I'm reading Josephine Tey's "Brat Farrer" for the first time, and I now know what kind of writer I want to be when I grow up. Her style is sort of minimalist, in that there's little overt description, but it's all so evocative. A girl describes Aunt Bee as having a face like an expensive cat, which she is secretly pleased by, and the rector's wife later says, "Yes, but not the fluffy kind." And I can instantly picture Aunt Bee. I don't know the color of her hair or her height or build, but I know her.
In referring to a dead relative, Bee say "Walter has died." The rector's wife asks "Did he die in an odour of sanctity?" "Carbolic. A workhouse ward I believe." I snickered so loud the other people in the lunch room looked intrigued, but I didn't look up to give them the satisfaction.
And she has dozens of books I've never read!
Ah, you're in for a treat. Not dozens, though, only 6 or 7.
Sadly, not dozens.
I love Brat Farrer. (How could I not - a mystery, with horses.)
Not dozens, though, only 6 or 7.
Ah, I was getting her confused with Georgette Heyer. Whom I also haven't read. I think I confused her with Barbara Cartland.
Heyer's writing is smart and funny. Cartland's writing is...not.
It was the similar covers of the books when I was a kid. I shall rectify my lack of Heyer.
I went on a big Tey binge a year or two ago. Can't believe I had never heard of her before.
Brat Farrar
is my favorite, along with
The Daughter of Time.
I still haven't read Brat Farrar, partly because the old Mystery adaptation is still in my brain.
Can't believe I had never heard of her before.
How is that possible? Maybe because Betsy doesn't post here anymore.
Daughter of Time
was voted the greatest mystery of all time by a large poll of mystery writers.
Daughter of Time was voted the greatest mystery of all time by a large poll of mystery writers.
Except the historians now mostly agree that it's hogwash.
I first learned about Tey from watching the Mystery adaptation of Brat Farrar as well. I really liked the actor in it, as I recall.
