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| Ruth Rendell (as Barbara Vine),
The Blood Doctor |
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Martin Nanther is a hereditary peer in the House
of Lords. He owes his peerage to his great grandfather Henry, a
hematologist or blood doctor. Biographer, Martin becomes
increasingly interested in researching the life of his ancestor, who
specialized in diseases of the blood, more particularly hemophilia.
He was one of Queen Victoria's in-Ordinary physician and tended to
her hemophiliac son Leopold's health.
Martin encounters problems in both his
professional and personal life: a Bill is about to pass that aims to
abolish hereditary peerage, putting Martin's position in the
House of Lords in jeopardy. On a personal level, Martin is
confronted with his wife's inability to carry a pregnancy to term
and her obsession with having a baby, while he already has a son
from a previous marriage.
Partly by interest and partly to escape his
wife's obsession, Martin immerses himself in the life of the First
Lord Nanther, getting to know many of his relatives along the way,
and trying to reconstitute the puzzle of the doctor's life. Many
things begin to strike him as strange, such as his relationships
with the women in his life, and his estrangement from his children,
with the exception of his last and beloved son George. Little by
little, Martin will fill the gaps and discover the shocking truth
behind the seemingly exemplary doctor's life...
As the title and the doctor's obsession
indicates, The Blood Doctor explores the subject of blood in
all his implications: diseases of the blood, genetic heritage,
family relationships, rights acquired by the blood, etc. If you are
looking for a mystery, you might be disappointed by this novel: the
mystery is not much of a mystery, though the novel is truly riveting
and intriguing. The shocking truth is not that hard to figure out,
and I didn't even find it that shocking, because I was expecting
much worse. However, I recommend this book, first for Rendell's
flawless style: her writing is impeccable and the research she put
in the book impressive. She evolves with ease in Victorian England,
unveiling the life of the Nanther family through letters, pictures and
diaries, medical books and newspaper clippings. Her knowledge of the
House of Lords is first-hand since Rendell is a life peer herself,
with the title Baroness Rendell of Babergh...
The reader accustomed to Rendell/Vine's novels
knows that when Rendell writes as Barbara Vine, she writes novels
that often involve history, not necessarily remote history but at
least family history, the uncovering of buried family secrets. In
Anna's Book, that I reviewed
previously, the ending really comes as a surprise, but I found the
atmosphere of The Blood Doctor more drawing. My advice? Read
both (and other Vine or Rendell's books) and make your own opinion
as to which is your favorite...
Rating: 
© Discussing Books, 07/24/2003 |
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| Further Readings |
As Barbara Vine:
Vine, Barbara (1986) A Dark Adapted Eye
Vine, Barbara (1987)
A Fatal Inversion
Vine, Barbara (1988)
The House of Stairs
Vine, Barbara (1990)
Gallowglass
Vine, Barbara (1991)
King Solomon's Carpet
Vine, Barbara (1993) Anna's Book
Vine, Barbara (1994)
No Night is Too Long
Vine, Barbara (1996)
The Brimstone Wedding
Vine, Barbara (1998) The Chimney Sweeper's
Boy
Vine, Barbara (2000)
Grasshopper
Vine, Barbara (2002) The Blood Doctor
Vine, Barbara (2005) The Minotaur
As Ruth Rendell:
Rendell, Ruth (1965) To Fear a Painted Devil
Rendell, Ruth (1965) Vanity Dies Hard
Rendell, Ruth (1971)
One
Across, Two Down
Rendell, Ruth (1974)
The
Face of Trespass
Rendell, Ruth (1976)
A
Demon in my View
Rendell, Ruth (1977) A Judgement in Stone
Rendell, Ruth (1979)
Make
Death Love Me
Rendell, Ruth (1980) The Lake of Darkness
Rendell, Ruth (1982)
Master
of the Moor
Rendell, Ruth (1984)
The
Killing Doll
Rendell, Ruth (1984)
The
Tree of Hands
Rendell, Ruth (1986)
Live Flesh
Rendell, Ruth (1987)
Talking to Strange Men
Rendell, Ruth (1989)
The
Bridesmaid
Rendell, Ruth (1990)
Going Wrong
Rendell, Ruth (1993) The Crocodile Bird
Rendell, Ruth (1996) Blood Lines
Rendell, Ruth (1996)
The
Keys to the Street
Rendell, Ruth (1999)
A
Sight for Sore Eyes
Rendell, Ruth (2002) Adam and Eve and Pinch Me
Rendell,
Ruth (2004) The Rottweiler
Rendell,
Ruth (2005) Thirteen Steps Down
Rendell,
Ruth (2006) The Water's Lovely
Wexford mysteries:
Rendell, Ruth (1964)
From
Doon with Death
Rendell, Ruth (1967)
A New
Lease of Death
Rendell, Ruth (1967)
Wolf
to the Slaughter
Rendell, Ruth (1969)
The
Best Man to Die
Rendell, Ruth (1970)
A
Guilty Thing Surprised
Rendell, Ruth (1971)
No
More Dying Then
Rendell, Ruth (1972)
Murder
Being Once Done
Rendell, Ruth (1973)
Some
Lie and Some Die
Rendell, Ruth (1975)
Shake
Hands Forever
Rendell, Ruth (1978) A Sleeping Life
Rendell, Ruth (1981) Death Notes
Rendell, Ruth (1983)
Speaker of Mandarin
Rendell, Ruth (1985)
An
Unkindness of Ravens
Rendell, Ruth (1988)
The
Veiled One
Rendell, Ruth (1992)
Kissing the Gunner's Daughter
Rendell, Ruth (1995)
Simisola
Rendell, Ruth (1997)
Road Rage
Rendell, Ruth (1999) Harm Done
Rendell,
Ruth (2003) The Babes in the Wood
Rendell,
Ruth (2005)
End in Tears
Rendell,
Ruth (2007) Not in the Flesh
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Critiques
