Brat Farrar [Hardcover]

Josephine Tey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1967

It was eight years since Patrick had vanished leaving a pitiful note, “I’m sorry but I can’t bear it any longer. Don’t be angry with me, Patrick.” Now it seemed, he had returned — just in time to claim the family inheritance. But if Patrick really had committed suicide, who was this mysterious young man claiming to be him and calling himself Brat Farrar?

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Brat Farrar has been carefully coached to assume the identity of Patrick Ashby, heir to the Ashby fortune who disappeared when he was 13. Just when it seems that Brat will pull off the deception, he discovers the truth about Patrick's disappearance, a dark secret that threatens to tear apart the family and jeopardize Brat's carefully laid plans. Called "the best of its kind" by the New Yorker, Josephine Tey's classic is a tale of unrelenting suspense and tension. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

“Josephine Tey enjoys a category to herself, as a virtuoso in the spurious . . . the nature of the deception on this occasion is too good to give away.”
— New Statesman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Macmillan Pub Co; Large Prnt edition (August 1967)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0024894605
• ISBN-13: 978-0024894601
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,214,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Josephine Tey is one of the best-known and best-loved of all crime writers. She began to write full-time after the successful publication of her first novel, The Man in the Queue (1929), which introduced Inspector Grant of Scotland Yard. In 1937 she returned to crime writing with A Shilling for Candles, but it wasn't until after the Second World War that the majority of her crime novels were published. Josephine Tey died in 1952, leaving her entire estate to the National Trust.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A first-rate mystery of impersonation and deception., August 4, 2001

By 

Leonard L. Wilson (Springfield, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brat Farrar (Paperback)

When foundling drifter Brat Farrar is offered the proposition to pose as the aristocratic Ashby family's long-missing heir (whom he strongly resembles), he finds it impossible to resist. What he did not reckon on was the growing attraction to his own "sister" and the veiled enmity of the younger twin "brother," whom he has displaced as the master of the Ashby estate. The author expertly draws the characters so that we always favor the likable Brat, despite his fraudulent part in the scheme. When it becomes obvious that his life is in danger and that there is something decidedly suspicious about the death of the real Patrick Ashby, the suspense builds unrelentingly, keeping the reader's eyes riveted to the book.

In addition to the suspense and the excellent characterizations, there is the extremely interesting background of English horse breeding and racing, which the Ashby fortunes are currently built upon.P>Yes, you can see some of the incidents coming ahead of time, but that's the way it is in real life. The author is honest with the reader in letting us know what is developing as the hero himself discovers it. Overall, this is a great read, an excellent novel of suspense.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true classic., December 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Brat Farrar (Paperback)

Brat Farrar has been on my "Must Read" list for so long that I was almost hesitant to pick it up for fear it wouldn't live up to expectations. I shouldn't have worried. This is the kind of book you either read in one sitting or can't wait to get back to once you put it down. Tey weaves a wonderful web of characters and suspicion, turning the reader to face new possibilities in the plot like Brat might turn one of his horses. Brat is - without a doubt - an Ashby; all anyone has to do is look at him to know that. But is he the long-dead Patrick, heir to the Latchetts Estate? Arguing (delightfully) against his own better nature, Brat decides to pass himself off as the eldest son of the family only to suffer waves of guilt over his deception. Each member of the family and his or her reaction to Brat is so clearly drawn it's easy to see them jump off the page, especially Simon, Patrick's slightly younger twin who has just seen his inheritance handed to someone who may be an imposter. Tey mixes in clever little side stories which add flavor to the mystery not to mention a few clues before bringing it all to an almost perfect close. A few loose threads at the end are the only down note. What I enjoyed mostly was that unlike some other Tey mysteries which seem dated, this one has stood the test of time.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ISO Brat Farrar, May 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Brat Farrar (Paperback)

I first met Brat Farrar in the 1980's on the PBS Mystery! television show. I was completely hooked by Josephine Tey's superbly suspensful story set in the beautiful English countryside complete with horses and touchingly real characters, but most of all by the young, handsome British actor, Mark Greenstreet who amazingly played a dual role to perfection. Alas, I never saw it again, and no video exists, so I bought the book, read it several times, then went on to read Josephine Tey's other stories. But Brat Farrar remains my favorite. The book is everything the dramatization was and more--except for Greenstreet. I strongly urge you to read this book, but if Brat Farrar ever comes on PBS again, DON'T MISS IT!!