Two more Novels by Jospehine Tey

I have now finished listening to the Josephine Tey Audio book collection that I bought around New Year. (61+ hours of listening altogether!) 

The last two are stand-alones (not including Alan Grant):

Brat Farrar (1949) is one I remember having read before (a long time ago). I know liked it then, and still did now, when reading it again.

The story is set in the late 1940s, after WWII. Beatrice (Bee), a spinster, lives on a big old English estate together with her late brother's four children, whose parents both died several years ago. When the oldest son, Simon, turns 21, he will inherit the estate plus a trust fund from his mother. For now, they all survive on a business combining breeding, selling and training horses, and giving riding lessons.

Simon used to have a twin brother, Patrick, who was older than him just by a few minutes. But soon after their parents died, Patrick disappeared, leaving behind what was taken to be a suicide note. His body was never found, but he is assumed to be dead.

Brat Farrar is a young man of around the same age, recently returned to England from America. He grew up in an English orphanage, but ran away in his teens and ended up working at ranches and stables in western US; until a fall injured his leg. In London, he now meets a man who at first mistakes him for Simon - and when he realises that he is not, he comes up with a plan to make Brat impersonate Patrick, Simon's missing twin brother, and thus claim his right to inherit the estate and money. Brat is unwilling at first, but agrees when he learns it will involve working with horses. He gets some tutoring about the family history, and then contacts the family solicitor, claiming to be Patrick, with a story to account for the missing years. He manages to convince the solicitor; and when introduced to the family, they too (or at least some of them) also do see in him a resemblance to Patrick...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Miss Pym Disposes (1946), Lucy Pym, author of a best-selling book on psychology, is invited to give a lecture at a Physical Training College. After her initial lecture she is also asked to stay on for a while. She is given a room in the students' quarters rather than among the other teachers, which means she gets to know some of them quite well. The end of the term is approaching, and some of the senior students are going be recommended by the school for jobs at other institutions. Two of them especially are rivals for a very sought-after position at another school. Just before the end of term, a tragic accident occurs, which also turns into a test of Miss Pym's psychological expertise.

I was not all that captured by this book to start with - perhaps to do with my own memories of gymnastics and school gymnasiums (...all negative...) back in my school days. But aside from the accident/crime scene being a gymnasium, the author does deserve credit for the moral dilemmas raised towards the end of the story.

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Previous reviews from this audio book collection:

The Man in the Queue

More by Josephine Tey