Customer Reviews

Brat Farrar

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!!

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."

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.

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

One discerning young man wrote to Amazon from Russia to tell how he had read *BRAT FARRAR* at age 14 and "now read this regularly . . . It is just like sitting down with an old friend and chatting." Probably the authors of "Brat Farrar" (isbn: 0684803852) and Dick Francis' book "Straight" (isbn: 05151346651 - my 2nd favorite!) would laugh heartily at being matched up in a review. However, both Josephine Tey and Francis knew how to claim their audience, and a loyal following. The two books claim my top billing for great characterizations, for TENSION, marvelous interplay of characters, and undercurrents that are woven into a wonderfully clever tale, matched by the emotions evoked in readers.

The achingly bittersweet story when made into a series for British & American television audiences was blessed with perfect casting: Brat, each member of the Ashby family & the rascally Alec Loding ~ everyone! It is such a joy to watch. We personally celebrate each year with a 'showing' of our (poorly copied) video tape, and it still astounds me that we do this each year, and that the finished product is so perfect.

It is impossible to guess WHY "Brat Farrar" is never even a re-run during those parched times of poor choices played too frequently. PLEASE ! Someone out there help shake up the stodgy and/or resistant top guys who can't recognize a good show when they see one. Apparently it is A/&/E TV Network (American) & BBC that are not cooperating with a long suffering public. Reviewer mcHAIKU asks that we all agitate for a DVD. It would bring honor to the late Josephine Tey, an outstanding writer who deserves that wider audience. READ *BRAT* and read some of Tey's other books: *The Franchise Affair* and *Daughter of Time*. You will delight in a closer acquaintance with an author who will be a cherished friend!

Josephine Tey excels at the twisted plot, the kind of story in which the unreal seems so real that not only are readers puzzled by the meaning of Truth, but even the characters in the story seem a little confused. This was made into an excellent movie, but the book weaves an even tighter and spookier plot. Brat Farrar agrees to assume the ID of a dead boy and step in as master of a British estate. Then he begins to believe his own tale as things that should be foreign to him somehow feel oddly familiar. Fully developed side-characters and tight, tense plot make for a wide-eyed, suspensful read set against the irresistible backdrop of post-war English country life with all the usual quirky and eccentric inhabitants of the genre.
Excellent.

This book is a true mystery classic, and it is written as only Tey can write them. I had seen a movie made from this story before I read the book. Although the movie was very true to the original manuscript, the book is much, much better. Like all of Tey's stories, this book is not a simple murder mystery. The plot is ingenious. Even though the reader is partly in the secret from early on in the story, the suspense is developed and maintained until the very end. The reader comes to sympathize with Brat early on in the story, and we wonder how he's going to get out of the web of lies and deceit he has made. I enjoyed the country "horsey" setting, and the family is pure delight. Ms. Tey was a wonderful author!

Orphan Brat Farrar was named partly through a telephone book and partly by mistake. Destiny takes him half way round the world and back again to accept a proposition to take the place and inheritance of a missing boy. The story as so many of the time and genre are, is set in the midst of a middle class English country family. The plot which I will not reveal is clever although not really a shock to the attentive reader, the writing is good and the characters are well developed. The suprise for me was not the twist in the tale, but that the person you really get to like in the book is Brat who is the imposter and criminal. Actually most of the characters are both likeable and comfortable which makes the readers journey through this book extremely pleasant if not gripping. This was my introduction to Josephine Tey, it will certainly not be the last time I read her work.