编辑推荐From Publishers WeeklyThis rich, labyrinthine book by Vine (aka Ruth Rendell) concerns a "mystery in history," like her 1998 novel, The Chimney Sweeper's Boy. Martin Nanther-biographer and member of the House of Lords-discovers some blighted roots on his family tree while researching the life of his great-great-grandfather, Henry, an expert on hemophilia and physician to Queen Victoria. Martin contacts long-lost relatives who help him uncover some puzzling events in Henry's life. Was Henry a dour workaholic or something much more sinister? Vine can make century-old tragedy come alive. Still, the decades lapsed between Martin's and Henry's circles create added emotional distance, and, because they are all at least 50 years dead, we never meet Henry or his cohorts except through diaries and letters. Martin's own life-his wife's infertility and troubles with a son from his first marriage-is interesting yet sometimes intrudes on the more intriguing Victorian saga. Vine uses her own experience as a peer to give readers an insider's look into the House of Lords, at the dukes snoozing in the library between votes and eating strawberries on the terrace fronting the Thames. Some minor characters are especially vivid, like Martin's elderly cousin Veronica, who belts back gin while stonewalling about the family skeletons all but dancing through her living room. Readers may guess Henry's game before Vine is ready to reveal it, but this doesn't detract from this novel peopled by characters at once repellant and compelling. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal In her tenth novel writing as Barbara Vine, Ruth Rendell offers a novel of suspense based in 19th-century England and centering on deceit, murder, and various other family skeletons. Martin Nanther, the fourth Lord Nanther, has a comfortable life in present-day London as a Hereditary Peer in the House of Lords and as a historical biographer. He chooses as his most recent subject his own great-grandfather, the first Lord Nanther, physician to the royal family (Victoria and Albert) and an early noted researcher into the cause and transmission of hemophilia. The reader is taken through the family history as Martin painstakingly uncovers some not so savory bits of his own family's past. The story is dense with characters, and the author provides family trees of the two principal families, for which any reader will be eternally grateful. The story lacks the usual page-turner suspense of the Rendell/Vine novels but makes up for that with unusually detailed glimpses into Victorian life and the inner workings of the House of Parliament, which American readers will find particularly intriguing. Recommended for all public libraries. Caroline Mann, Univ. of Portland, OR Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Booklist What! Has the prolific Vine (Ruth Rendell to readers familiar with Inspector Wexford's chronicles) expanded her oeuvre to encompass Victorian medical thrillers? So it would seem from the jacket and title of this eerie novel, in which the past stealthily intrudes on the present. But Vine always seems to surprise; her latest isn't exactly what it seems. Lord Martin Nanther, a hereditary peer in the House of Lords, writes biographies. His latest subject happens to be his own great-great grandfather, Henry Alexander, from whom Martin inherited his title. It was his progenitor's knowledge of hemophilia that endeared him to Queen Victoria, whose son, Leopold, suffered from the agonies of the genetically transmitted illness. Curious contradictions about Henry abound, but in the midst of unraveling family histories and garbled memories, Martin has to struggle with personal problems: his beloved wife's inability to have a baby and the loss of his place in the House of Lords. As usual, Vine delicately probes the psyches of her formidable main characters--one living and one dead--to reveal a wealth of complications and coincidences, and her measured pace is balanced by her extraordinary ability to turn the mundane into the subtly gripping. Through it all, of course, runs the imagery of blood, which in this unusual novel, both gives life and takes it away. Stephanie Zvirin Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Review Barbara Vine's latest novel is further proof (if any were needed) of the huge breadth of her learning and her ability to infuse any subject, no matter how arcane, with excitement and tension. Once again, she places high intellectual demands upon her readers, here assuming an interest in learning about haemophilia, an awareness of the intricacies of recent legislation concerning the House of Lords, and an ability to keep the details of several rambling family trees at one's fingertips. This vast, enthralling novel moves effortlessly between the 19th century and the 20th. Sir Henry Nanther is Court Physician to Queen Victoria and an expert on disease of the blood, specifically haemophilia. As his reputation increases, he records all the details of his work and research, for future generations who might be interested in writing his biography. It falls to his great-grandson, Martin Lord Nanther, to undertake this task, but he soon discovers that Henry's careful records reveal more by what they don't say. Henry's private life was a web of secrecy, and as Martin begins to unpick the threads, he finds himself facing more questions: why did Henry jilt the beautiful, wealthy Olivia Batho to pursue the daughter of an impoverished solicitor? What really happened the night his fiancee was murdered? What were the motives behind his apparently inexplicable behaviour? As Martin begins to find answers to some of these questions, answers which force him to re-evaluate his own feelings towards Henry, his own personal life is in turmoil. Reform in the House of Lords leaves him out of a job and his wife's constant miscarriages are putting their marriage under strain. Martin is obsessed by the search for the truth about his great-grandfather - and is determined to find out that truth, however painful it is. This is an absorbing novel which builds up slowly but inexorably towards the horrific revelations of the final chapter. Little by little, Martin fills in the missing links on the family tree, discovering numerous relatives who shed varying degrees of light on his investigation. It is only when the final pieces of the jigsaw fall into place that Martin realizes the dreadful truth in a denouement as shocking as anything Vine has written. (Kirkus UK) Review "One of the finest practitioners of her craft in the English-speaking world…. [The Blood Doctoris] densely plotted, psychologically twisted." -The New York Times Book Review "Combine[s] Edith Wharton's laserlike psychological and sociological notations with the elegance and intelligence Arthur Conan Doyle brought to genre writing…. [She is] the best mystery writer of our time." – The Boston Globe “Vine is the subtlest of writers, and her book’s quiet demeanor simply adds more nuance to its exquisite creepiness.” –Seattle Post-Intelligencer "One of the finest practitioners of her craft in the English-speaking world…. [The Blood Doctoris] densely plotted, psychologically twisted." -The New York Times Book Review “This latest book is her best... suspenseful and intellectually engaging.” –Chicago Tribune --This text refers to the Paperback edition. |
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