Brat Farrar [Paperback]

Josephine Tey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 1997

In this tale of mystery and suspense, a stranger enters the inner sanctum of the Ashby family posing as Patrick Ashby, the heir to the family's sizable fortune. The stranger, Brat Farrar, has been carefully coached on Patrick's mannerism's, appearance, and every significant detail of Patrick's early life, up to his thirteenth year when he disappeared and was thought to have drowned himself. It seems as if Brat is going to pull off this most incredible deception until old secrets emerge that jeopardize the imposter's plan and his life.

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.

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


From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; 1 edition (September 2, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684803852
• ISBN-13: 978-0684803852
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,016 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.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 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

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

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

By A Customer

Format: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.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

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

By A Customer

Format: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!!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mystery with Heart, Atmosphere and Intelligence June 6, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I was recommended this book by a favorite teacher in high school, and it has remained my favorite mystery novel and one of my all-time favorite books in the decades since. Unfortunately, it's so good that it has little competition, even among Josephine Tey's all-too-few other books. For one thing, Brat is that rare hero that one both loves and identifies with; you can feel what he's feeling, and you can feel what the other characters feel toward him, with an unusual poignancy. There is also the charm of his adopted family (with one exception) and estate, which needs him as much as he needs it. If a few of the characters and situations are a bit too convenient - the attractive "sister," the villain's lack of conscience, not to mention the revelation of the "why" of Brat's family resemblance! - the compensations are in the richness of the setting and characters, and in the book's wonderful heart.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brat Farrar a classic exploration of assumed identity August 24, 1997

By Don Firke

Format:Paperback

Most die-hard mystery fans are familiar with Ms. Tey's _A Daughter of Time_, in which a hospitalized Scotland Yard detective dispels the "prickles of boredom" by debunking the idea that Richard III killed the Princes in the Tower. Perhaps less well known is this book, _Brat Farrar_, about how a fundamentally decent man is persuaded to exploit his resemblance to a believed-dead heir by assuming that young man's identity. The narration of how he prepares for and pulls off this impersonation is thrilling in and of itself, but the great tension in the book comes when Brat discovers that Patrick Ashby, whose life and inheritance Brat has assumed, did not run away or kill himself, but was in fact murdered by someone very close to him. What Brat does about the moral dilemma--and the threat to his own life--posed by the murderer makes for a suspenseful and satisfying conclusion

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Real Poser--morality plus--4.5 star value May 14, 2006

By Neal J. Pollock VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This is basically a wonderful period novel with an embedded mystery--with an overview of what might have been a mystery immediately revealed. But, the devil is in the details--providing accelerating suspense & an opportunity for Tey to again excel in her characterizations, dialog, descriptions of English life, etc. I am torn between a 4 & 5 star rating, but the explanation of the details at the end seems a bit thin. On the other hand, similar to "Miss Pym Disposes," the main character is faced with moral dilemma & the opportunity to play God--but this time acts differently. Assumptions are the delight of mystery authors! The interplay of the twin brothers is absorbing & the dichotomy between the twin sisters is interesting. Most of the characters are delightful--even the duplicitous Farrar. I wondered how Tey would manage the ending relationship with Eleanor--& she did it. The ending, as usual for a Tey, was explosive & (at least to a degree) unexpected. Again similar to "Miss Pym," we are given "incontrovertible proof" that's proven wrong. As Tey says herein, "If you thought about the unthinkable long enough it became quite reasonable."