It was some time since Benet had seen her mad mother, who had once tried to stab her with a carving knife on a train. So when Mopsa arrived at the airport looking drab and colourless, Benet tried not to hate her. But then the tragic death of a child began a chain of deception, kidnap and murder.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Tree Of Hands
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
Review
"The web is spun with fiendish skill." – Observer
"Domestic dramas exploding into deaths and murders…Threads are drawn tightly together in a lethal last pattern." – Sunday Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"Domestic dramas exploding into deaths and murders…Threads are drawn tightly together in a lethal last pattern." – Sunday Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From the Back Cover
"The web is spun with fiendish skill." – Observer
"Domestic dramas exploding into deaths and murders…Threads are drawn tightly together in a lethal last pattern." – Sunday Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"Domestic dramas exploding into deaths and murders…Threads are drawn tightly together in a lethal last pattern." – Sunday Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By G. Underdown
Format:Hardcover
Wow, what a book!I laughed, cried, got angry and was totally shocked at this book!The characters are so believable.Here you have this sweet, lonely woman who is trying to balance a writing carrer and raising a child on her own.Her mother: Bitter, confused and lonely herself believes that if you lose something....that's okay..."I'll get you another one."The story takes off like a roller coaster ride and ends leaving the reader totally shocked.This book would make a great motion picture!Gary
This book started out a bit of a "duty" read. After all, how could I call myself a dedicated mystery reader having read only one Vine/Rendell. This book won a Dagger which seemed reason enough to chose it over others by Rendell. My recollection of my earlier read (as well as the reviews of her books in general) was that her stories tend to be a bit on the bleak side. In many ways, "The Tree of Hands" is a dark and sad story.
Still, the bleakness of the story is a small price for the chance to read this intriguing tale of three lives that are at once spiraling out of control and towards each other. Most interesting is the story of Benet. When Benet's toddler son dies of illness, Benet's mentally ill mother brings home another boy of the same age. Benet is aghast but doesn't want her mother (or herself) to be arrested for kidnapping. Then she discovers the child has been abused. At the same time, the boyfriend of the biological mother is falsely accused of the boy's murder and we watch his world unravel. A third plot is added latter which is more tangentially related.
Rendell spins this tale in a way that captured even me, a reluctant reader. In one sense it was a depressing read but at the same time I was captivated and eager to read another chapter. "The Tree of Hands" is hardly a conventional murder mystery but it is an excellant example of pyschological suspense.
By Shirley Bruk
Those who love Ruth Rendell can enter her world again. Enter via
Benet's world, a world about to be shattered. Benet is an author and single mother who has created a life for herself and her 18-month old son. She has managed to come to terms with her past i.e.growing up with a self-centered, mentally unstable mother and ending an unsuitable relationship with the father of her child.
Benet's world, a world about to be shattered. Benet is an author and single mother who has created a life for herself and her 18-month old son. She has managed to come to terms with her past i.e.growing up with a self-centered, mentally unstable mother and ending an unsuitable relationship with the father of her child.
Her child, James, is pivotal to her existence. She encounters Rendellesque situations i.e. being emotionally torn between her mother and child, having the one ripped away and the other intensifying the pain yet ironically leading her to her salvation, having to choose between her newly-found soulmate and the child, being torn between what is legally and morally right as opposed to what is emotionally right.
Perhaps the ending could have been better but then book endings are often not as good as the rest of the book deserves. Perhaps it is merely the fact that a good book has ended that makes one feel a little "empty" at the end.
Read it!
Want to see more reviews on this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 17 reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
another rendell gem
Rendell's middle period books are some of her finest. None of her books should EVER go out of print. Read more
Published on Jan 19 2001
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to put down
Like most of Ruth Rendell's novels, this is a highly readable and engrossing book. It starts out as a hearbreaking tale of a mother's love but soon takes an unexpected course that... Read more
Published on Jun 19 2000 by W. Oliver
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nobody Does It Better
TREE OF HANDS has such a powerful start and such a wrenching premise that I forgave its rather (though not totally) disappointing conclusion. As E.M. Read more
Published on Mar 18 2000
5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant story
Ruth Rendell once again proves herself master of the psychological thriller and more. In this complex, well-crafted story of kidnapping, murder, and the depth of a mother's love,... Read more
Published on Mar 21 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ruth Rendell's Most Fascinating Book
Probably my favorite Ruth Rendell novel (and I've read and enjoyed them all. Except for "Road Rage", which I found tedious. Read more
Published on Feb 19 1999 by sharky@gateway.net
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
