The Tree of Hands

by Ruth Rendell

Book Overview

A daughter's grief . . . A mother's madness . . . And a daring act of love that defied every law . . . "The best mystery writer anywhere in the English-speaking world."-- The Boston Globe Mopsa, driven by a past scarred by madness and violence. Benet, stricken by the most grievous loss any woman can bear. Carol, trapped in a life of crushing drabness no lover can change. Three mothers joined by a single thread of terror, whirled into a spiral of kidnapping,...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345312007
• ISBN13: 9780345312006
• Release Date: February 1986
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

The Mother From Hell

Eek! This novel is dark and intense--even by the standards of Ruth Rendell, the Queen of Darkness and Intensity. When a troubled young woman loses her child, her none-too-tightly-wrapped mother comes up with a horrible remedy (kidnapping) for her daughter's anguish. This shocking deed causes a large cross-section of dysfunctional Brits to intersect and interact all over London, with even more horrifying results. Imagine a novel by Charles Dickens--with a really high body count. Nobody does this sort of thing better than Ruth Rendell. That's why we love her. And this novel is one of her best. Enjoy (if that's the right word).

Like mother, like daughter

Wow, what a book!I laughed, cried, got angry and was totally shocked at this book!The characters are so believable.Here you have this sweet, lonely woman who is trying to balance a writing carrer and raising a child on her own.Her mother: Bitter, confused and lonely herself believes that if you lose something....that's okay..."I'll get you another one."The story takes off like a roller coaster ride and ends leaving the reader totally shocked.This book would make a great motion picture!Gary

more first-class fiction

Benet Archdale's selfish mother Margaret ("Mopsa") was mad. She once tried to stab her 14 year old daughter with a carving knife as they travelled in a train together. Now, after many years Mopsa is supposedly recovered, living with her husband in Spain, while Benet, now a writer, remains alone in England with her young son James. But now Mopsa has to return to England, to undergo some final assessments at the hospital where she was treated, and she is going to stay with her daughter, who constantly has to remind herself not to hate her mother who was, after all, mentally ill. This, then, is the set-up for Rendell's CWA Dagger-winning novel. And it is a set-up that leads to a violent chain of assault, deception, the kidnap of a child, and, finally, murder. I normally end up saying mostly the same things about Rendell's brilliant books. Brilliant character, deadly psychology, complex, skilful plotting, fearful atmosphere, etc etc etc. This, I suppose, may give the impression that Rendell's books are all rather similar, but that is not so at all. They are all, every one of them, different and original and exquisite pieces of fiction. However, it is those factors (darkness, psychological brilliance, piercing character and social insight, seamless plotting) which unite her works undoubtedly. Each novel brings a different twist to the "formula" (I use quotation marks because there is actually no real formula for anything Rendell does), though, and each one sparkles. The Tree of Hands is another excellent book from Rendell. It seems often that she can do no wrong, and I get sick of saying "another brilliant book by Rendell", but there is little else one CAN say when all an author's books are uniformly excellent. This book is unpredictable, shocking, horrifyingly compelling. The chain of events (Rendell has always been a first-class examiner of notions of cause-and-effect) unfolds with dreadful reality, horrific certainty and strength. It is rather saddening how Rendell shows us the numerous chances people may have to escape their fate, but don't take it. The course of destruction moves relentless on in Rendell's work. It is not cheerful fiction, not for those who like an up-lifting story. Instead, it is a dark work of dreadful consequence of the most innocent of actions, where normal people's lives become at risk through the influence of those who exist on some kind of edge of normalcy. The Tree of Hands is a brilliant, intelligent, shocking, haunting and eerie work that deserves fully its accolades.

Hard to put down

Like most of Ruth Rendell's novels, this is a highly readable and engrossing book. It starts out as a hearbreaking tale of a mother's love but soon takes an unexpected course that involves kidnapping and murder. The story revolves around three seemingly unrelated characters whose circumstances become intermingled, unbeknownst to them, and the pleasure of the book comes from the reader knowing what they don't know. It is highly entertaining and most recommended for readers who enjoy psychological suspense.

Ruth Rendell's Most Fascinating Book

Probably my favorite Ruth Rendell novel (and I've read and enjoyed them all. Except for "Road Rage", which I found tedious. But that is definitely the exception to the rule!) Benet, a successful novelist and single mother, is enduring a visit from her mentally ill mother, Mopsa, when her little son takes ill and dies. Her mother, Mopsa, decides to go out and find another little boy for Benet to raise, and kidnaps a child. Benet at first is deceived by her mother into thinking that the child is the son of a friend of theirs, and that they are babysitting for a few days; eventually, Mopsa admits what she has done, but adds that the little boy had been neglected and was sitting alone on a curb, menaced by a dog, when she took him. Benet, watching news reports, learns that the child comes from an impoverished, neglectful background and, when bathing him, finds his body has been burned by cigarettes. Initially resentful and repulsed by the little boy (she originally describes him as "the ugliest child she had ever seen"), Benet finds herself beginning to love him. I don't want to reveal anymore! There are many, many twists and turns in this tale. Any reader with Ruth Rendell's work (or that of her pseudonym, Barbara Vine) knows that plausibility isn't her strongest suit--but surprises are. Her characters (in all of her novels) are some of the best-written and most believable in the mystery genre. Read this book! You won't be able to put it down.