Asta's Book

A rather long and drawn-out tale of two generations of women trying to solve a question of identity. I usually get quite engaged in Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine's stories, but she let this one ramble, ignored an obvious avenue of investigation, and included too many false leads for my taste. I did want to know who the killer was, and whether Swanny was adopted or not, but it just took too long to get there. A fair bit of backstory and repetitious explication could have been cut without hurting a thing. "Suspenseful" is not an adjective I'd use for this one.

Strangely I wasn't as compelled and enthralled by this book as i expected to be. It was a bit domestic and estrogen soaked for my taste and had too much about children in it. I just can't get all worked up about children. The journal parts were done well, but I couldn't relate to Anna (Asta) at all. She was passive, yet sly. Opinionated, yet unsophisticated. I didn't need to like her to find her interesting though, like a strange bug you find in the yard.

I wish the Roper saga could have been sprinkled in and interleaved the way Ann and Swanny's more modern stories were. As it was it derailed the already slow-moving train of the main storyline. It made sense to put it where it was given the mini-series angle, but i still found myself show more thinking that this better have a good pay off.

It did and in a marvelously convoluted way, signaled by the abrupt and slightly menacing entrance of an unexpected character. Minor, but key to the final solution. Overall I liked this and enjoyed reading it, but not as much as her first two Vine novels. I think it marks the beginning of a lot of experimentation that the Vine persona allowed. The Rendell name as a brand was well established by the early 80s and maybe she felt confined by it. A pseudonym is a great way to break out of a mold and try new things, The Vine novels are always surprising and that's why I keep coming back to them. show less

A deep-dive into the published diaries of a Swedish immigrant in England the early 20th century. There's a mystery (actually 2). I found it all to be a bit fussy and the plotting didn't add up to too much. Still really enjoyed the fictional world it created, could easily imagine revisiting Asta's Book and bumping it up a star.

I did read/listen to the magnificently performed audiobook during a trip to Denver for a funeral so like it was kind of a lot. Still was a solid Rendell either way though, just not my favorite one.

My favorite Rendell and Vine - the best novel of mystery and suspense I've ever read, and I've read it 13 times so far - it's become an annual tradition for me. I could probably go through it with a highlighter and indicate all the clues, but that doesn't stop me from still turning the pages with complete fascination. When I queried Rendell about how she wrote such a complex novel with multiple storylines, she modestly replied "I don't know how I did it!"

One of the best detective/mystery stories I've ever read, if not the best. The first time I read it, the suspense over who Swanny's parents really were was overwhelming.

Re-reading it, and being more able to read the diary extracts and enjoy them for themselves rather than searching for clues, I feel quite sad that I'll never be able to read the whole of Asta's diaries.

6 stars out of 5.

It is 1905 and Asta Westerby and her husband Rasmus have just moved to England from Denmark with their two boys, with a third child on the way, which Asta dearly hopes will be a girl. Asta tells her story through a series of journals, in which she writes sporadically about various events, describing her family life; her marriage, her children, her maid, which make up her whole universe. Asta has an independent spirit and was not necessarily cut out to be a wife and mother, but she accepts her lot because other alternatives don't seem appealing or feasible. But this is only part of the story, because the other part takes place in a contemporary setting, sometime in the 90s, which is when this book was published. Asta's granddaughter Ann show more has come into her inheritance now that her aunt Swanny has passed away. Swanny was Asta's favourite child and having discovered her mother's journals after her passing, decided to have them translated and published with tremendous success. Now Ann is responsible for the manuscripts and intends to continue publishing additional volumes. But there are various mysteries to be found in what have become historical artifacts. Swanny was never able to learn the truth about her true identity after receiving an anonymous letter telling her she was not in fact Asta's child, something which Asta herself refused to confirm on way or another. Is the answer to be found in one of the volumes? But there are also mentions about a horrible crime which was a sensation in it's time, with Alfred Roper accused of murdering his wife and the disappearance of their young toddler Lizzie. Was Swanny that Roper child? And if not, what happened to Lizzie? These are mysteries which Ann and a friend producing a movie about the murder mystery are out to solve.

The premise of this novel seemed very interesting, but I found the story very confusing, with two seemingly completely separate stories and families that had nothing in common somehow connected in a way which is only revealed at the very end. Perhaps this is a story which benefits from a second reading. Then again, perhaps my own mind is too muddled to understand a plot which doesn't follow a familiar narrative style. I also kept wondering why Asta's journals had become such hugely successful books, as they didn't seem to make for such gripping reading on their own. Don't let my confused ramblings about this book influence you though, because it seems to have met with a lot of appreciation with other readers. show less

It's worth plouging through the initial chapters, where the central character Asta writes in her diary about life as a Danish immigrant in London. By the time the central mysteries (because there are definitely two) start to develop, you will find yourself going back to them and re-reading them for clues. This book is very clever - my favourite by Vine/Rendell; all the clues are there, as well as a few red herrings, and the conclusion is superb. Though it took me a little while initially to work out who all the characters were and how they related to eachother, in the end they stayed in my memory long after I finished the book.