Brat Farrar

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Brat, who has a striking resemblance to men of the Ashby family, has a chance meeting with a connection to the family. It seems as if Brat is going to pull off this most incredible deception until old secrets emerge that jeopardize the imposter's plan and his life. As Tey works her ingenious way through her story, the suspense of the crime plot becomes less interesting than the emotional and moral puzzle she’s created. Eight years before the story begins, fourteen year old Patrick Ashby disappeared and was presumed to be dead,.

At this same table had eaten Ashbys who had died of fever in India, of wounds in the Crimea, of starvation in Queensland, of typhoid at the Cape, and of cirrhosis of the liver in the Straits settlements. This site has an archive of more than one thousand seven hundred interviews, or eight thousand book recommendations. He had had horses like Timber, and friends and family, and a belonging-place, and it had all meant nothing to him. That said, in terms of the plot propelling me to read on (such as whether or not Brat would be found out or the truth behind Patrick’s death), I didn’t find it as strong.Brat becomes well coached in the family lore and is able to convince the family that he really is Patrick and that he didn't commit suicide, but ran away to America where he learnt horsemanship. Simon is set to inherit the family estate when he turns twenty one as both parents died in a aeroplane crash when he and his twin Patrick were young. Only the slight hints of soppiness and cliché in the last couple of chapters stop it from scoring a perfect 5.

Josephine Tey wrote a number of detective stories but her best work hardly comes under the heading of a whodunit. Brat is an orphan (his name is a corruption of St Bartholomew’s Orphanage) and has made his way in the world through being on a ranch in America. Now, days before what would have been his 21st birthday, when he was due to inherit the Ashby fortune, a stranger has appeared, claiming to be Patrick.It is hard to be a rogue when one is also a thinker; it is harder still to live falsely when one yearns for truth.

We already know pretty early on that Brat has been legally accepted, clearing his biggest hurdles, and Patrick’s death is overshadowed by the tension between Brat and Simon. This sets Tey up to include lots of horsiness in the novel, just for its own sake and for the fun of show-jumping and racing. Imagine sliding the book out of its strong protective case, casting an eye at the beautiful colour illustrations and then whetting ones appetite with the concise and lucid intro from Ruth Rendell. so this isnt a mystery novel in the traditional sense, but its got a very compelling pacing to it that makes the suspense parts both immediate and british-leisurely. Loading is a B-movie actor figure and a scam artist who has known the Ashby’s very well for a long time.

Later Brat is found to be an illegimate son of a wayward Ashby, and then he and Eleanor consumate the love they thought they couldn't share. The stranger, Brat Farrar, has been carefully coached on Patrick's mannerisms, appearance and every significant detail of Patrick's early life, up to his thirteenth year when he disappeared and was thought to have drowned himself. This book is unusual in that it draws the reader inside the story and invites you to unlock the mystery.

It’s often considered one of the best mystery books of all time and Tey is also known for Bret Farrar which she had written a couple years before The Daughter of Time and I’d been wanting to read ever since. And indeed all Brat Farrar has in common with it is Tey’s refreshing prose and keen eye for character. Their centuries-old family estate is Latchetts, in the fictional village of Clare, near the south coast of England. Simon Ashby is about to turn 21 and finally inherit his dead parents' estate, easing the financial stresses on his family and younger sisters. I thought it was a great evocation of post war, upper middle class life; some elements of Tey’s writing are very much of their time (working class women are either comedy charwomen or vicious and vulgar) but I loved Brat himself and the way I found myself on the side of the imposter.The light of the sunset flooded the grey vault with warmth and the whole building held peace as a cup holds water. The action then moves to London, where to Brat’s astonishment a complete stranger greets him in the street as “Simon”. but even the most obvious and bad movie with a central mystery, i generally dont figure it out until the reveal. When a lookalike agrees to impersonate a presumed dead heir, he suspects the death wasn't accidental as he gets close to the family. This and several other Tey novels are available online at Project Gutenberg Australia, if you're interested in checking her out.