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The Chimney Sweeper's Boy
The Chimney Sweeper's Boy | Barbara Vine
3 posts | 8 read | 7 to read
An unforgettable tale of mystery and obsession by Barbara Vine (pseudonym of Ruth Rendell, winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement) This is the utterly absorbing story of best-selling novelist Gerald Candless, whose sudden death from a heart attack leaves behind a wife and two doting daughters. To sort through her grief, one of his daughters, Sarah, decides to write a biography of her internationally celebrated father. Within hours of beginning her research, Sarah comes across the first of what will be many shocking revelations. As her life is slowly torn apart, a terrible logic finally emerges to explain her mother's remoteness, her father's need to continually reinvent himself in his work, and a long-forgotten London murder. From the Hardcover edition.
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Centique
Centique
The Chimney Sweeper's Boy | Barbara Vine
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Pickpick

Ruth Rendell (writing as Barbara Vine) has created a gripping story out of a family mystery rather than a crime/sleuth combo. Set in the 90s in Devon and London, a middle class family looks deeper into their novelist father‘s life following his death. These are some of the most compelling, complex characters I‘ve read this year. I don‘t know if the ending is quite as good an explanation as I wanted. Still ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #veryverybacklist #1998

MrsMalaprop I loved this book 👏. 7y
Centique @MrsMalaprop I‘m glad to find another fan! I‘m going to read more Barbara Vine for sure. 7y
Autumnlong Yes!! I loved this and all of the other Vine I‘ve had the chance to read so far 7y
See All 6 Comments
Centique @Autumnlong yay! More Vine fans! 😊👍 7y
eeclayton I've been recommended RR before, but somehow never got round to reading her yet. Putting this one on my TBR :) 7y
Centique @eeclayton thanks E 😊 I need to try some RR too. 7y
70 likes3 stack adds6 comments
blurb
Centique
Centique
The Chimney Sweeper's Boy | Barbara Vine
post image

I‘m reading my first Barbara Vine and loving it. BV is a pen name for Ruth Rendell. I found this Irish Times interview from the 90s explaining why she wanted to differentiate her books under two names.

LeahBergen I loved her novels as Barbara Vine. 7y
RadicalReader @Centique if you became an author what pen name would you write under? 7y
batsy That's so interesting. I'm thinking this is why Fernando Pessoa had so many heteronyms; it must have been creatively liberating, in a way. I have a BV book bought at a book sale that I (naturally) haven't read yet 😆 7y
See All 10 Comments
AlaMich I‘ve read a few of the BVs and didn‘t enjoy them as much as the standalone RRs. Can‘t remember why, though. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 7y
Centique @LeahBergen I think she might become a favourite of mine too 😊 7y
Centique @RadicalReader I hadn‘t thought about that! 7y
Centique @batsy I wonder if he felt like he was putting on a different persona each time? He‘s fascinating! 7y
Centique @AlaMich I have to try an RR soon and find out! I expect they‘ve got more pace and more adrenaline - that appeals to me also. I like a good detective/mystery. This one is more family psychology than mystery. 7y
AlaMich @Centique I recommend Judgement in Stone, my favorite RR. I‘ve never read any of her Wexford novels, only the standalones. 7y
Centique @AlaMich excellent, stacking it now! 😊 7y
56 likes10 comments
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MaryT465
MaryT465
The Chimney Sweeper's Boy | Barbara Vine
Pickpick

My goodness this woman drives me crazy. I can pick up a book and be spellbound. I can pick up a book and be frustrated enough to drop it. But when I'm captured, she has me and I'm hers.
This book had me