It's late spring of 1990 and a love affair is flourishing: between Ivor Tesham, a thirty-three year old rising star of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, and Hebe Furnal, a stunning North London housewife stuck in a dull marriage. What excitement Hebe lacks at home, however, is amply compensated for by the well-bred and intensely attractive Tesham - an ardent womanizer and ambitious politican. Set amidst an age of IRA bombings, the first Gulf War, and sleazy politics, The Birthday Present is the gripping story of a fall from grace, and of a man who carries within him all the hypocrisy, greed and self-obsession of a troubled era.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Those who feel that Ruth Rendell's best writing is done under her Barbara Vine nom-de-plume (and there are many who do) will need little persuasion to pick up The Birthday Present. But the fact that this is something of a departure for the author -- under either of her names -- may give them pause.
Margaret Thatcher's days as prime minister are over, and the John Major era of the Conservative party is about to begin. The media is full of tales of sleaze and corruption, and it is not a good time to be a Tory Member of Parliament. However, Ivor Tesham is sanguine: money is no object to him; he is charismatic and attractive, and he is in the middle of a passionate affair. The fly in the ointment is the fact that this is an adulterous relationship: not a happy state of affairs when PM John Major has made 'Back to Basics' morality and 'Victorian Values' the new yardsticks for his variously philandering and kickback-taking MPs. Ivor and his lover -- the beautiful Hebe Furnal -- share a particular erotic predilection; a taste for bondage and the more risky extremes of sexuality. Ivor arranges for a mock kidnapping in line with the couple's games, but, needless to say (this is a Barbara Vine novel, after all), things quickly go pear-shaped, and Igor find that everything he holds dear is about to be stripped away from him.
As this synopsis suggests, Rendell is moving into even more incendiary territory than she has traversed before, and the political element makes the experiment even more piquant. Those who know Rendell's association with the Labour Party (she is a working peer) might assume that a novel which rekindles all the sleaze of the last Tory government (particularly when the latest incarnation of the party is riding high in the polls) is a political act, but Rendell/Vine is far too sophisticated a writer to fall into that trap. In fact, this is one of the most ingenious and disturbing books. As often before with her, the stake for the central character could not be higher and it is impossible not to be drawn into the plight of the beleaguered Ivor (not for the first time, we are reminded of the author’s distinguished American predecessor Patricia Highsmith). The Birthday Present,disturbing as it is, will sit happily on your shelves alongside all the other Barbara Vine titles -- and if you don't possess them, why not? --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
The Rendell/Vine partnership has for years been producing consistently better work than most Booker winners put together (Ian Rankin )
Barbara Vine is Ruth Rendell letting rip (Daily Telegraph )
A superb and original writer (Amanda Craig, Express ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Barbara Vine is Ruth Rendell letting rip (Daily Telegraph )
A superb and original writer (Amanda Craig, Express ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By Simon Clarke
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Birthday Present is Ruth Rendell's 13th novel writing as
Barbara Vine,and is set during the tail-end of Thatcher's government.
It concerns an ambitious rising star in her government,who is also
something of a philanderer with 'lively' sexual preferences.He arranges a birthday present for his lover, an attractive young married woman,
which consists in arranging for her to be kidnapped ,gagged and bound and delivered to his sister's residence.Things do not go to plan,and the tense plot involves cover-ups and subterfuge until a few years later much of the truth is revealed with dire consequences.
Whilst this is a gripping tale,full of suspense,superbly written and constructed,and well worth reading, for me it lacked the consummate psychological acuity of the very best of Barbara Vine.
Barbara Vine,and is set during the tail-end of Thatcher's government.
It concerns an ambitious rising star in her government,who is also
something of a philanderer with 'lively' sexual preferences.He arranges a birthday present for his lover, an attractive young married woman,
which consists in arranging for her to be kidnapped ,gagged and bound and delivered to his sister's residence.Things do not go to plan,and the tense plot involves cover-ups and subterfuge until a few years later much of the truth is revealed with dire consequences.
Whilst this is a gripping tale,full of suspense,superbly written and constructed,and well worth reading, for me it lacked the consummate psychological acuity of the very best of Barbara Vine.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By C. S. Junker
Format:Hardcover
Barbara Vine never fails to write an engrossing tale. Her writing is as good as it gets, and she builds a gripping story. The reader is carried along, not knowing where he or she is going, but unable to stop reading.
This new novel is essentially a character study of two people --- a rising star in the Conservative Party heirarchy, and a lonely young woman whose life and sanity are rapidly crumbling; but these two central threads fit into a more complex mosaic that includes Vine's typically keen characterizations as well as some biting political commentary.
This is not to say that there's an endorsement of a political viewpoint or issue. The book is more a look at how appearances trump substance in politics. It doesn't matter so much what you've done; it's how that is perceived, how it's spun in the media. It's all about perception.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, as I do almost everything Vine has written, and highly recommend it for her fans.
This new novel is essentially a character study of two people --- a rising star in the Conservative Party heirarchy, and a lonely young woman whose life and sanity are rapidly crumbling; but these two central threads fit into a more complex mosaic that includes Vine's typically keen characterizations as well as some biting political commentary.
This is not to say that there's an endorsement of a political viewpoint or issue. The book is more a look at how appearances trump substance in politics. It doesn't matter so much what you've done; it's how that is perceived, how it's spun in the media. It's all about perception.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, as I do almost everything Vine has written, and highly recommend it for her fans.
18 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By Paulo
Format:Hardcover
Just to redress the balance, since the previous very unfair one-star rating can put some people off buying the book, which is in fact greatly enjoyable and on a par with the best books by the author. Most of the readers that are disappointed by some Ruth Rendell / Barbara Vine books have yet to learn that (unlike many of the so-called crime novelists) she has always refused to stick to a formula. This novel cheerfully ignores all genre conventions that so many readers happen to rely on.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Plot Thickens
Don't expect a conventional whodunit. It is not giving away anything to say that this is a tale of the fall from grace of an ambitious government minister in the Thatcher era. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Michael Farman
4.0 out of 5 stars
Something of a return to form by this writer
I have been a bit disappointed by the Vine/Rendell output of later years but this one is not half bad, I certainly enjoyed it a lot more than Chief Inspector Wexfords's twenty... Read more
Published 16 months ago by smartesthorse
5.0 out of 5 stars
First class read
I really enjoyed this book and was reminded again why Ruth Rendell writing as herself or, as here, as Barbara Vine is the mistress of her art. Read more
Published on 8 April 2009 by Bluebell
5.0 out of 5 stars
A slow, alarming dying.
A very different Barbara Vine novel but nonetheless compelling and engrossing, thought provoking too and full of almost forgotten recent history. Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2009 by Jane Baker
4.0 out of 5 stars
"The whiff of perversion"
A dark and subversive mix of political and social issues Barbara Vine's latest novel skirts around the ramifications of a Tory politician's sexual peccadilloes and the accompanying... Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2009
2.0 out of 5 stars
Losing the plot
Disappointed with this. I have read almost everything she has written as Rendell/Vine and loved about 95% of them. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2008 by M. Rose
2.0 out of 5 stars
Its an ok read....
I bought this book at the airport for a good read for my holiday. I have never read any of 'Barbara Vine's' work but i must say I was left disappointed. Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2008 by Els
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Vine Suspense
Ruth Rendell, writing under the pseudonym of Barbara Vine steps away from her other novels and manages to create a sense of intrigue and suspense. Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2008 by SilentSinger
5.0 out of 5 stars
Barbara Vine - The Birthday Present
(I intended four stars but I can't change it back. Oh well.)
The Birthday Present has probably been the book I was most looking forward to in 2008, especially... Read more
The Birthday Present has probably been the book I was most looking forward to in 2008, especially... Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2008 by RachelWalker
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Read
Whilst not reaching the heights of A Fatal Inversion or House of Stairs it was far better than some recent Barbara Vine outings (The Blood Doctor/Minotaur/Chimney Sweepers... Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2008 by Mrs. Anita M. Mcnair
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