Review: Young Ashby
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 7, 2014
When I recommended Brat Farrar to one of my brothers, he asked what I liked about it. "Was it the writing?" he asked. "The description of characters? The sensory details? The plot? What was it?" I told him it was all that and more. The suspense was almost unbearable, and I often  neglected the world around me with the thought, "One more chapter."Although the first few pages were slow going, they were necessary to introduce the major characters, their appearance, their personalities, and their relation to each other. As soon as I had them firmly in mind, then another character, an invisible one appeared, Simon's twin brother Patrick. Patrick had apparently committed suicide eight years earlier, shortly after the death of the children's parents in an automobile accident. I loved the way Josephine Tey introduced him in such a way that the reader immediately knows that she will encounter this young man again. And then there's Brat (originally spelled Bart) who grew up in a foundling home. The fact that Brat looks amazingly like an Ashby attracts the notice of  Alec Loding, brother to the Rector's wife in Clare, and the plot begins to thicken.No more spoilers. A suspenseful book, Brat Farrar is a page turner of the highest order. The author's descriptions of scenes, people, behaviors, and emotions help the reader see, feel, and actually understand what's beneath the surface of things.I knew, like Brat, that nothing good could come of this situation. And then the reader is reminded of good old Uncle Charles whose arrival has been foreshadowed on and off throughout the book. Will he play a part in resolving the conflict? You'll have to read the novel for yourself to find out. I promise that you won't be disappointed.