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The Devil's Music
It is 1958 and five-year old Andy has a new sister, Elaine, who his father describes as ‘not quite all there.’ While his parents argue whether or not to send her away, Andy sleeps beside her cot every night and watches as his mother withdraws into sadness. So begins this deeply moving and profoundly affecting story of the ties that bind mothers and children.
This debut novel by Jane Rusbridge is a story of family secrets and betrayal, involving knots, Harry Houdini and the shifting landscape of memory.
This debut novel by Jane Rusbridge is a story of family secrets and betrayal, involving knots, Harry Houdini and the shifting landscape of memory.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2009
10 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
About the author
Jane Rusbridge
5 books97 followersJane Rusbridge lives and works in coastal West Sussex.
Her debut novel, The Devil's Music (Bloomsbury, 2009)was nominated for the 2011 International IMPAC Literary Award.
'An unputdownable and beautifuly written novel' Tania Hershman
Read the reviews:
http://www.janerusbridge.co.uk/reviews/
Her second novel, ROOK (Aug 2012)is one of 9 launch titles from Bloomsbury's exciting new literary imprint, Bloomsbury Circus.
‘Rusbridge's sympathetic and respectful handling of a sensitive issue conveys an emotional impact that resonates long after the closing pages’ Times Literary Supplement
‘the Anglo-Saxon material is genuinely fascinating and the writing itself is really fine – often lush and ambitiously poetic, but always controlled' Daily Mail
'intense, atmospheric, and beautifully written' Joanna Briscoe
Her debut novel, The Devil's Music (Bloomsbury, 2009)was nominated for the 2011 International IMPAC Literary Award.
'An unputdownable and beautifuly written novel' Tania Hershman
Read the reviews:
http://www.janerusbridge.co.uk/reviews/
Her second novel, ROOK (Aug 2012)is one of 9 launch titles from Bloomsbury's exciting new literary imprint, Bloomsbury Circus.
‘Rusbridge's sympathetic and respectful handling of a sensitive issue conveys an emotional impact that resonates long after the closing pages’ Times Literary Supplement
‘the Anglo-Saxon material is genuinely fascinating and the writing itself is really fine – often lush and ambitiously poetic, but always controlled' Daily Mail
'intense, atmospheric, and beautifully written' Joanna Briscoe
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 27, 2011
I read this book straight through, in a few hours, because this is the best way to read, I find, especially when drawn in by beautiful writing and compelling voices. This is told in the present and the past, by characters at different times and from different points of view, and it weaves together perfectly, telling you just enough so that you have to keep reading but leaving just the right amount unsaid. The voices of both children and adults are utterly authentic and Rusbrudge succeeds in painting no one person as saint or villain but in creating a heartbreaking portrait of family dysfunction, tragedy, misunderstanding and confusion but one that leaves you unexpectedly and thankfully hopeful. A wonderful first novel, I look forward to her next book!
April 15, 2011
This is a beautifully written book. It's very intense and the author really gets into the heads of her main characters so you feel all their pain. There are lots of loose ends and unanswered questions so probably not a book to read if you like things neat and tidy and finished; but here it works well, giving the story depth and realism and drawing you in.
I look forward to reading more from Jane!
I look forward to reading more from Jane!
August 13, 2011
The Devil’s Music is the debut novel by Jane Rusbridge.
A story set in the late 1950′s. A family have to come to terms with a Daughter that is “not quite all there” according to the Father. The Mother is lonely and sinks deep into despair until she finds hope in a young painter who comes to decorate the family house. Andy the Son, has the distraction of his shared love of knots with his Grandfather.
Everything changes one day at the beach when Andy is left in charge of his baby sister. He soon realises that “not all treasures can be kept safe forever”. 30 years later, can the now Andrew, return to these places and face his past?
Jane was written a very gripping story packed full of the pain of family secrets and tragic scenes. The story changes between the past and the present but all weaves together beautifully to a perfect conclusion through 5 parts. Written from the perspective of the child in places that pulls at your heart as you read what they think they see. Strong characters that some you can neither love nor hate with a wonderful bond between Andy and his Grampy.
A wonderfully written, deeply moving 1st novel Jane. Thank you so much for sending it to me to read. x
Jane’s second novel Rook will be published by Bloomsbury in July 2012. You can follow Jane on twitter @JaneRusbridge or read more information on her website http://www.janerusbridge.co.uk/ .
A story set in the late 1950′s. A family have to come to terms with a Daughter that is “not quite all there” according to the Father. The Mother is lonely and sinks deep into despair until she finds hope in a young painter who comes to decorate the family house. Andy the Son, has the distraction of his shared love of knots with his Grandfather.
Everything changes one day at the beach when Andy is left in charge of his baby sister. He soon realises that “not all treasures can be kept safe forever”. 30 years later, can the now Andrew, return to these places and face his past?
Jane was written a very gripping story packed full of the pain of family secrets and tragic scenes. The story changes between the past and the present but all weaves together beautifully to a perfect conclusion through 5 parts. Written from the perspective of the child in places that pulls at your heart as you read what they think they see. Strong characters that some you can neither love nor hate with a wonderful bond between Andy and his Grampy.
A wonderfully written, deeply moving 1st novel Jane. Thank you so much for sending it to me to read. x
Jane’s second novel Rook will be published by Bloomsbury in July 2012. You can follow Jane on twitter @JaneRusbridge or read more information on her website http://www.janerusbridge.co.uk/ .
May 26, 2011
The Devil's Music is a novel about love laid bare; painful, irresistible, believable love in all its forms. The intensity of this novel will force you to keep reading even when you dread finding out what happens next. I cried through the final 30 pages and I know that at some point in the future I will have to read it all over again.
December 23, 2011
Hypnotic writing, tensely woven & straining like muscle or like the knots the main character, Andrew, fashions, this is a beautifully-written debut novel and I'm very much looking forward to reading more from this author.
January 10, 2019
this is a good book which takes the reader into a different place.I highly recommend this book for everyone.
August 20, 2010
Since there is no storyline info here this is from the cover:
It is 1958 and the Sputnik satellite has taken a dog up into space; back on earth, five-year-old Andy has a new sister, Elaine – a baby who, his father insists, is ‘not quite all there’. While his parents argue over whether or not to send Elaine away, Andy sleeps beside her cot each night, keeping guard and watching as his mother – once an ambitious, energetic nurse – twists away into her private, suffocating sadness.
Knots keep treasures safe, Andy’s rope-maker grandfather tells him, and, as he listens to stories of the great Harry Houdini, Andy learns the Carrick Bend, the Midshipman’s Hitch and the Monkey’s Fist. Then a young painter, hired to decorate the family’s house, seems to call Andy’s mother back from the grief in which she is lost. But one day, at The Siding – the old railway carriage that serves as the family’s seaside retreat – Andy is left in charge of his baby sister on a wind-chopped beach, where he discovers that not all treasures can be kept safe for ever.
Three decades later Andrew returns from self-imposed exile to The Siding, the place where his life first unravelled. Looking back on the broken strands of his childhood, he tries, at last, to weave them together, aided by his grandfather’s copy of The Ashley Book of Knots and the arrival of a wild-haired, tango-dancing sculptor – a woman with her own ideas about making peace with the past.
Okay my review. I really liked this book, the prose reminded me a great deal of Monica Wood's writing - which I adore. I love how the author expects alot from her readers. She gives us the story in three narratives that can change on one page - this could frustrate some readers but I lapped it up! The most interesting story for me was certainly that of the mother, Helen. I also enjoyed Andy as a boy but as an adult I just found him to be a self-indulgent, insensitive pain in the butt. There is an interesting little twist at the end regarding some of the family where I was stunned as I had completely assumed something else had gone on.
A really enjoyable read for me, challenging and mysterious with beautiful stark prose.
It is 1958 and the Sputnik satellite has taken a dog up into space; back on earth, five-year-old Andy has a new sister, Elaine – a baby who, his father insists, is ‘not quite all there’. While his parents argue over whether or not to send Elaine away, Andy sleeps beside her cot each night, keeping guard and watching as his mother – once an ambitious, energetic nurse – twists away into her private, suffocating sadness.
Knots keep treasures safe, Andy’s rope-maker grandfather tells him, and, as he listens to stories of the great Harry Houdini, Andy learns the Carrick Bend, the Midshipman’s Hitch and the Monkey’s Fist. Then a young painter, hired to decorate the family’s house, seems to call Andy’s mother back from the grief in which she is lost. But one day, at The Siding – the old railway carriage that serves as the family’s seaside retreat – Andy is left in charge of his baby sister on a wind-chopped beach, where he discovers that not all treasures can be kept safe for ever.
Three decades later Andrew returns from self-imposed exile to The Siding, the place where his life first unravelled. Looking back on the broken strands of his childhood, he tries, at last, to weave them together, aided by his grandfather’s copy of The Ashley Book of Knots and the arrival of a wild-haired, tango-dancing sculptor – a woman with her own ideas about making peace with the past.
Okay my review. I really liked this book, the prose reminded me a great deal of Monica Wood's writing - which I adore. I love how the author expects alot from her readers. She gives us the story in three narratives that can change on one page - this could frustrate some readers but I lapped it up! The most interesting story for me was certainly that of the mother, Helen. I also enjoyed Andy as a boy but as an adult I just found him to be a self-indulgent, insensitive pain in the butt. There is an interesting little twist at the end regarding some of the family where I was stunned as I had completely assumed something else had gone on.
A really enjoyable read for me, challenging and mysterious with beautiful stark prose.
August 10, 2013
A family in 1950's Britain who have a daughter, Elaine, who is classed as mentally deficient. Andy the elder brother remembers a tragic accident on a seaside holiday and soon afterwards his mother disappears. The book is narrated by Andy as a child in the first person and also by himself 30 years later as an adult the mother's voice is narrated in the second person. Although I can see the reason why Jane Rusbridge chose this medium to tell her story I found it difficult to truly engage with her emotionally despite the tale she was telling being a tragic one.
I really enjoyed Andy's childhood narration, his fascination with knots and his deep relationship with his `Grampy' were both authentic and touching and his childhood fears were understandable given his father's irascibility. I also loved the front pages with illustrations of the knots that Andy learnt to tie at his grandfather's knee which went hand in hand with his childhood obsession with Houdini.
I didn't like Andy's adult voice though; he has become a wanderer leaving his younger sister to shoulder the burden of his father's death without his support. For me he became an unsympathetic character.
The author raised the stakes with her ending which I thought extremely fitting that certain conclusions are left to the reader to imagine
I really enjoyed Andy's childhood narration, his fascination with knots and his deep relationship with his `Grampy' were both authentic and touching and his childhood fears were understandable given his father's irascibility. I also loved the front pages with illustrations of the knots that Andy learnt to tie at his grandfather's knee which went hand in hand with his childhood obsession with Houdini.
I didn't like Andy's adult voice though; he has become a wanderer leaving his younger sister to shoulder the burden of his father's death without his support. For me he became an unsympathetic character.
The author raised the stakes with her ending which I thought extremely fitting that certain conclusions are left to the reader to imagine
September 5, 2012
At last I have managed to finish this book, which I found a bit strange to read. I do like to enjoy a book that just tells a story and though I don't mind a bit of backwards and forwarding this book did not do it for me.
The story line had such potential - family, 3 children, one of them severley handicapped, one normal?, the other a bit autisic?. I think the father Michael, a doctor, was a bit of a bully but I am not sure - the story did not really let me know, just a couple of paragraphs that showed he may have been? Unhappy mother who suffers depression and falls in love with a younger man and in the end goes off with that younger man and leaves her family behind.
Their father has now died so Susie wants to find her mother and she was left everything. Andrew comes back from Crete to help fix up the old holiday destination The Siding so they can sell it.
It is a backwards and forwards between now and then with both Andrew and his mother Helen telling their story.
There was a surprise towrards the end of the book though which helped explain a little bit. Not my favourite book though, but probably a good choice for book club.
The story line had such potential - family, 3 children, one of them severley handicapped, one normal?, the other a bit autisic?. I think the father Michael, a doctor, was a bit of a bully but I am not sure - the story did not really let me know, just a couple of paragraphs that showed he may have been? Unhappy mother who suffers depression and falls in love with a younger man and in the end goes off with that younger man and leaves her family behind.
Their father has now died so Susie wants to find her mother and she was left everything. Andrew comes back from Crete to help fix up the old holiday destination The Siding so they can sell it.
It is a backwards and forwards between now and then with both Andrew and his mother Helen telling their story.
There was a surprise towrards the end of the book though which helped explain a little bit. Not my favourite book though, but probably a good choice for book club.
December 2, 2012
A complex narrative in three voices, each developed in its own right and alive with feelings of guilt, anger and loss. The three voices are spun together not unlike the metaphor of rope making which entwines the entire story. As ropes and knots, both literally and figuratively, are made or undone, questions of personal sacrifice and making choices are answered or remain suspended swinging from the ceiling. Virginia Woolf's dark sadness never seem far away, as the stories of this family becomes deconstructed in retrospective. As differing perspectives become more aligned, the personal tragedies are increasingly exposed, revealing how they have lived their lives for the past 20 years in misconception or carrying an unnecessary burden they were never equal to. Houdini serves as a red thread, offering moments of escape and funnily enough, small ones of comic or endearing relief.
August 14, 2015
Probably a little less than a five for the occasional confusion - and jarring - of the changes in tense, second person most of all, but nevertheless this is beguiling; one of those novels which had me entranced within the first page and a half, from the writing alone.
Set on the Kent coast, it couldn't in one way fail, but so delicately drawn and individual were the characters, eccentric but so real, and so much the need to find out their story, how, and whether, they survive, what happens to them, that only the need to sleep interrupted my reading of this. (Goodreads dates imply that this is a lie, when in truth I selected it to read next but only began it yesterday evening)
AND ... having re-read Rook I found myself compelled to re-read this, again, almost is one sitting, again entranced. Hope there's another novel due SOON.
Set on the Kent coast, it couldn't in one way fail, but so delicately drawn and individual were the characters, eccentric but so real, and so much the need to find out their story, how, and whether, they survive, what happens to them, that only the need to sleep interrupted my reading of this. (Goodreads dates imply that this is a lie, when in truth I selected it to read next but only began it yesterday evening)
AND ... having re-read Rook I found myself compelled to re-read this, again, almost is one sitting, again entranced. Hope there's another novel due SOON.
August 27, 2014
Andy is a bit of an oddball. He is obsessed with knots, which his grandfather, who was a rope maker, has taught him. Now his father has died, leaving everything to his mother, who disappeared when he was quite young, so he and his sister, Susie, do not know if she is alive or dead. One of the things left is a converted railway carriage by the sea, that they used as a holiday house when they were small. Andy also believes that he was responsible for the death of their severely disabled, younger sister, when he was left in charge of her on the beach one day. This book is about memory, and the unreliability of it, as nothing seems to have been quite as he recalls, as he tries to clean and repair the holiday house so that it can be sold, and develops a relationship with the woman next door. An unusual and satisfying story, beautifully written.
January 19, 2014
Amazing beautiful book which immerses you in swirling family perspectives and multiple timelines. If I hadn't already read about that and tried to fight it I may not have enjoyed it so much but when I relaxed into the flow and tried not to worry too much about facts and timeline it was great.
For me it is about memory and recall and how we understand the world as children. It's about family relationships and about people.
What worries me is that if it was interrogated too thoroughly there would be flaws, so I'm not going to, as I want to keep hold of how wonderful it made me feel. Maybe there are problems with it, it is after all a first novel. But it's still unreservedly recommended.
For me it is about memory and recall and how we understand the world as children. It's about family relationships and about people.
What worries me is that if it was interrogated too thoroughly there would be flaws, so I'm not going to, as I want to keep hold of how wonderful it made me feel. Maybe there are problems with it, it is after all a first novel. But it's still unreservedly recommended.
June 15, 2013
A beautifully written, thoughtful book with wonderful characters and imagery and an unusual way to begin a novel (glossary of knots). I enjoyed the 3 narrative voices and how each of those perspectives came together, exposing the individual tragedies. I liked the rope and knots metaphor that was expertly integrated throughout the story. However, I thought the story had such potential and I wanted it to go further. I also was slightly disappointed that the story - despite the surprising ending - was somewhat open-ended. This was a good and interesting read, a tragic story beautifully crafted but not one of my favourite books.
July 6, 2012
Oh dear. How destructive family secrets can be. Andrew's had a difficult life at the hands of his angry father and grieving and absent mother. He isn't the easiest of characters himself but the peek into his life shows that he deserves some happiness. Will he achieve the closure needed to affect this?
One word springs to mind: lyrical. This tale is so beautifully descriptive and emotional, the characters incredibly complex and believable. I read this twice which is unheard of for me.
One word springs to mind: lyrical. This tale is so beautifully descriptive and emotional, the characters incredibly complex and believable. I read this twice which is unheard of for me.
May 15, 2012
Oh dear. How destructive family secrets can be. Andrew's had a difficult life at the hands of his angry father and grieving and absent mother. He isn't the most easy of characters himself but the peek into his life shows that he deserves some happiness. Will he achieve the closure needed to affect this?
One word springs to mind: lyrical. This tale is so beautifully descriptive and emotional, the characters incredibly complex and believable. I read this twice which is unheard of for me.
One word springs to mind: lyrical. This tale is so beautifully descriptive and emotional, the characters incredibly complex and believable. I read this twice which is unheard of for me.
July 18, 2013
I really enjoyed this book, it was emotionally engaging. I loved the different voices telling the story through the decades, the boy his mother and then later the man. The language and style were excellent. I loved the descriptions of his early home life. An excellent author and a thoughtful beautiful book
May 10, 2009
This was an interesting book that was beautiful written with wonderful imagery that drew the reader in. I did enjoy this book but wanted to go further with the characters to see that they would be ok. I would recommend this book but only if open endings don't leave you slightly frustrated.
December 8, 2017
This is an exquisitely witten novel, I enjoyed every second reading it. Jane Rusbridge is an extremely talented writter evoking characters & places to the perfection. A passionate & beautifully woven story
December 17, 2010
This is classy writing. A cleverly woven trio of narratives, telling a haunting tale that grips from the beginning.
February 27, 2013
Got this on the strength of some good reviews.
Patchy at best. Reasonably interesting premise, occasionally well written but often not.
Patchy at best. Reasonably interesting premise, occasionally well written but often not.
July 1, 2013
I found the book really jumped about a lot, which made it hard to get into, but there's some beautiful writing which makes it worthwhile.
August 28, 2013
I so nearly gave up on this but am so glad I didn't. It took a while to find the flow of the novel, but when it came, it was compelling. Emotional, beautifully descriptive and thought-provoking.
October 15, 2013
Boring and gruesome book. I could never get into it.
August 11, 2014
An interesting book. It seems to break all of the so called rules of writing yet still works. Absorbing and dark, a very good read.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews