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Before the Fact (Arcturus Crime Classics) Kindle Edition
| Francis Iles (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Price | New from | Used from |
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Mass Market Paperback
"Please retry" | — | $17.09 |
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Audio, Cassette, Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" | $74.95 | — |
Described on its first publication in 1932 as ‘one of the finest studies of murder ever written’, Before the Fact tells the tale of wealthy but plain Lina Mclaidlaw, who marries the charming and feckless Johnny Aysgarth against the advice of her father. Lina is certain she can change him for the better, until she is forced to acknowledge that he is a compulsive liar, a crook and a murderer. But still she loves him, while fearing she will inevitably become one of his victims.
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateJune 1, 2011
- File size1188 KB
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Product details
- ASIN : B005CM1JVK
- Publisher : Arcturus Publishing; 1st edition (June 1, 2011)
- Publication date : June 1, 2011
- Language : English
- File size : 1188 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 352 pages
- Lending : Not Enabled
- Customer Reviews:
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Cary Grant was perfectly cast in the movie based on the book, "Suspicion." Too bad the ending was changed to something absurd. Read the book, it's much better. This psychological gem shouldn't be forgotten.
If you are a fan of English Golden Age murder mysteries, you should not miss this one.
I will not give any spoilers in case you have not seen the movie or read the book. The book is quite different from the movie in key ways - which is why I wanted to read it. While it is not one of my favorite books, I did enjoy reading it. The book has a definite darker edge.
A most significant difference is in the character of Lina. In the movie, you feel sorry for her, or maybe have a little disgust for her for being such a weakling. In the book, she is quite aggravating: she is conceited, arrogant, condescending, obtuse, stupid in many places (she has to be told that 10% of 50 is 5....seriously) and deliberately makes bad decisions. It is really difficult to like her, much less feel sympathetic for the character. I can not help but feel the author had contempt for women who stay with cads...or contempt for women all together, because very few of the female characters in this story were what you would call likable.
I found myself disliking Lina more and more as I continued the story. Johnny, on the other hand, was portrayed with a flip and maddeningly careless air throughout most of the book, similar to Cary Grant's portrayal in the movie - with a very notable exception.
I think that Alfred Hitchcock's retelling of the story is superior; however, I like the darkness of the book, esp. the ending. This would be a great movie to remake, taking some of the darker elements of the original work and combining with the more likable Lina of the movie. Not the greatest book I have ever read, but certainly not a bad book. If you can tolerate a quite annoying woman as the main character, I recommend it.
So much happened that was not in the movie, probably due to codes.
It’s told from Lena’s point of view. A must read!
Top reviews from other countries
All the characters are more finely drawn than in Suspicion ( Hitchcock’s title), and the book makes more out of them than Hollywood allowed Hitch to do.
An okay story, but certainly not as gripping and enthralling as Rebecca, which was equally as good in both the book and the film.
I am so glad I bought it. It is so much better than the film. The film does not work for me, not because of the excellent casting (Cary Grant makes an excellent Johnnie Aysgarth) but because it changes the plot so significantly.
It's interesting and unusual because it actually concentrates on the mind of the female character and how she feels about her husband. In that respect it's a bit like S J Watson's 'Before I go to Sleep', for example, and I don't think that the psychology in the book is hindered by the fact it was published in the early thirties.
I see that Anthony Andrews did a remake of this story, how I would love to get hold of that!
