Strange Children [Paperback]

Kate Charles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2000

Friendless and virtually an orphan, Tessa craves a husband and a baby; above all, she wants to be loved. When her on-and-off lover Ian leaves her for the last time, Tessa embarks on a whirlwind romance with Rob Nicholls, and at last her dreams seem set to come true. Now married to the perfect man, and with a baby on the way, Tessa looks forward to getting to know her new mother-in-law. But before that can happen, Linda Nicholls is murdered and Tessa desperately needs to know why. Her quest for answers plunges her into a world of secrets, where nothing is as it seems, and her own life and the life of her unborn child are in mortal danger. A chilling tale of murder, blackmail, and perversion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Charles (Unruly Passions; Evil Angels Among Them) departs from her popular series of ecclesiastical mysteries with this peculiar tale of blind love and murder set in contemporary London. When meek and gangly Tessa Rowan attends her ex-lover's wedding, she is startled to find herself seated next to Rob Nicholls, the bride's ex-boyfriend. Tessa and Rob hit it off, and even though Tessa knows very little about this charming, enigmatic man, she marries him a mere two weeks later. It is only after Tessa is several weeks pregnant that she begins to wonder about Rob's past namely, why he hates his mother so much. Finally succumbing to Tessa's excessive pleas, Rob agrees to accompany her to his mother's house where, to Tessa's horror, they find the woman brutally bashed to death. The police suspect Rob of matricide, but a disbelieving Tessa sets out on her own to try to clear her husband. Readers will follow Tessa's dogged search with barely contained anticipation as she struggles to uncover the nature of her stepmother's elusive "business." In addition, a solid cast of supporting characters including an oddly secretive priest, a guileless hospital porter and a warmhearted pregnant friend adds richness to the story. Although Tessa's submissiveness may prove annoying at times, Charles's intricate plot and simple yet colorful prose will captivate.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

'A bloodstained version of the world of Barbara Pym.' GUARDIAN 'The writing is elegant...to match the apparently normal little English town beneath which lurks the kind of emotion that stirred murder throughout the works of Agatha Christie.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'The leisurely unravelling of the dark secrets of people passionately committed to keeping up appearances produces an intelligent and convincing story.' Val McDermid Tessa has but one dream in life: to be a homemaker. So, when Tessa's adored boyfriend, Ian, betrays her and marries Amanda, it's little wonder that vulnerable Tessa falls straight into the arms of Rob, who used to belong to Amanda. While the warning bells might be ringing loudly for the reader by the end of the first chapter, Tessa is not a woman who dwells on the negative. She comes from a cold and motherless background and, as a result, is desperate for love and naive to the realities of marriage. In fact, Tessa has stumbled into a veritable mire of deception. Her attempts to make contact with her mother-in-law, Linda Nicholls, are thwarted when she is found murdered. Curiously, Rob is unable to grieve. It's only when Tessa probes Linda's history that she begins to realise the extraordinary nature of Rob's childhood. Aptly named, Strange Children is a gently-paced thriller, where a bizarre psychological condition challenges set, old-fashioned values.' - Elizabeth McGregor, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW

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Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0751525421
• ISBN-13: 978-0751525427
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,395,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars weird, October 30, 2001

By 

Jessifer (Charleston, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strange Children (Paperback)

I have to admit that this book was one of the most bizarre that I've read in a while. I like to believe that I have very eclectic taste when it comes to what I like, but this one crossed the line. It took a bit to get used to the book at first b/c the author's style of writing was quite different from the norm. You never felt truly engrossed in the novel, but rather watching this evolve from a distance. I couldn't connect with Tessa, who was so "helpless" throughout the entire story that I was pretty much disgusted with her. I felt like she was living in a dreamworld where she simply floated along and hoped for the best. Take for example her relationship with Ian. I can understand how there's always that one dream guy who never seems quite in reach to grasp, but she followed after him for years. She took a childhood infatuation and let it rule her for the better part of her life. Then, she meets Rob, who seems utterly charming, and marries him after knowing him only for two weeks. In my opinion, you should probably get to know the quirks of the guy you're going to marry before you marry him, so you're not stuck with a guy who may or may not have killed his own mother. The book also had some really bizarre aspects, especially concerning Rob's mother and her "Babies"...gross! All in all, I wouldn't really recommend reading this book, it was rather forgettable.