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| Ruth Rendell (as Barbara Vine),
The House of Stairs |
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The
narrator, Elizabeth, is a writer in her forties whose whole life has been
plagued by the threat of a fatal genetic disease which might or
might not strike her before her fifties (if it has not stricken by
then, chances are it never will). One day, she spots
Bell, a woman just released from prison, and who used to be her
friend. She follows her in the street but soon loses her. This event
triggers a lot of memories: in a series of flashbacks, she remembers
the circumstances, fourteen years ago, of a scheme which resulted in
murder... Elizabeth remembers Cosette, an older cousin, a
middle-aged woman she considered like a mother in the late sixties (her
own mother was then dying from Huntington's chorea, the disease she
might have inherited). Cosette, once widowed, decides to live a
second youth. Immensely rich, she buys a huge house with many rooms
which soon comes to be known as the House of Stairs. As is her wish,
many people gravitate around her, sleep in her rooms, and benefit from her generosity, often taking
advantage of her. In the House of Stairs, there is always a bed and
food for the youth. Elizabeth soon moves in and starts writing
novels. Bell, a mysterious young woman she had previously met in
tragic circumstances, who looks like a Henry James heroine and who
fascinates her, crosses her path again. Soon, she invites her to
stay in the House of Stairs, a decision she and Cosette will come to
regret...
Barbara Vine's books are not whodunits. From the
beginning, we know who's done it, but we don't know how, to whom and
why. All this we learn in the course of the novel. The tension
builds slowly, the personalities of the various characters are
revealed, a
dark scheme emerges and we, readers, keep turning the pages to know
more... If you like literate mysteries, well written, very slowly
moving towards an inevitable fate while exploring the dark corners of
the mind, this mystery is for you. Of course I am a long time
fan of Rendell/Vine's novels, so I can only praise this book.
Some of her mysteries are of course weaker than
others, but this is definitely not one of them. In fact, it
might even be one of her best...
Rating: 
© Discussing Books, 05/11/2004
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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