Download Now Asta’s Book Created By Barbara Vine Accessible As Hardbound

a convoluted mess of a story this became, The speculations became endless, as did the assumptions,

“But perhaps she told Hansine”
“This presumably refers to the fact”
“Its possible, you know”
“Suppose Florence was different”

I did a couple of word searches.
The word “perhaps” appearedtimes, and “suppose” was usedtimes,

The entire time I was reading this I was thinking “Where is this story going, and when will it ever end”

NOTE: The story opens very promisingly and I enjoyed Chapterenormously.
Then the author violently shifts gears and the story occurring inis left in the dust, along with itsmain characters.
In Chapterthe story moves to, and we are introduced tonew characters mentioned either by name or by relationship.
I dont count those mentioned by description only, PHEW!

Some of these characters are important to the story, some not at all, Good luck keeping track of everyone, I hope you have word search!
While this book does have the clever plotting, twists and turns, I've come to expect of a Barbara Vine title, somehow it just didn't have the same force for me.
Perhaps it seemed to go on too long, to have too many red herrings, Yes I did enjoy the unwinding of the diary and current day story, but it all seemed just too much story.
Or it could be me, . . my initial reading was quite broken up, only continuous at the end,

I won't let this stop me from trying more Vine stories on for size as I've been very pleased with the others I've read.
I also seem to be a bit below the average in my view of this one so, take it for what it's worth, I've just finished reading sitelinkAsta's Book for the second time, What prompted me to reread it was my disappointment with sitelinkThe child's child, which I read last week.


On the surface, they are the same kind of book, which prompted the comparison, It is a genre that has been made popular by sitelinkRobert Goddard a mystery in the past that has repercussions for people in the present.
I found sitelinkThe child's child unsatisfactory and unsatisfying, I had started if with the hope of finding something as good as sitelinkAsta's Book, but it wasn't.
And then I wondered whether sitelinkAsta's Book was as good as I remembered it So I decided to reread it and see.


I found it was even better than I remembered it, so I upped its rating from four to five.
It had none of the faults that so disappointed me in sitelinkThe child's child, There, the past and present stories were not integrated at all, and had only the most tenuous connection between them.
The characters were cardboard cutouts, and they seemed to change every chapter for no discernable reason,

In sitelinkAsta's book the characters were consistent, Yes, they changed over a lifetime, and of course they were not the same at ageas they were at, but despite the changes, there was a person there.
The story in the past was well integrated with the one in the present, and the plot twists made sense.


sitelinkThe child's child looked even worse, by contrast, It reads like the early drafts of the first chapters in a thesis submitted by one of my students, where I would point out some of the things that needed improvement, and would say, "It reads like notes for a thesis, not like a thesis.
Each paragraph has a separate piece of information, culled from a source, but you have not shown how it links to what goes before and what follows after.
There is no argumentation, no thread that leads to a conclusion, " And that is how sitelinkThe child's child reads like notes for a novel, rather than an actual novel.
With the thesis the student would rewrite the chapter, and it would be an improvement, until eventually it was polished enough to submit for evaluation.
But surely sitelinkRuth Rendell writing as sitelinkBarbara Vine has an editor who can perform a similar function the the promoter of a thesis, and point out some of the weak links and plot holes.


I enjoyed sitelinkAsta's Book even more the second time around, In part its appeal is that it is not only a whodunit, dealing with a cold very cold! case of murder and a missing child, but it is also a mystery of family history, which is one of my own hobbies.
I enjoy reading about family history mysteries in fiction because I enjoy trying to solve them in real life, well, perhaps not quite real life, because most of the people involved are dead.

As most of my GR Friends know, I am an avid reader of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine's books.
It is a rarity that she would not delight me and fill me with admiration, This however, is one of those exceptions, It certainly is not because this is one of her earlier books, for many of them have passed my inspection.
I was able to continue to respect her skill in penning her thoughts and her descriptions,

My major problem with Anna's Book is that it is just too long and rambling.
Because of this and the system of going back and forth in time with different characters, it was difficult to sustain interest and focus on the mysteries therein.
It was also problematic to keep track of the many characters introduced throughout the novel, I frequently had to revert to previous pages to refresh my memory, So, while this tale had the earmarks of an interesting mystery, it did not meet my expectations for a book written by this author.
Asta and her husband Rasmus have come to east London from Denmark with their two sons, With Rasmus constantly away on business, Asta keeps loneliness and isolation at bay by writing her diary, These diaries reveal themselves to be more than a journal, for they seem to hold the key to an unsolved murder.
É um livro escrito por Ruth Rendell e pouco mais há para dizer
Uma escritora de policiais sempre originais e surpreendentes pouco dada à descrição de assassínios sangrentos, cometidos por psicopatas, e mais aos "deslizes criminais" das pessoas comuns.


Não dou as cinco estrelas apenas porque as reservo para aqueles livros que em momento algum me aborrecem e O Diário de Asta tem cerca de meia dúzia de páginas de um julgamento, com os respetivos discursos dos advogados, assunto que me enfada muito.
Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine at her best: brilliantly written, intricately plotted and full of human drama, The historical events and Danish connection make it all the more interesting and page turning, Did Ruth Rendell consider the novels she wrote under the pseudonym "Barbara Vine" to be her best work I personally think this is more than likely.
Much missed by her many fans since her death in, Ruth Rendell was a very prolific and highly regarded crime writer, with over sixty books to her name.
She won many awards and honours, and continued to craft novel after novel, even though she increasingly had other commitments.
She regularly attended the House of Lords every day, for instance, stating firmly that if she were to be awarded the honour of CBE, Commander of the Order of the British Empire she intended to work for it rather than allowing it to be a sinecure.
Yet, astonishingly, the stories kept coming readable, dependable crime mysteries, even when she was in her's,

I have read many of Ruth Rendell's novels and short stories over the years, including some of the hugely popular Wexford series of twentyfour books.
These are cosy mysteries, solid workaday reads, though some have more of an edge, and could be termed thrillers.
Some standalone novels are extremely downbeat with an almost vicious element, She was adept at getting inside the mind of the perpetrator of a crime, later writing psychological murder novels rather than mysteries.
She wrote about those who are socially isolated, or those afflicted by mental illness or anxiety problems, The novels show sharp insight, feel very realistic, and always convey a great sense of place, down to the smallest detail.
If you happen to know the area where one of her books is set, you will not be able to fault her description her novels are all meticulously researched.


But the novels she wrote as "Barbara Vine", which number fourteen in all, have something else, They have an extra quality, which although I hesitate to use the word in case it seems judgemental about her main oeuvre by comparison is more literary.
The writing is lifted above the ordinary the plots are more nuanced and complex, There is evidence of a formidable amount of solid historical research not presented in a dry format, but spun into a compelling read.
Often this is conveyed by a character in the present researching into their background, There is yet more depth in the exploration of character and relationships, Inevitably there is an element of mystery, and intrigue, or of story layered upon story, involving deep history or flashback this is trademark Barbara Vine.
Sometimes it is not clear whether there was a crime or not, and the suggestion often occurs late in the book, when the reader has become absorbed in the reality of the Asta’s Book's world, and perhaps even forgotten that it is genre fiction.


Asta's Book is no exception, Published in, as the sixth "Barbara Vine" novel, it has a contemporary setting, with flashbacks toincluded, The eponymous "book" is the diary of the main character, Asta, used as a clever literary device, Reading the novel, one thus has a dual sense of another country, another and different culture, and another time as well as the present.


In the historically earlier parts of the tale, theyear old Asta Westerby and her two sons have moved to Hackney, in East London, from their home in Denmark.
Asta has a husband, Rasmus, who does not seem to be in evidence, but is away on business, He also seems not to be greatly missed by Asta, although Asta is again expecting, Perhaps Asta is dissembling slightly when she claims never to have loved Rasmus, She now believes that he married her mostly for her dowry, writing,

"I suppose I should be thankful Rasmus isn't a Mahometan, otherwise I'm sure he'd be finding another wife.
. . to marry for,kroner. "

Asta feels lonely and alienated in a culture and community she dislikes, feeling superior to many around her.
Derisively she records,

"When I went out this morning a woman asked me if there were polar bears in the streets of Copenhagen.
"

Asta resents what she views as a smallminded and provincial community, and sees no need to adapt her ways.
As a Danish women she wears her wedding ring on her right hand, even though the local people look askance

at her, clearly suspecting she is an unmarried mother.
Yet Asta is contemptuous of such ignorance, and too proud to do anything to clarify her position, Asta has no need of anyone else, She even treats her servant, Hansine, the closest she ever had to a friend, with contempt, Because Hansine is illiterate, Asta regards her as little better than a farm animal, Through her candidly disdainful attitude in her diaries, we see that Asta has no respect for Hansine, and also has a very cold and indifferent demeanour towards her two sons.
Asta always prefers her own company, in her own house, with its Danish furniture and ornaments, and her books.
Her own view of her life is often bleak,

"Hope is a horrible thing, I don't know why these church people call it a virtue, it is horrible because it's so often disappointed.
"

Asta is not a likeable character, but we are intrigued by her, through reading her diary which eventually is to coveryears.
Asta's diary was never meant for others' eyes but we learn from the modern part of the book, that some of it had been discovered and translated.
Her daughter, Swanhild known as "Swanny" had arranged publication seventy years after the first diary had been written, and it then became an overnight sensation.
It was a bestseller, achieving cult status as a fascinating domestic record of Edwardian times and Swanny achieved star status herself, basking in the reflected glory.
The diary had been kept up by Asta until, although part of it was now missing some of it had perhaps been destroyed by Asta herself, and not all of what existed had yet been translated.


In the presentday part of the novel, we meet the viewpoint character, Ann, a professional researcher, who is far more personable rather shy and introverted.
Swanny has also died, and Ann Eastbrook is her niece, and also Asta's granddaughter, To her great surprise she has inherited the diaries, and at the beginning of the story is not sure what to do with them.


Soon after the funeral for Swanny, an old acquaintance of Ann's approaches her, The two have a very involved history of jealousies, the jarring notes adding frisson and an ironic humour to the plot.
This friendcumenemy of Ann's, Cary, is a television producer, who looks to Ann as a possible source of information.
She happens to be making a documentary film about the unsolved murder, in, of a Lizzie Roper, also of her mother, and of the disappearance of her infant daughter.
Would Asta's book from the time reveal any information which would help Lizzie Roper had lived only a few streets away from Asta at the time.


The novel now centres around Asta's diaries, which had gripped the public's imagination as they revealed a forgotten world.
Ann decides to do a bit of literary investigation, and her reading of the diaries does seem to reveal significant gaps.
Are there clues to the unsolved mystery in the details Perhaps they hold the key to the unsolved murders or others or possibly no murders at all.
What of the missing child or perhaps there was no missing child, Had she been abducted Or herself murdered Was she still alive under another identity Why was Asta's daughter, Swanny, who had been born in, a lifelong favourite of her mother There are secrets and lies.
Asta teases, and others suffer, There are misunderstandings. Some family secrets and hidden crimes have unintended consequences,

The denouement of the book is devious and clever, and clues are fed to the reader piece by cunning piece.
The buried secrets of nearly a century before are gradually revealed, and the puzzle begins to make sense, But not all the threads will necessarily be tied into the plot, Some become unravelled again they are deceptions, blind alleys, Asta's granddaughter and the reader alike will be baffled and intrigued until the last page,

This is a very satisfying read, with much cultural and historical richness and a complex multilayered plot.
A double detective story, it is full of depth, It effectively conveys Danish domesticity and claustrophobia, with much period detail, the whole given authenticity set against world events.
It then graduates into the later parts, depicting the Edwardian love of sensational crime and lurid melodrama, The parts near the end which depict the newspaper reports of a famous Edwardian murder trial, are engrossing in themselves.
The tension and thrills crank up as the novel nears its conclusion, and it is so skilfully constructed that the suspense does not let up for one moment, until all is revealed.
The clues are there for those who can weave through such a tangled web, but there are many red herrings planted along the way.
Murder and madness, shocks and senility, dark deeds and dementia, misalliance and misidentity, mystery and missing persons we have it all in this riveting read.


Note:

As an interesting sidenote, some of the copies of Asta's Book are alternatively titled Anna's Book.
In the United States, Ruth Rendell's American publisher was apparently worried that the name "Asta" would remind potential readers of the dog from the "Thin Man" films!.