[issybird]

Originally Posted by Grey Ram

Overall for me, its charm resides more in her descriptions of the life at the horse farm and how Brat finds his way among some questionable moral choices.

I have to say that Tey, as with Wodehouse and cricket and golf, made me interested in a subject about which I know and care nothing at all.

Originally Posted by Grey Ram

But the moral part, I think at first Brat is clearly in the wrong setting out to deceive an innocent family, he even acknowledges that Loding, “is a swine” for proposing such an action and yet he changes his mind when horses enter the picture; he was faced with a test of his moral fortitude and he failed. But yet his conscience keeps nibbling at him and had not Simon been a rotten apple he would most likely have run away from it, as the Rector told him. And in the end he does the right thing revealing himself as an impostor and allowing Eleanor to take her rightful inheritance; I don’t see him getting a pass since from my point of view he undid the wrong he had made.

Ultimately, I wasn't swayed by the attempt to make Brat a moral person. And I'm glad you mentioned Loding, since this is another area where Tey pulled her punch, I think. It's impossible to believe that anyone but Alec could have had the knowledge to coach Brat. A woman who emigrated to Canada? Faugh! They must have know, on some level, that it was Alec. But again, they preferred to smooth things over, ignore the issues, and save face.

Originally Posted by CRussel

Another product of the class and era was Angela Thirkell, and her writing of the post-war period shows the class issues and attitudes even more glaringly. For her I don't give a pass, by the way.

I agree with you about Thirkell. I've read everything by her, and what was charming in the 30s Barsetshire novels was quite sour by the 50s. But there was a smugness in Tey's account, for me, that made me want to smack her.

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Making Brat a cousin also means that he still has the Ashby last name .... and when Eleanor marries him, there will still be Ashbys living in the house. To the relief of all! Also, you note that "each generation tends to have a wastrel" has still held true, because it was Simon in the current generation.

Well, as a by-blow, Brat wasn't entitled to the Ashby name, but I suspect he'd have it changed, sigh. But you raise a point that occurred to me - just how would the Ashbys have reacted if it turned out that Brat wasn't a relative, but the offspring of some "slattern" and just happened to have a resemblance? I'm thinking the love wouldn't have been there.

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

Personally, I feel that Brat Farrar is a failure as a mystery novel. The mystery of why Brat looks so much like Patrick is generally underplayed and resolved in a very contrived way at the end. The other mystery is the death of Patrick but there is little focus on the murder until we are nearly half-way through the book. Then it is apparently dropped until the very end.

As to matters involving the plotting, ethical questions, and class and gender assumptions, I think Issybird has dealt definitively with these. On the plus side, as with others, I found that the writing was excellent. The characters were certainly well-drawn and interesting and I generally mildly enjoyed reading the book as a novel of community and family relationships--but not as a mystery.

Obviously I agree with you about the failings of the book, but as I read it, I thought that they made for a better discussion!