£1.49 from the Oxfam Shop.

I've finally finished this novel, probably the most disappointing one I've read so far this year, having originally given up on it and laid it aside for a day about half way through.

What on earth is Vine/Rendall playing at, padding out to almost 470 pages an idea which could be more tautly and meaningfully handled in 250 or 300 pages at the most?

This is a novel about bleeders and breeders - the former about the impact of a suppressed strand of haemophilia across several generations of a family, and the latter about the utterly tedious and irritating, not to mention irrelevant, one about the narrator's wife's obsessive "baby-hunger".

In the one instance I really, really don't give a flying fuck about Jude's fertility problems and endless miscarriages. In the second I was equally irritated by the equally endless stuffing about the House of Lords which kept intruding on the meat of the story.

There IS a good storyline under all the crap. Unfortunately it's only barely worth wading through all the ballast to get there.

In future, just the story, ma'am.

I much prefer Rendell writing as Barbara Vine, and haven't read this one yet. Thanks Fellraven! Hope I enjoy it more than you did!

Fellraven, I totally agree with your review! I've always been a fan of Barbara Vine & was expecting much more from this novel. What a disappointment! I'd guessed the ending about halfway through & was thoroughly cheesed off wading through the tedious House of Lords crap - I couldn't care less about the narrator losing his cushy lifestyle in the House (get a job!). I also wanted to slap his hysterical wife - what did all this have to do with uncovering the dark secrets of his ancestor? Stick to the plot Babs.
I'm kicking this book out of my home asap.

Found on a park bench at a country park in Southampton

CAUGHT IN SOUTHAMPTON SOUTHAMPTON UK

Found book on a park bench at a country park in Southampton. I had heard about Bookcrossing on a radio programme ages ago so was really pleased to find it. I'm an avid reader of crime genre fiction but US Noir is more my scene so sorry Barb but I'll be shipping you out as soon as I can. Having read the other reviews so far posted, I'm even more sure that this book won't be for me :-( Looking forward to finding another book soon though and have started thinking which of my fave books I should start off on a journey :-)

CAUGHT IN SOUTHAMPTON UK

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This was journaled before I could make release notes.

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