Brat Farrar: Amazon.ca: Josephine Tey, Elizabeth MacKintosh: Books

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Singing Sands

by Josephine Tey

4.5 out of 5 stars (6) CDN$ 11.68

A Shilling for Candles

by Josephine Tey

3.2 out of 5 stars (5) CDN$ 11.68

To Love and Be Wise

by Josephine Tey

4.0 out of 5 stars (2) CDN$ 11.68

The Daughter of Time

by Josephine Tey

4.0 out of 5 stars (71) CDN$ 11.68

Miss Pym Disposes

by Josephine Tey

4.2 out of 5 stars (4) CDN$ 11.68

› Explore similar items

Product Description

From Amazon.com

Brat Farrar has been carefully coached to assume the identity of Patrick Ashby, heir to the Ashby fortune who disappeared when he was 13. Just when it seems that Brat will pull off the deception, he discovers the truth about Patrick's disappearance, a dark secret that threatens to tear apart the family and jeopardize Brat's carefully laid plans. Called "the best of its kind" by the New Yorker, Josephine Tey's classic is a tale of unrelenting suspense and tension. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

It was eight years since Patrick had vanished leaving a pitiful note, “I’m sorry but I can’t bear it any longer. Don’t be angry with me, Patrick.” Now it seemed, he had returned — just in time to claim the family inheritance. But if Patrick really had committed suicide, who was this mysterious young man claiming to be him and calling himself Brat Farrar? --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.

First Sentence
Aunt Bee," said Jane, breathing heavily into her soup, "was Noah a cleverer back-room boy than Ulysses, or was Ulysses a cleverer back-room boy than Noah?" Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

16 Reviews

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Kazam! A winner!, Jun 20 2003

By	Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Brat Farrar (Paperback)

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.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book!, Jun 18 2003

By	S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Brat Farrar (Paperback)

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!

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

4.0 out of 5 stars A moral dilemma, Jul 25 2002

By	Christina P. Branson "killer_b_books" (Farmington) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Brat Farrar (Paperback)

Eight years after young Patrick Ashby's disappearance and presumed suicide, a young man presents himself to the Ashby family lawyers as the long-lost heir--just in time to reclaim the family estate from his slightly younger twin brother Simon on their approaching 21st birthday. He knows intimate details of Patrick's childhood and passes all of the tests devised by the lawyers to reveal an imposter. (The family's dental records in London were apparently destroyed during the war.) Could it be? Has the prodigal son returned home? In a word, no.

That's not a spoiler, mind you. You'll learn as much on the back-cover blurb, and chapter 3 reveals the imposter in no uncertain terms as Brat Farrar, a foundling who grew up in an orphanage and spent much of his teen years exploring the American West. By the end of chapter 4, it doesn't take a whole lot of pondering to figure out 90% of what's really going on. It's just a matter of following along to see how it all plays out.

I know that sounds boring, but it's rather an enjoyable read. You can look at it as being slow-moving, or as having a leisurely pace. If you take the latter attitude, I think you'll have a better appreciation of the manner in which Tey examines Brat's moral struggles and unfolds the layers of mystery surrounding the Ashby family.

**Adapted from a Skullduggery review**

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 16 customer reviews...

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mystery with Heart, Atmosphere and Intelligence
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... Read more

Published on Jun 6 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars brat farrar
ditto to the positive book reviews sent in. I love the (self-recorded) video of the TV show, but it is wearing out and I really would like to buy a commercial tape. Hans Neuberg

Published on Dec 27 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Predictably good.
The best evidence of the fine writing in this novel is a back cover blurb that gives away much of the plot, yet in no way diminishes the pleasure of reading the book. Read more

Published on Aug 30 2001 by James Frohnhofer

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing
I picked this book at the bookstore to while time away, and I'm very glad I didn't buy it. the outline of the plot was appealing but in the end it was mediocre. Read more