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Original Title:	The House of Stairs
ISBN:	0140114467 (ISBN13: 9780140114461)
Edition Language:	English

The House of Stairs

Barbara Vine

Paperback | Pages: 281 pages

Rating: 3.84 | 2041 Users | 139 Reviews

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Title	:	The House of Stairs
Author	:	Barbara Vine
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 281 pages
Published	:	1988 by Penguin
Categories	:	Mystery. Fiction. Crime. Suspense. Thriller. Mystery Thriller

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The House of Stairs - an unputdownable crime classic from bestselling author Barbara Vine

Lizzie hasn't seen her old friend, Bell, for some fourteen years, but when she spots her from a taxi in a London street she jumps out and pursues her despite 'all the terrible things' that passed between them. As Lizzie reveals those events, little by little, the women rekindle their friendship, with terrifying results ...

'This is the third psychological thriller by Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine and when I say it surpasses the first two that's really saying something ... Vine has not only produced a quietly smouldering suspense novel but also presents an accurately atmospheric portrayal of London in the heady 60's. Literally unputdownable' Time Out

The House of Stairs is a modern masterpiece of the crime genre and will leave you gripped from the first page to the last. If you enjoy the novels of P.D. James, Ian Rankin and Scott Turow, you will love this book.

'The Rendell/ Vine partnership has for years been producing consistently better work than most Booker winners put together' Ian Rankin
'A superb and original writer' Amanda Craig, Express

Barbara Vine is the pen-name of Ruth Rendell. She has written fifteen novels using this pseudonym, including A Fatal Inversion and King Solomon's Carpet which both won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award. Her other books include: A Dark Adapted Eye; The House of Stairs; Gallowglass; Asta's Book; No Night Is Too Long; In the Time of His Prosperity; The Brimstone Wedding; The Chimney Sweeper's Boy; Grasshopper; The Blood Doctor; The Minotaur; The Birthday Present and The Child's Child.

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Ratings: 3.84 From 2041 Users | 139 Reviews

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I don't mind books that create a mood, develop characters and take a while to get to the action, but this one never really did get to the action, in my opinion. I really hated how it ended too. In the book we know who the killer was almost from the beginning. We don't know who she killed or why until near the end. What really bugged me about it was the main character Elizabeth's obsession with Bell. Vine (Rendell) could have revealed some of the detail a lot sooner and, imo, it actually would

A heavy, tough read: Set in alternating time periods where a future tragedy is hinted at in the one, and complicated reminisces are described in the other. Starts off slowly, but ends off powerfully and dramatically.

I usually love Barbara Vine, however this story was boring and meandering. By the end of the book (had to force myself to finish it!)I could have cared less about the characters and story!

One of my favorite - and most frequently re-read - Vines. My last re-read was Summer 2006, and I'm feeling it 'call' to me. Rendell has called this her "Henry James novel."7/04/11: I didn't re-read it when I made the above comment, probably two years ago, but I am re-reading it now.7/07/11: This novel has a very leisurely pace, which works perfectly in its favor. One of Vine/Rendell's hallmarks as a writer is her extraordinary ability to to go back and forth in time within the space of a page or

Even an average Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell book is better than most books. This is one of the best so it is very good indeed. Like most of the books Rendell has written under the Vine pen name, it is more concerned with the psychological aspects of a crime. There is no real whodunit here, the murderer is named at the outset, but the identity of the victim is not revealed until near the end. Rendell is not concerned with making you love her characters; she is more interested in motivations.

Who is the sad, reflective narrator and what mysterious illness does she suffer from? What is the strange hold that the tall, dark woman named Bell has over her, and whatever happened at the carefully described House of Stairs in London that sent Bell to prison? The answers are gradually revealed as the intricate knots of this mystery are untied. The narrator of the story is a middle-aged novelist named Elizabeth Vetch who, ever since she learned of her grim heritage at age fourteen, has lived

Too clever really...ice cold suspense,good plot....then there is the undertones of philosophical instruction...and who did not begin by loving bell and then quite decidedly disliking her in the end....i died on stilleto fatalis....ha!!!!