Product Description

Jenny's marriage is loveless, and she is having an affair. She works at an old people's home, where she is especially fond of Stella, a woman dying of cancer - whose own secrets parallel Jenny's - with the difference that she may have been involved in murdering her lover's husband.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #216633 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author
Barbara Vine is the pen-name of Ruth Rendell. Viking have published all her previous novels, including A Dark Adapted Eye, which won the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award. Ruth Rendell sits in the House of Lords as a Labour peer. She lives in Maida Vale, London.

Customer Reviews

the past extends its tentacles
Genevieve Warner, a young woman trapped in a hopeless affair and a loveless marriage, works at Middleton Hall, a home for the elderly. Most of the residents are pleasant enough, contentedly reminiscing about their lives to their carers, but Stella is different. Stella and Genevieve immediately form a bond, taking to one another, seeing little bits of their own personality and situation within the other. Unlike other residents, though, Stella is sharp, smart, and in control, and she does not share the memories of her past, so retains a definite air of mystery. But Stella is dying of lung-cancer, and now she feels a desperate need to tell someone the story of her eventful life, so that her secrets do not die with her, following her into the grave, unknown forever. Thus, she decides to tell her story to Genevieve, slowly unfolding a tale that is moving, powerful, and, ultimately, subtly horrific.

This, "The Brimstone Wedding", is yet another masterpiece of atmospheric fiction from Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell). Yet again she synthesises her twin storylines one in the past, one in the present brilliantly, and they eerily mirror each other down the generations. She builds the atmosphere brilliantly in both the time periods, and the suspense is continually ratcheted up, helped along by subtle and tantalising hints as to what exactly Stella’s shocking secret could possibly be.

This time around, the characters are also more likeable than is the norm for a Vine novel, so it has a warmer, deceptively (and dangerously) cosy feel, which is juxtaposed with the usual chilly atmosphere and down-to-the-bones and wonderfully detached writing style. They’re characters you are motivated to care deeply about, which serves to make this not only a powerful in places but also very moving. Certainly, there was one point when I even shed a few tears.

The story is told brilliantly, giving readers enough information to satisfy, but yet as little as possible, to ensure that they need continually to turn the page to find out more. It all culminates excellently with a shocking revelation about the true nature of Stella’s secret. This revelation is not overblown and exaggerated, as some authors might make it, instead Vine underplays it, clearing it entirely of melodrama and simply telling things exactly as they were, which forces the reader to actually think about it, thus bringing huge power to the climax.

This, a masterpiece that is the sum of many excellent parts, is a complete triumph for Vine, matching up very equally with my previous favourite of hers, the erotic and chilling genius that is "No Night Is Too Long". Neither of these books should be passed over by any reader worth their salt.

Engrossing
As always, novels by Barbara Vine keep the reader enthralled and 'The Brimstone Wedding' is no exception. The story focuses upon Jenny, who is a carer in an old people's home. Jenny realizes that she is no longer in love with her husband, Michael, and she becomes involved (and falls in love)with another man, who is also married. Jenny's lover tells her that he will leave his wife and his young, asthmatic daughter for her, but Jenny says that he must not, insisting that his family needs him. Jenny has also become very fond of Stella, a resident at the old people's home, and she soon finds herself confiding in Stella about her unhappy marriage and her affair. Stella listens patiently to Jenny, and gradually reveals her own secret, a secret kept hidden from her own family and laid bare to Jenny alone. Stella, knowing that she does not have long to live, records a message (not to be heard whilst Stella is alive) in which she reveals to Jenny, the dreadful secret she has kept in her heart for so many years. As the truth becomes clear to Jenny and she decides to take positive action in her life, little does she know that her life is about to take an unexpected (and unwelcome) turn.

chills and heartbreak
one of my favourite barbara vine novels. although it's about loss and disappointment, about bitter and hidden truths, about loves lost and hearts broken, it is one of vine's warmest books. the protagonists are sympathetic and people you care for. rarley, it seems to me, has vine written with so much love for her characters. a bad-time-feel-good-book, but in the typical vine vein.yes, there's chills, fear and violent death.