Mr. Wakefield's Crusade [Hardcover]

Bernice Rubens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1985

One day, the man in front of Luke at the post office drops down dead in line. Instinctively, Luke's hand snakes out and slips the corpse's unposted letter into his pocket. With this impulsive act, he begins a search for justice.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A man on line in front of Luke Wakefield at the post office drops dead while buying a stamp. Luke pockets the unmailed letter, and we are launched on a fantasy-cum-sleuthing trip whose mystery darkens the more it is exposed to the light in this novel by the winner of the Booker Prize for The Elected Member. The dead man, Sebastian Firbank, was corresponding with his wife Marion, who, it transpires from a sheaf of exchanges Luke later manages to steal, lived in Firbank's Hampstead House but posted her letters from Wimbledon Common. Luke, a failure with nothing better to do, has found his true metier in trying to trace Mrs. Firbank, and is aghast to learn from the purloined letters that her husband did her in. When the body of a woman of easy virtue known variously as Mary, Marylin or Marion is discovered on the Common, Luke, sole possessor of the facts, is sure that the police outside his door are waiting for him. Skulking around back streets evading capture, he takes refuge in the house of the late Sebastian's erstwhile best friend, Richard. And thereby hangs a whole new tale. The complexity is considerable, the intrigue professionally handled and the humor, though sometimes heavy-handed, refreshingexactly the elements necessary to keep Rubens's audience happily reading. Foreign rights: Literistic. November 8
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Luke Wakefield's business has gone bankrupt, his wife has left him (for another woman)his life, he thinks, has been one big failure. Then one day, as he is waiting in line at the post office, the well-dressed man ahead of him drops dead. In the commotion that follows, Wakefield leaves with a sealed letter the dead man left unmailed. He steams it open and reads it. At once his life is filled with new meaning and energy, becoming a crusade to find the body of the man's murdered wife, to fill his life with the mysterious details of theirs. Like I Sent a Letter to My Love (St. Martin's, 1978), Rubens's latest work is based on an imaginary correspondence. But unlike the earlier novel, a romance of sorts, Mr. Wakefields's Crusade is a novel of both real and psychological suspense, telling of a lonely man's obsession, deception, possibly even madness. Highly recommended. Marcia G. Fuchs, Guilford Free Lib., Ct.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Pr (October 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385294174
• ISBN-13: 978-0385294171
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,550,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent novel, January 12, 2008

By 

HORAK (Zug, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mr. Wakefield's Crusade (Abacus Books) (Paperback)

Luke Wakefield is a failure. He has been a loser all his life. Even his failure is a failure. One day is queuing at the post office when the man in front of him simply falls dead. Luke decides to pocket the dead man's final epistle and leave the post office. Back at home he discovers that the letter was written by a Sebastian Firbank to his wife Marian Firbank in which he unmistakably states that he killed her. This event takes Luke on his mission to trace Marion's relatives, a long and patient investigation and a search which will in itself enrich his otherwise empty life.
In this entertaining and very well written novel we see a man bewitched by the death of a woman he has never met. His `crusade' to find her body is fuelled by the bleakness of his personal life and takes the form of a bizarre chase leading to an astonishing conclusion and unexpected happiness. Unusual and intriguing. Definitely worth reading.