The Birthday Present - Softcover

Barbara Vine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0670917621 ISBN 13: 9780670917624

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, 2008

Synopsis

Book by Vine, Barbara

About this title

About the Author:

Barbara Vine was the pen-name of Ruth Rendell, and Viking published all of her books under that name. Rendell was an exceptional crime writer, with worldwide sales of approximately 20 million copies, and regular Sunday Times bestsellers. Rendell won numerous awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for 1976's best crime novel with A Demon in My View, a Gold Dagger award for Live Flesh in 1986, and the Sunday Times Literary Award in 1990. In 2013 she was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence in crime writing. In 1996 she was awarded the CBE and in 1997 became a Life Peer. Ruth Rendell died in May 2015.

Review:

The Rendell/Vine partnership has for years been producing consistently better work than most Booker winners put together * Ian Rankin * Barbara Vine is Ruth Rendell letting rip * Daily Telegraph * A superb and original writer * Amanda Craig, Express * Slick * Financial Times * Again a great read from a master of the story-telling process * Irish Times * Packed with menace and the threat of exposure. One of Rendell's most complex plots. * The Independent * Her Barbara Vine novels allow [Ruth Rendell] to retain her title as Britain's pre-eminent psychological thriller. A suspenseful and chilling tale * The Observer * Characters are intensely imagined and far from the usual uncomplicated stereotypes of victims and perpetrators. An experience that is both fearful and satisfying * The Sunday Times * A strong creation * Telegraph.co.uk * Riveting and only too plausible account of the downfall of a politician. Brilliant narrative voice. An unsurpassed portrait of a character suffering from low self-esteem, mild paranoia and gradual mental deterioration. * The Daily Mail * Oddly exhilarating and liberating. Truly, Baroness Rendell of Babergh is an original talent. * The Evening Standard * Slick * Financial Times * Again a great read from a master of the story-telling process * Irish Times * Packed with menace and the threat of exposure. One of Rendell's most complex plots. * The Independent * Her Barbara Vine novels allow [Ruth Rendell] to retain her title as Britain's pre-eminent psychological thriller. A suspenseful and chilling tale * The Observer * Characters are intensely imagined and far from the usual uncomplicated stereotypes of victims and perpetrators. An experience that is both fearful and satisfying * The Sunday Times * A strong creation * Telegraph.co.uk * Riveting and only too plausible account of the downfall of a politician. Brilliant narrative voice. An unsurpassed portrait of a character suffering from low self-esteem, mild paranoia and gradual mental deterioration. * The Daily Mail * Oddly exhilarating and liberating. Truly, Baroness Rendell of Babergh is an original talent. * The Evening Standard *

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0670917621
• ISBN 13: 9780670917624
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 273