Items related to My Best Friend
A quiet Suffolk village, 1944. Fourteen-year-old Gerald Haxton is a lonely boy who regards his still-born twin brother Jack as his only real friend. His mother, a famous children's writer, guards Jack's memory jealously, and Gerald, disturbed and unpopular, has no hope of ever measuring up to him. Playing in the woods near his home, Gerald discovers the body of his elder sister buried in a shallow grave. She has been beaten to death with a wooden stake and her boyfriend, a young GI, is hanged for the crime. London, 1995. As the country prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of VE Day, Gerald, who remains a loner, is nearing retirement. Obsessed by routine, he still talks to his dead brother, Jack. Surrounded by nostalgic artefacts at the TV prop-hire company where he works, he is constantly reminded of the past, and with it, his sister Vera's death. Hoping to escape his lonely existence, he takes to following Mel, the twelve-year-old daughter of a colleague. A few days later Mel, who bears a striking resemblance to Vera, disappears...
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
Penzler Pick, December 2001: With only three books, Laura Wilson has established herself as one of the very few heirs apparent to the psychological novels of Patricia Highsmith and Minette Walters. Wilson uses the device of telling her story through several different voices. Each voice is in possession of a portion of the story, the telling of which is always colored by the personality and self-interest of the narrator. It is the reader who is the unbiased observer, listening to each person's story as it unravels into a coherent and horrifying chronicle of lies, deceit, and murder.
From the Back Cover:
We meet Gerald both as a boy, through his journals, and as a troubled man in his early 60s. He has obviously had some run-ins with the police in his time, but we are not sure about what. Gerald is the son of one of England's greatest children's writers, M.M. Haldane, now deceased. M. (Marjorie) M. (Maud) was the creator of Tom Tyler, boy detective, and she and her husband, Arthur Traxton, adopted another child before Gerald was born. That child, Vera Traxton, was murdered during the war and an American serviceman was hanged for the crime.
We also meet Tilly, M.M.'s sister and a former actress who now lives out her life in a nursing home with her dog. She loves to reminisce about her time on the stage, but she also has a lot to say about her sister's treatment of her own children.
Jo works with Gerald. She is a single mother and her young daughter, Mel, is being followed home by an older man. Jo is worried about this, but she has a new boyfriend, Ron, and is just not concentrating.
As each person talks, the reader is treated to a story that builds to a shocking climax. There are also excerpts from M.M. Haldane's books, which only add to the horror of what we think may be happening.
My Best Friend is an original, chilling tour de force that solidifies the growing reputation of an exciting new author. --Otto Penzler
“Gripping, with an icy dovetailing of past and present.”
— Kirkus Reviews
High praise for Laura Wilson’s previous novels:
A Little Death
“The writing is first—rate ... the characters are completely differentiated, multi-dimensional and believable.”
— The Drood Review of Mystery, Editors’ Choice 2000
“Razor-sharp suspense to the last page ... a tour de force reminiscent of Barbara Vine.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Superb ... this is an exciting debut.... A web of desire, violence and lost opportunity ... Masterfully captures the different voices of the three protagonists, and weaves their stories together.”
— The Times (London)
“A simply brilliant U.K. debut.”
— Booknews from The Poisoned Pen
“This is a cunning book. It creeps up on the reader like someone pursuing a friend down a street with a view to patting them on the back and saying hello, but instead giving them a heart attack....Fuel for real suspense.”
— Frances Fyfield
Dying Voices
“[Wilson] has an ear for dialogue and a gift for creating believable characters. This is real class.”
— The Sunday Telegraph (London)
“A narrative relayed in the perfect pitch of a writer with pedigree goods to deliver.”
— The Literary Review (London)
— Kirkus Reviews
High praise for Laura Wilson’s previous novels:
A Little Death
“The writing is first—rate ... the characters are completely differentiated, multi-dimensional and believable.”
— The Drood Review of Mystery, Editors’ Choice 2000
“Razor-sharp suspense to the last page ... a tour de force reminiscent of Barbara Vine.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Superb ... this is an exciting debut.... A web of desire, violence and lost opportunity ... Masterfully captures the different voices of the three protagonists, and weaves their stories together.”
— The Times (London)
“A simply brilliant U.K. debut.”
— Booknews from The Poisoned Pen
“This is a cunning book. It creeps up on the reader like someone pursuing a friend down a street with a view to patting them on the back and saying hello, but instead giving them a heart attack....Fuel for real suspense.”
— Frances Fyfield
Dying Voices
“[Wilson] has an ear for dialogue and a gift for creating believable characters. This is real class.”
— The Sunday Telegraph (London)
“A narrative relayed in the perfect pitch of a writer with pedigree goods to deliver.”
— The Literary Review (London)
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherOrion Pub Co
- Publication date2002
- ISBN 10 075284802X
- ISBN 13 9780752848020
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages304
- Rating
Buy New
Learn more about this copy
US$ 9.15
Shipping:
US$ 19.74
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
My Best Friend
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Next day dispatch (mon-fri). Please note orders sent to Netherlands or Sweden take slightly longer than the Amazon estimated delivery date. Same day/next day dispatch (mon-fri) all items checked before dispatch, Handled and sent out with care. Seller Inventory # mon0000184455
Buy New
US$ 9.15
Convert currency
Stock Image
My Best Friend Wilson, Laura
Published by
Orion Pub Co
(2002)
ISBN 10: 075284802X
ISBN 13: 9780752848020
New
Softcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 0.43. Seller Inventory # Q-075284802X
Buy New
US$ 72.95
Convert currency