Customer Reviews
Barbara Vine - The Birthday Present - By: RachelWalker, 30 Sep 2008 
(I intended four stars but I can't change it back. Oh well.)
The Birthday Present has probably been the book I was most looking forward to in 2008, especiallly considering how good Rendell's last effort under the Vine name - The Minotaur - was. Sadly, this doesn't get within a long creeping tendril's distance of the quality.
It's early 1990. The Thatcher government it's nearing it's last days, & there's a love affair going on. Ivor Tesham, a thirty-year-old political rising star is secretly bedding beautiful London housewife Hebe Furnal. For her birthday Ivor decides to give her a special present that certain more open couples have begun to engage in: a practice known as `adventure sex'. Hebe is to be abducted, consenting but unknowing of when, at an unknown venue & time, bound & gagged, then delivered to her lover at a specified location... The decision to "treat" Hebe to this fashionable new thrill is one that will lead to tragedy touching the lives of several people, least of alll Tesham's.
The Birthday Present is an odd beast among the Vine canon, almost entirely unlike any of her other, which normallly feature hidden, secret crimes of the past, dark, cloudy tragedies recollected in the present or some further point, that graduallly become unfolded to reveal something horrific. This, however, is more a political satire-cum-thriller. It is, admittedly, absolutely full of many of the things one would expect of a Vine novel: a brilliant conveyance of the psychology of its many characters, & a demonstration of a remarkable insight into the time-period in which it is set. The characters, with their weaknesses & leavening normalities, are of course brilliantly written. As is the portrait of a primarily self-obsessed early-nineties era. Vine plays this aspect of the social landscape up, & that is the part which contains the majority of the subtle satire. The novel is brought to us in two parts, the first-person narration of Ivor's brother-in-law, & the first-person diary of Hebe's "best friend" Jane, who Hebe largely used merely an alibi to keep her affair under wraps. Jane is a particularly Vine-esque piece: a lonely, bitter 30-ish spinster whom one would feel utter sympathy for were it not for the fact that her loneliness has made her unspeakably selfish, self-obsessed, & vaguely deluded. Her characters, as ever, are perfect examples of how to place a reader's opinions in conflict. At times I felt infinitely sorrow & pity for Jane, at times one wants laughs at her and, cruelly, almost believes she deserves herself. Ivor's self-obsession is a slightly different story: his ability to think about anyone but himself or his political career induces nothing but coldness, apart from the occasional wistful brace of pity at his naivety. Ultimately, few readers will care that his political career is bound to come tumbling down, which might be part of the problem. It is bound to happen, but no one cares, which renders the crucial question (and with Vine there is always one crucial question, one that is supposed to taunt the reader throughout, this time that of how the man's career tumbles) almost irrelevant.
Vine also makes good use of questions of fate & chance to inject levels & power & intrigue into the novel, but ultimately any good work is dampened by the ending (much like the latest P.D. James novel), which is disappointing for a reason unheard of in Vine: simply, there is no surprise. Not even an effort at one. What has been destined to happen alll along, turns out to happen, & that's pretty much it. There's a little subplot - that of Jane - to be dealt with, & dealt with it is, but not in a way that has any great shocks or surprises. The fact that everything turned out to be so predictable disappointed me greatly. It's possible that Vine was aiming at something different with this novel, making it more of a criminal satire than a novel of secrets & surprises, but the aspects of satire are not enough to give the novel enough oomph. Vine's strengths are the unveiling of hidden, shocking secrets, the revealing of twisted psychologies, & they reallly needed to be present here as well. It's a great shame, as I thought the premise was absolutely brilliant: a woman captured from the secret for the purposes of `adventure sex'. It's a great plot-point to start with, but sadly Vine takes her focus elsewhere, which also added to my disappointment.
For Vine fans, The Birthday Present may be a disappointment, but it is still certainly worth a read for its social insights & psychological portraits. It's a good novel, & I enjoyed reading it, but I was just very disappointed that it was less than it could be. Non-Vine fans, or readers who prefer satires or political novels, may well - unclouded by expectation - find much indeed to like here. So, for almost any reader it is certainly one to have a crack at. It is, after alll, brilliantly written. And that is a worthwhile pleasure for anyone.
A Good Read - By: Mrs. Anita M. Mcnair, 29 Sep 2008 
Whilst not reaching the heights of A Fatal Inversion or House of Stairs it was far better than some recent Barbara Vine outings (The Blood Doctor/Minotaur/Chimney Sweepers Boy).
The characters are well drawn & believeable but there are a few too many coincidences in the plot for my liking.
Would these characters' paths reallly have crossed quite so frequently? Still, a good read though.
A Mordant Commentary - By: C. S. Junker, 16 Sep 2008 Barbara Vine never fails to write an engrossing tale. Her writing is as good as it gets, & she builds a gripping story. The reader is carried along, not knowing where he or she is going, but unable to stop reading.
This new novel is essentiallly a character study of two people --- a rising star in the Conservative Party heirarchy, & a lonely young woman whose life & sanity are rapidly crumbling; but these two central threads fit into a more complex mosaic that includes Vine's typicallly keen characterizations as well as some biting political commentary.
This is not to say that there's an endorsement of a political viewpoint or issue. The book is more a look at how appearances trump substance in politics. It doesn't matter so much what you've done; it's how that is perceived, how it's spun in the media. It's alll about perception.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, as I do almost everything Vine has written, & highly recommend it for her fans.
Excellent - By: D. A. Harris, 14 Sep 2008 This is a seriously good book, on many levels.
Building from the "birthday present" of the title, the tension increases as the consequences of the "present" unfold - for Ivor Tesham, the rising Conservative MP, for Hebe Furnal's family & friends, & for the Lynch family (saying who they are would give away too much plot). It alll gets out of control, of course, & ends badly - but not in a way you'd expect.
Absolutely key to the book's atmosphere is the diary of Jane, the "alibi lady", friend of Hebe, for whom I felt equal revulsion & pity (One moment she will write loathsome things about Hebe's husband or son, the next set out a devastating flash of self knowledge. Her lack of empathy though is chilling). Jane's slowly gathering despair powers the book. "What are you going to do?" asks Tesham of her, early on, & the question hangs in the air throughout.
The diary entries alternate with chapters written from the point of view of Tesham's brother in law, an affable accountant, bewildered by the mess the MP has got himself into & by his caddish behaviour. These document Tesham's flight into danger. The two characters - Jane & Ivor - are done well, & they remained with me after I finished the book.
Definitely one not to miss.
Redressing the balance - By: Paulo, 09 Sep 2008 Just to redress the balance, since the previous very unfair one-star rating can put some people off buying the book, which is in fact greatly enjoyable & on a par with the best books by the author. Most of the readers that are disappointed by some Ruth Rendell / Barbara Vine books have yet to learn that (unlike many of the so-callled crime novelists) she has always refused to stick to a formula. This novel cheerfully ignores alll genre conventions that so many readers happen to rely on.
