The Chimney Sweeper's Boy

Barbara, Vine

ISBN 10: 0140867589 ISBN 13: 9780140867589

Publisher: Penguin, 1998

Synopsis

When successful author Gerald Candless dies of a sudden heart attack, his eldest daughter Sarah embarks on a memoir of him and soon begins to unearth a dark secret. At some point in his life her father had assumed a completely different identity. In fact, he wasn't Gerald Candless at all. But who was he, and what had driven him to conceal his real identity? Barbara Vine interweaves past and present,to create a rich novel and compelling mystery.

About this title

Review:

'So ingeniously constructed, its truth and falsehoods are so deftly and convincingly interwoven, that its solution ... is as jolting as a flash of lightning' (The Sunday Times)

'Vine's control of plot and pure horripilation ... simultaneously thrills and disquiets. She goes for the imagination as a lesser writer would go for the jugular.' (Literary Review)

'One of the most frightening novels I have ever read ... Gerald Candless, the monster at the heart of the maze, is a marvellous creation.' (Express on Sunday)

Review:

Joyce Carol Oates "The New York Times Book Review" One of the finest practitioners of her craft in the English-speaking world.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0140867589
• ISBN 13: 9780140867589
• Binding: Audio Cassette