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Title: The Tree of Hands

Author: Ruth Rendell

Narrator: Isla Blair

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-27-10

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From the writer of the Wexford novels and read by Isla Blair. Once, when Benet was about fourteen, they had been in a train together, alone in the carriage, and Mopsa had tried to stab her with a carving knife. Threatened her with it, rather. Benet had been wondering why her mother had brought such a large handbag with her, a red one that didnt go with the clothes she was wearing. Mopsa had shouted and laughed and said wild things and then she had put the knife back in her bag. But Benet had been very frightened by then. She lost her head and pulled the emergency handle that Mopsa had called the communication cord. The train stopped and there had been trouble for everyone involved and her father had been angry and grimly sad.

Members Reviews:

A moving, suspenseful examination of mother-love...and more

Let me start by saying that I love Ruth Rendell and her alter, Barbara Vine. I have read a number of her books with great interest. This is the one I love most. It is not a typical Rendell novel, but it is still interesting and moving. It examines mother-child relationships in several forms, from unbalanced older mom to grieving mom to uncaring mom. I have read it twice and plan to read it yet again and probably again.

Ingenios resolution of complicated plot

Every time I finish a Ruth Rendell book, I swear I'm not going to read another. Her villains really get under my skin and take up residence in my mind. Then one of my subscription services offered a few of her titles at a low price, and I found myself seduced into buying them. I'm glad I did because I found out that that they aren't all straightforward murder mysteries, but they all show her wonderful ability to craft unforgettable characters.

Chief among them is a woman whose young son dies in hospital. Her mad mother kidnaps a replacement child, and the woman cannot force herself to return him. The second character is the boyfriend of the missing child's mother, who is suspected of killing him. Third is a former boyfriend of the child's mother, who is planning his greatest theft and getaway.

By the end of the book, Rendell has wrapped up all three of the stories in this most intricately plotted ending that is still satisfying. Now that I realize that Ms Rendell can write a book without unbalanced killers, I am more willing to take a chance on her. Especially at $1.99 each.

A Masterpiece by The Grand Dame of British Mystery.

This book could be seen as dark and frightening; it could be seen as strange, with the criminal element of kidnapping at its heart. But this is the most stirring, impressive, and heart-rendering offering by Ruth Rendell--one of her best books ever!

After the book is read and done, the scene in the library still comes to my mind. She's going to abandon the stolen little boy; she's going to leave him in the library where he will be found and properly dealt with. After all, she doesn't love him - he's hardly a reasonable substitute for her own little boy. And then a thought of realization flashes in her head: "Why, I couldn't live without him now."

A solid story that will please the reader, presented in Ruth Rendell's perfect prose.