be heard whilst Stella is alive) in which she reveals to Jenny, the dreadful secret she has kept in her heart for so many years. As the truth becomes clear to Jenny and she decides to take positive action in her life, little does she know that her life is about to take an unexpected (and unwelcome) turn.

chills and heartbreak, 07 Oct 2001
one of my favourite barbara vine novels. although it's about loss and disappointment, about bitter and hidden truths, about loves lost and hearts broken, it is one of vine's warmest books. the protagonists are sympathetic and people you care for. rarley, it seems to me, has vine written with so much love for her characters. a bad-time-feel-good-book, but in the typical vine vein.yes, there's chills, fear and violent death.

Poor than average for Ms Vine, 12 Sep 2000
I tried to like this book, I really did. I'd just finished reading another Ruth Rendell story -"Asta's Book" - and was looking foward to see what this one was like. It was not as good. It sagged in the middle. It had too much description and not enough plot and pace. And worst of all it suffered from "The Chimney Sweeper's Boy" syndrome: the twist at the end was too easy to guess. One could see it coming. The strength of Rendell's books come from their endings and these need to be haunting and to make you think, if only for a short while, after you have closed the book.

On the plus side the characters were well painted. This, however, needed to be backed by pace, less narrative and more dialogue.

Chilling and gripping, 11 Aug 2005
A great book! I do prefer her writing as Barabara Vine rather than Ruth Rendell, it must be said.

This offering is typical of Vine: more than a bit odd, creepy, an exploration of the darker aspects of human nature. It's fantastically well-written, and grabs a hold of you right from the beginning. Vine introduces her characters one by one, and gradually fills in the spaces in between them, all the way up to the very last page, when the whole story falls so perfectly and neatly into place.

It's a chilling tale in parts, one in which London's Tube network becomes a veritable protagonist, a true player in the story. Vine clearly did her homework before creating this fine book, so as to give the reader all the details one needs to *be* there, in the book. Only when one's one imagination can paint a more vivid picture does she merely sketch an outline for the reader to fill in.

I read this book whilst on holiday, enjoying the Maui sun. But it took me all the way to London, to the suburbs, to the bustling Underground stations, and to the frightening darkness of the deep line Tube tunnels. Truly exemplary writing!

Pulp Fiction on the London Underground, 15 May 2001
I read it last Xmas and it's a cracker!!! It has all the hallmarks of Vine - weirdness, suspense, ordinary characters doing extraordinary things and she's put a huge amount of research into it. I was hooked from beginning to end. I loved the way it focusses on a lot of characters and their stories are all sort of drawn together. When I say Pulp Fiction on London Underground, that'snot being derogatory...as I'd compare it to Tarrantino's film Pulp Fiction in how the disparate tales come together. I'm a bit biased as I have a love hate relationship with the tube.

review of King Solomon's Carpet, 04 Apr 2001
I think this is my favourite Vine novel. From its tragic opening to its end it concerns itself with the people and the places of the London Underground. The often bizarre and pathological relationships between the characters make the book a tense exploration of psychological abnormality,and there's a wonderful eccentricity in the atmosphere that combined with a really original plot development and brilliant ending makes this a great read.

Disappointing & annoying, 17 Feb 2008
An intriguing enough first chapter. The rest of the novel is ponderous and tedious. The 'shock' ending simply fails to convince.

A bit stilted, 14 Dec 2007
The Chimney Sweeper's Boy was the first Barbara Vine novel I'd read, although I have read several Ruth Rendalls (Vine's true persona). I found the same problem with this as with the others I'd read - a thin, stilted plot played out by two dimensional, unsympathetic characters. The story is of Gerald Candless, beloved father yet cruel, distant husband, whose daughter discovers some disturbing facts about his past while researching her memoir of his life and their relationship. The perspective switches between Sarah, the daughter, and Ursula, the neglected wife, whose memories and discoveries combine to draw a picture of the man.

So far, so thrilling. But I felt the story never really got off the ground. The plot lacked pace and, as with so many of Rendall's novels, the characters were by turns irritating and deeply unpleasant. There was no real examination of their feelings and motivations and, crucially, no satisfying conclusion - although the mystery of Gerald's past is revealed (after a clue so enormous you wonder how his apparently intelligent daughter missed it), several major issues, including Ursula's relationship with her daughters, were left frustratingly unresolved.

But for me, one of the biggest let downs was the excepts from Gerald's novels and descriptions of his plots. For someone who was supposed to be an excellent, Booker-nominated novellist, these were simply not up to scratch, which utterly destroyed the illusion.

''You could find out his whole life from his novels, yet not find it out at all.", 01 Dec 2007
With the death of successful author and Booker Prize nominee Gerald Candless, his family, living on the fog-shrouded coast of England, has a variety of responses. His wife Ursula, who has suffered his sexual rejection since the birth of their two daughters, now in their twenties, is at last free of his domination. His daughters, both of whom have been doted upon by their father, are devastated, and resentful that their mother, whom their father ignored, seems far less bereaved than they are. When older daughter Sarah, a college professor and writer, has her proposal for a biography of her father accepted by a major publisher, she expects this to be a healing experience. After all, her father kept journals and drew on his experiences for plots for his books--the raw material for a memoir is all there.

When Sarah begins her research, however, she discovers that her father's identity is as dark and fog-shrouded as the coast on which they live, that his name, parentage, upbringing, early work experiences, and entire past life may not be what she and her family have always believed. As Sarah delves into the past, this novel by Barbara Vine (the pseudonym used by Ruth Rendell for her most "psychological" novels) becomes a genealogical investigation into the life of a most mysterious man. Sarah's discoveries often come with a hard price, emotionally, affecting the memories she and her sister have of their revered father but, in many ways, liberating their mother and allowing the sisters to know her in new ways.

Vine reveals the mysteries of Gerald Candless in slow increments, her careful construction allowing the reader to share in the discoveries as information comes to Sarah through her research and that of an assistant she hires to act as a detective. The characters she meets along the way, while not fully developed, are nevertheless vibrant and individualized, and they keep the reader's interest high. While Sarah's own sexual behavior fails to ring true, her mother Ursula's confusion regarding her rejection by Gerald and her behavior after his death are both poignant and understandable. Fast-paced and filled with atmosphere, this mystery and the character at the heart of it will fascinate the reader who loves mysteries based on human relationships and human failings. Mary Whipple

Predictable?, 05 Jan 2007
I love Barbara Vine, but I admit that this was a slight disappointment in the plot's predictability. However, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the book, and I particularly loved the novels-within-a-novel; it was a nice touch.

Would come back for more., 22 Jun 2004
This is the first Barbara Vine book I have read and it has certainly not put me off trying more.

The story is well written and keeps the readers' interest throughout the book. The story is well crafted and moves well from the present to the past with good narrative descriptions of the characters' memories of previous events. That said the characters themselves are all pretty unlikable, especially Gerald Candless, and I found myself never being able to empathise with their opinions and views.

Other reviewers mention the dissapointing ending and I too found it a bit of a cop-out, although the exact nature of the end still made my eyes widen.

Don't listen to those who 'diss' this book , 20 Jan 2008
I have never read any Barbara Vine or Ruth Rendell novels before this one but I loved it. It is a while since I read it but the memorable characters and rich plot are etched on my mind. I can't understand the poor rating by some readers but I imagine they were looking for basic whodunnit novels.

opinions seem to be divided on this one, 27 May 2007
but I am glad I went with those who gave high star rating.This is classic Vine with lots of detail and good characterisation and clever plot with the essential surprises.I very nearly did not bother to get this book because of the negative reviews and I am glad that I decided to give it a try and of course I was soon hooked by delightful develish Barbara!

Grasshopper by Barbara Vine, 02 Apr 2006
Normally I can't wait to read any book by Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell), so perhaps it was secretly telling me something that I had had this one sitting around at home for several months before I started it. There ARE moments of vintage Vine in this. The incident on the pylon, around which the whole book hangs has a marvellously haunting, dreamlike quality to it, and the descriptions of the gloomy basement flat where Clodagh goes to live are emphatically in the very best of the Rendell/Vine tradition. But after 200 pages of this book I simply couldn't stand any more of it. The characters doggedly refuse to come to life. The younger ones in particular just don't seem at all plausible. Johnny the cat-burglar is more like a Bill Sykes clone from Victorian London than a young thug in the post-Millennial city. And the piously irritating Goody Two-Shoes Silver isn't remotely real.

But what I really simply couldn't stand was the character of Clodagh herself. I'm not saying it's essential for you to actually LIKE the central character in a novel to enjoy it by any means, (and most of us prefer a flawed central character anyway), but it does help also if you don't find them boring, cold-blooded, ungrateful, selfish, miserable, and just generally downright depressing! Which is unfortunate as it is Clodagh herself telling the story. At the beginning of Chapter 3 she says, "I don't suppose you want to know the details of the trapped-in-the-underground-cell dream I had early the next morning and from which I woke up screaming" .... too right I don't! This book is already boring enough without that as well!!! And instead of being excited, my heart just sank when the characters set off for yet another rooftop ramble. A sort of "oh no, how long's this one going to go on for?!" And would young adults really get so excited about climbing over roof-tops that they make it the focal-point of their entire existence??? I mean, it's more the sort of thing a little child would get thrilled about, like camping out in the garden! Sorry. Rendell/Vine is normally one of those authors I just want to praise, praise and praise, I usually think she's brilliant, but I can't do it here. If you're new to this author's work then I personally recommend you start with "The House Of Stairs", "Gallowglass" or the more recent "The Minotaur", as an introduction to her.

Putdownable!, 01 Feb 2004
I did not enjoy this book at all and each time I came to the end of a chapter I seriously contemplated calling it a day. But I ploughed on until the end but it got no better.
The book is very slow and I felt as though I were trawling through it, there was no intrigue or mystery or thrill to it and the characters were too wishy-washy and unbelievable.
Definately not one of her best!

original, haunting, brilliant!, 16 Nov 2003
Because of the accident on the pylon, Clodagh has been banished to the city, to a dingy basement flat below the large house of one of her parents’ friends. Soon, prisoner of her near-claustrophobia, she bursts free when she discovers the residents of the top floor of nearby 15 Russia Road. Caring Silver, violent Jonny, weak and waspish Liv, and mysterious Wim. However, coming into contact with this fascinating bunch of misfits and their curious come-and-go lifestyle as they roam free up on the roofs will put Clodagh right in the path of tragedy once more…

This book is both everything you would expect from Vine, and also a lot more besides. Some, I suppose, may be disappointed with the fact that it does veer off in a slightly unexpected direction and become a book entirely different from what you might at first have suspected, but others should simply appreciate the author’s ability to take her story in unexpected, original directions. Grasshopper is a brilliantly eerie, haunting piece of work right from its stunning opening sentence – “They have sent me here because of the accident on the pylon.” – it is nostalgic and shadowy, and ominous to the last word. Foreboding cats a dark cloud over the whole plot and all the characters, and the writing is superb, as ever. The whole thing shivers and sways as the plot moves gradually along and suspense is eked out mercilessly.

The characters are fascinating – brilliantly drawn and entirely real. Vine (and Rendell) has always been