Grasshopper

by Barbara Vine

‘Brilliantly on edge from start to finish...haunting, thrilling and original.’ Literary Review
Blamed by her parents for the tragic death of a friend, Clodagh has been banished from their home in the countryside to a dingy basement flat and a meaningless existence in the city. Then she meets the inhabitants of the top floor of 15 Russia Road. Charismatic Silver, brutal Jonny, paranoid Liv and exotic Wim range across a London of roofs, eaves, and ledges, unseen by the ordinary inhabitants, thrilling in the freedom and danger. Clodagh, haunted for two years by the accident on the pylon, finds that running the roofs with these fascinating misfits brings her back to life, but it seems that tragedy and misfortune may not be done with her yet...

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Suspense, British Literature, Contemporary

536 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Pseudonym of Ruth Rendell.

Rendell created a third strand of writing with the publication of A Dark Adapted Eye under her pseudonym Barbara Vine in 1986. Books such as King Solomon's Carpet, A Fatal Inversion and Anna's Book (original UK title Asta's Book) inhabit the same territory as her psychological crime novels while they further develop themes of family misunderstandings and the side effects of secrets kept and crimes done. Rendell is famous for her elegant prose and sharp insights into the human mind, as well as her ability to create cogent plots and characters. Rendell has also injected the social changes of the last 40 years into her work, bringing awareness to such issues as domestic violence and the change in the status of women.

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect. I didn’t think I would find another Vine novel I loved as much as The Brimstone Wedding, but perhaps this is even better? Like Brimstone it has the distinctive narrative voice, like A Fatal Inversion it’s about a group of young people living together in a sort of bohemian arrangement. After her involvement in a horrible accident, 19-year-old Clodagh is sent to live in London with a distant relative and his brassy soap-actress wife. Soon she meets Silver, a boy her age who lives nearby with an assortment of waifs and strays. She joins in with their risky hobby – exploring the city by crossing its roofs – and is eventually drawn into a bizarre, illegal scheme. It’s all set in a version of London that seems lost to history even though the book was published in 2000. Is it a crime novel? I have felt with most of the Barbara Vine books I’ve read that they’re labelled as crime or thrillers simply because Vine/Rendell is primarily known as a crime writer. Grasshopper has crimes in it, sure – quite a few. But in my opinion, it’s more of a coming-of-age story, and far more character- than plot-focused.

There are things I found frustrating about it. Clodagh and Silver’s laissez-faire attitude to Jonny’s violence is hard to stomach; Clodagh’s descriptions of Wim are a bit tone-deaf, with too much exoticisation; the bit of tension generated when Clodagh meets Liv in the present day feels truly half-hearted on Vine’s part. But I adored the book as a whole. There’s just something about the way a book like this feels to me, like it contains its own world, like it has nostalgia built in – and in terms of that effect, I’d actually say its closest analogue is Jo Walton’s speculative Bildungsroman Among Others. Vine articulates Clodagh’s development beautifully: she grows up before our eyes; we’re not just told about her maturation, it’s threaded through every aspect of her character. And the ending made me cry.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not really enjoy this melodramatic story about Clodagh Brown. It is told the n a flashback style where she is waiting for her husband to return. She is
scarred and traumatized by a climbing accident on a pylon that killed her boyfriend Daniel Fleetwood. Coupled with that she is claustrophobic.

She leaves home to stay with an unpleasant relative, Max and his wife Selina in their separate basement flat in Maida Vale a posh area in London. Here she is supposed to study business and psychology at a polytechnic. Instead she meets Silver. He has his parents top floor flat at 15 Russia Road. He has living with him or visiting a group of misfits who share a love of climbing London’s roofs.

There is Wim, a gifted climber and lover of chocolate. Liv, an agoraphobic Swedish runaway who is fixated on £2000 she stole from people she was working for and in a weird relationship with Jonny a burglar and sociopath with a nasty violent streak.

They all get involved with helping a couple to escape to Australia with their foster child who the authorities will not let them adopt. Overall the story is well written if a bit far fetched with all the coincidences. Not sure if I like this Ruth Rendell incarnation as Barbara Vine. I prefer her crime novels.

[Barb H · Rating 3 out of 5]

As is usually my custom, I will not write a synopsis of this book. It is easily found elsewhere. To classify this book as a mystery, is somewhat of a misnomer, but there are some elements which suit this label. Briefly, the title, Grasshopper refers to the pylons, the structures which support the electric wires in an area. Early in the narrative the main character, Clodagh,as a young teen and her friends found their excitement in climbing these frameworks. As she grew older, she moved to London, where she and a group of aimless individuals spent much time climbing the rooftops of the areas around them.

I have read several Rendell/Vine novels and have always felt admiration for her astute ability to pinpoint the large and small foibles of human behavior. Her writing is clear, beautifully descriptive and generally involves some suspense. This was a rather long, meandering book, which generally held my interest, but it lacked much of the tension and appeal that I have found in others. My rating of 3 stars denotes, of course, that I liked it.

[Kasey Jueds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when it first came out, and had forgotten how amazing it is: smart and moving and mysterious and strange in the best possible way. I suppose it is a mystery, but only in the quirky way that all Barbara Vine's books are mysteries--not traditional, but deeply compelling. This one involves claustrophobia, adoption, love, electricity, the architecture of London, roof-walking, kidnapping, betrayal... and the plot is so bizarre, in some ways, that describing it would make it sound completely unbelievable, and awful as well. But Barbara Vine's genius (well, one aspect of it) involves throwing all those things into the mix and making it seem true and real and geniunely moving. I particularly love the two main characters in this book, who are young and vulnerable and trying hard to figure things out. And I love the way that, even on the level of individual sentences, there's beauty here, and so much intelligence, so much tender attention to the world: pretty unusual qualities in a mystery--really, unusual in a book of any genre.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book by this author, and it's already on my favorite authors shelf. Really enjoyed it. Terrific characterization and I love her psychological insights. I fell in love with the protagonist right away and had to learn more about her. The story shifts from present to the past and there is so much foreshadowing that just tantalizes you all the way through. She even leaves a few questions in your mind that are never resolved. I really enjoyed it and I only dock a star because I felt the plot was a bit farfetched at times. Just a bit too neat here and there. But I've already checked out other books and audiobooks by this author, and I'm glad she has quite a long book list.

Re the audio performance by Jenny Sterlin: I really loved it, but I do like my audiobooks a bit on the slow side. She is a wonderful reader and does the different voices convincingly and IMO uses pauses effectively. Her reading made a really fine book that much better. I'm looking forward to From Doon With Death, which is Ruth Rendell's first installment in the Inspector Wexford series. Not sure why she used a pseudonym and I do find it interesting that both authors' names are probably equally well-known. I was sucked in from the start with Doon, and I think the audio will be enjoyable for that one as well. Different reader, but he made a good first impression.

[Kirsty Darbyshire]

This seemed a much lengthier read than the actual 400 and something page count would have me believe. It might be that picking it up and putting it down for about three months isn't the best way to read it but it did seem to drag. Altogether too much foreshadowing of the 'if only I'd known then what I know now' type which rather than heightening the suspense leads you to not be surprised by many of the events in the book.

I'm making it sound like I hated it which I didn't. It was a much more interesting, more unputdownable, book in the last hundred pages than it was in the lead up and I enjoyed seeing all the various threads intertwine and play out. Just too much set up for not enough pay off in the end though.

The main spinal theme of the books is scaling heights but the recurring theme of relationships, especially those between parents and children, is more absorbing on the whole. The thing about heights gets your attention but I felt it diverted me from the real matter of the story. Clodagh Brown is the narrator telling the story about eleven years after the events happen when she was 19, mainly when her and her friends lived in Maida Vale and took to gallavanting around the local rooftops. I think it's the looking back narration style that really annoyed me; since she's looking back she can hide things from the reader but it didn't feel artfully enough done. I don't mind being able to guess the ending but there seemed to be too little that I couldn't guess at here.

I love many of Barbara Vine's books but other are just 'eh?' for me. This was one of the second type.

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anyone seeing my praise and high ratings for other Vine novels will no doubt be surprised at this book's two-star rating - quite simply, it's my least favorite Vine, period. I was not enamored of it when I first read it upon publication (which involved putting it down and picking it up again several times over the course of at least a couple of months), and I remain so to this day - although I did finally get through GRASSHOPPER, it's the only Vine novel that has defeated me on attempts to re-read it, and I've tried twice (getting halfway through on one attempt).

Why attempt to re-read a book I didn't like the first time? Because with Vine I've found that sometimes a book that didn't quite get me the first time is much more satisfying the second time around - this was the case with KING SOLOMON'S CARPET, for instance.

But, alas, there is nothing in GRASSHOPPER for me to like - not plot, not characters, not situations, other than the fact that it's by Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine - otherwise it wouldn't even get its two-star status.

But, considering that this is (for me) the only out-and-out disappointment in an output that comprises some 58 novels (with a 59th on the way), that's saying a lot for the quality of Ruth Rendell's work.

[Theryn Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grasshopper was, I think, less dark than other Barbara Vines I've read, perhaps because it was clear from the outset that the ending would be a (mostly) happy one. The ending doesn't tie up all the loose ends, though, which is good. It definitely kept me turning the pages and, when I got to the last page, I experienced that little pang of sadness that you do when you've become attached to the characters in a book and you have to let them go. That kind of surprised me because none of the characters were particularly likable. But I suppose that was precisely it; their unpleasant qualities made them seem like real human beings and I got used to them being around.

[Cameron Trost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps I've come to expect too much from the legendary Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine, but despite a great premise and characters, this story rumbled along very slowly and lost momentum completely far too often. It would have worked better at half the length and with more focus. 2.5 stars.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opening with a secret and a compelling (and unexplained) claustraphobia... sounds like a great start, but unfortuneatly for me, it never really progressed from there.

My main problem with this book was I really disliked the heroine, whom I presume we were supposed to empathise and sympathise with. After she is blamed by her parents for the death of her friend in a 'climbing a pylon' accident -pylons being the grasshoppers of the title - Clodagh goes to London, where she gets her kicks climbing on rooftops and hanging around with the odd folk that Vine enjoys creating. Their exploits include attempted murder, robbery, agoraphobia, suicide and child abduction...

However, Clodagh herself never seems to get any personality of her own, her only interesting element is relating what is going on around her.

Well-written, but essentially dull and soon to be forgotten.

[R.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author outdid herself with this one. I know as Ruth Rendell she writes serious suspense with a twist of murder mystery. As Barbara Vine she writes what are often complex character studies wrapped up in story. Sometimes it doesn't work as well as this one. This one is outstanding. The girl in Grasshopper loves heights but not being underground. So her first flat is a basement one, while she is in college in London. The people she gets involved with, soon after moving to London, love to climb along the roofs of Terrace homes and attached buildings in London. It reminded me of my "wildling" days pushing over dead trees in the woods with my pals. The story delves deeply into the reasons a young man was killed near her when she was a teenager, and what happens when something similar happens later. The ending is great, though I suspected lots earlier what it would be. Recommended.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure if I have ever read anything else by Barbara Vine or Ruth Rendell but the name was familiar so I took this home from the book give-away table. It was a pretty good story. However, I thought it dragged a bit in the middle. This feeling was aggravated by the almost constant foreshadowing. It seemed like every other chapter ended with something like "I would have felt differently about all this if I knew what was to happen in the next" 2 days, 7 weeks, several months etc. etc. If I see another book by her in either of her names I will probably pick it up but I won't go out of my way looking for them.

[Pat Evans · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have all of Barbara Vine's previous novels on my bookshelf and retread them periodically. Normally I am pleasantly creeped out by Vine's work but not this one. Mi found it plodding. Too much run up and foreshadowing and not a strong enough resolution. Back to the drawing board Barbara/Ruth!

[Jayne Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Of all the plotless, self-indulgent, meandering, drag-as-many-outlandish-character-names-in-as-possible books I have read by Barbara Vine, I think this is the very worst

[David]

Narrator Clodagh has been through a lot. Before the narrative even properly begins, she's been part of a violent death scenario. Her life is unusual. She spends a lot of time on rooftops. Gradually, disparate threads of the narrative begin to unite until everything is somehow related to everything else. Nothing in the world of Barbara Vine is ever 100% one way or another. So this one has a happy ending, except one of the most vile and despicable characters gets away with pretty much everything. I've seen the description "the queen of unease" applied to the author and it seems fair. There is very little 'settling' in the course of this novel, but there are lots of good friendships, several acts of generosity, and some genuine love. What more do we want? What we want is for it all to be perfect and we want the bad guys to be punished to the max for their not-niceness! What Barbara Vine achieves here is a more reasonable realism, with interlaced rewards and disappointments. And such is life.

[D. D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good Barbara Vine story and if she hasn't helped you falling in love with London reading one of her books before, she'll practically force you to love it with this one! It's a love story but so much more than that. I guessed from the start who the protagonist ended up with but I won't let you know. It's a nice surprise and the book ends on a happy note. Highly recommended as all her books are.

[Evelyn Pecht · Rating 2 out of 5]

Expected more from Vine. Just couldn't get into this book.

[Outi Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lajityypissään erinomainen!

[Julie Tridle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like other Barbara Vine novels I've read (I've never read any of her Ruth Rendell books) this one isn't paced like a crime novel. Crimes happen in the novel, often in the periphery of the main action of the story, but the book, itself, is about a core group of young people and their eventual evolution into adulthood. It's a frustrating book filled with frustrating characters who expect you to care about some frustratingly asinine things. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to reach through the page and throttle the people this book forced me to hang out with page after page after page. Young people bitching about situations they fought and lied to stay in. There's a lot of (clumsy) foreshadowing and build-up to incidents that really, truly don't matter one iota. But, a small part of me liked the book anyway. In fact, that part of me liked the book BECAUSE these people were so damn frustrating. They're flawed characters. Flawed, young characters. Realistically drawn flawed, young characters-- who drove me absolutely nuts.

As for things I didn't like so much, the clumsy, heavily used foreshadowing. There was a lot of it, like she didn't trust the readers to keep reading on their own (and it seems from many of the other reviews, many readers didn't anyway.) I'm also not sure why Vine chose to begin the book showing how it ends. We get to see two of the main characters of the book grown up and doing well from the get-go, which, to me, took away a lot of the tension the book could have had.

There were some interesting aspects to the book. The kidnapping story-line kept my attention. And, as I've said before, I did sort of like seeing the main characters mature and grow as the book progressed. I liked the way Vine wrote humans instead of villains and victims. But, in the end, if I'm totally honest, I thought the book was a two-star"okay' and not much more.

[Hilary G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never really understood what criteria Ruth Rendell applies when deciding whether to publish a book as a Rendell or a Vine. I could understand if all the Wexford novels were one and everything else another, but this isn't so. I am particularly confused now I have listened to Talking to Strange Men (Rendell) and Grasshopper (Vine) as they are so remarkably similar. Both tell a long and complex tale about an unusual group of people (what a quirky universe Rendell inhabits) where even the most seemingly discrete facts or events turn out to be connected. There is at least as much coincidence in Rendell/Vine's writing as in Dickens, possibly more!

This novel was read by Emilia Fox, who has a pleasant voice that never becomes irritating, though I held my breath a bit when she attempted an Irish accent (it was passable, I think). It is an absorbing story, though I am not sure that people like this really exist, still this is fiction. The story has a very sixties feel, though I can't remember whether the time period was ever stated (probably it was). The story is told by one character which means we may not be hearing an entirely rounded version of events, but it works OK. There were things I did not think worked OK, though. Firstly, Clodagh kept presaging events in a sort of "little did we know..." way, which became tiresome and irritating. Secondly, and more importantly, this was presented as a sort of coming of age story, but I would say the characters were years too old for that. Clodagh tells us earnestly that they didn't know any better because they were SO YOUNG and didn't understand things because they were SO YOUNG and in the climactic scene, one of the firemen said "It's a couple of kids," yet I believe these characters were 20ish. I could see why the author had to make them that old, but I thought it made a nonsense of some of the claims to callow youth. On the plus side, Ruth Rendell is a competent and intelligent writer and her characters and their motivations are always interesting. I like the way she takes so much trouble with all her characters, even more minor ones. Her books are not so much about what happened (you can tell from early on in this book that there are going to be some tragic events but aren't sure till the end what really happens)but why they happened, what character traits, history, circumstances, motivations, coincidences contributed to the events. I was surprised by Clodagh's statement near the end that we might not have suspected who her husband was as I think it was always obvious. I have, in fact, been mulling over whether it would have been a better or worse (or perhaps just different)novel if he had turned out to be someone else. This author is also not afraid to leave loose ends, the stories of Liv and Wim, and Johnny to some extent, are unfinished. I don't dislike this, it reminds me of a family tree, where research into one branch comes to a halt because records did not survive, or the father of an illegitimate child was not recorded. Another thing that I think Ruth Rendell and Barbara Vine have in common is that almost none of the characters are very likeable and I didn't feel any particular sympathy with any character in this story, except perhaps Jason. I suppose it is a compliment to Ruth Rendell aka Barbara Vine that she can generate so much interest in people you don't particularly like or empathise with.

[Rachel Holierhoek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since this was the first Barbara Vine novel I've read I had a hard time deciding if her awkward sentence structure throughout the novel was supposed to reflect the youthful narrator's country dialect or if she's just a bad writer. Nonetheless this was rather distracting throughout the entire novel -- quite confusing at times. I couldn't puzzle out exactly what it was she was trying to say. Whether this is owing to my own ignorance of British idiomatic phrasing or a result of poor editing, I cannot say. I enjoyed the story but the terribly crafted sentences and often insensible syntax nearly made me stop reading this book. Also, the narrator jumps around in time so much it is frustrating for the reader. Often when resuming I'd have to read back several pages to figure out exactly where in time the narrator is and where she'll be returning once she's taken yet another detour. I wouldn't recommend it. Pity, too, because this could have been a great book.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I loved Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell writing as), based on my total love of the book No Night is Too Long. Unfortunately, this book is nowhere near as good. It has some great situations -- teenage girl blamed for the death of her boyfriend after he climbs a pylon and is electrocuted, motley group of young people climb roofs and discover the hiding place of an abducted child -- but it's pretty draggy throughout, until the ending, which it earned from me its third star. I still think Rendell is an amazing writer, and you can see hints of that in this book, but I think it's too sluggish to appeal to most people.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this is the first Vine (Rendell) book I've given up on. I checked that I read it but didn't really get past the first few chapters. The main character is an interesting one but the detailed descriptions of her avoiding tunnels, the underground, as well as her beloved pylons are frankly mind-numbingly boring, at least for me. I usually gobble up a Vine book within days. Just couldn't go on with this one.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader]

I tried, I tried hard. the main character and situation seemed ok, but it failed to hold my interest because it just seemed so bland and banal. I find it hard to believe that the author liked or was involved in the story. I certainly wasn't and I quit after about seven chapters because I was so bored with it that I just could not keep going.

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gifted writer-- this is a book with a strong start as far as the writing style and the overall character development. Then the narrative starts spinning its wheels. The central mysteries of the book keep being hinted at but never explained-- it takes forever and a day just to get to the point. Really becomes tedious 2/3 of the way through. Overall would not recommend.

[Shyla Strathman · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this in couples' book group. I would never have picked it up. In fact, it was not chosen the first month we voted; it won in a future month when a different person proposed it. Guess it was meant to be! Unique story and good discussion book.

[Jennifer Novak · Rating 1 out of 5]

My first DNF. This book is a bore...completely uninteresting. I tried but most of the story is told by the main character, very little dialogue and the story isn’t much of a story at all. Couldn’t take it anymore. I hate to drop out of a book but this one bored me to tears.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. Boring. Deadly Boring. Ruth Rendell (AKA Barbara Vine) usually writes a good mystery. She rights the Adam Dalgeish series which, while not earth shattering, are good entertainment. Apparently she adopted the Barbara Vine moniker for her series that looks deeply into psychological issues, and usually are crime related. I've read some other Barbara Vine books, and they were OK. This one just had no appeal for me. A young woman, a bit of daredevil, witnesses the death of her teenage boyfriend while they are engaged in a dangerous activity. Other than being a pretty normal risk taking teen, she does nothing wrong. The novel seems to be trying to watch her put her life back together after this horrible accident. Her parents could be in a Peanuts holiday special, they are non-existent, and just seem to wish she'd disappear. The story is told from the point of view of the now adult girl, reflecting back on her life. That removes any element of tension. Readers are well aware everything turns out OK for her. She just happens to be offered the free use of an apartment by wealthy relatives in London. She just happens to live next to a independently wealthy young man who seems to be some version of the Dali Lama - he lets everyone live for free in his place, no questions asked - so a ready made group of oddball friends is available to her. Only none of these people are interesting. They seem a cookie cutter batch of oddballs she culled from sitcom TV. Pouty girl, criminal guy, deep thinking ethnic guy. In fact, I felt a little uncomfortable with her description of some of these drifter neighbors. One of them is repeatedly described as a young Yul Brenner type. A big deal is made of his skin tone. I kept asking myself if it was racist. As far as I got, he was always positively described, but his appearance was a huge issue. Perhaps there was a valid reason for that, and I just gave up before it was revealed. I made it a little less than 200 pages (about 1/2) when realized I was forcing my self to pick it up and read another ten pages. I put it down for good.

[Tububa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry to say but this was tedious. It's my first Barbara Vine, though I've read plenty of Ruth Rendell. I was expecting a mystery, and instead I got a tepid coming-of-age story whose elements seemed to be the outcome of a mad libs exercise. Our main protagonist is a claustrophobic female electrician, you see, and she enjoys roof climbing with her boyfriend named Silver. To heighten the drama, there are a few additional characters. The most memorable of these is the agoraphobic, mendacious Swedish au pair Liv. She's prone to thievery, avaricious, and--horror of horrors--does not wash her hair very often. She has a couple of boyfriends, a pint-sized nightmare named Johnny and a Dutch thrill seeker Wim. There are also other subplots, most prominent of them being the couple who are in hiding from social services, who won't let them adopt a child who does not match their race. The male member of the couple, Andrew, is also fairly well drawn, although he seemed familiar to me from Rendell's other writing. He is a boor of a man who is ungrateful and overbearing, and also avaricious.

The book goes on for far too long. I listened to it as an audiobook, and the narration had a soporific quality that did not help things at all. The reader, Jenny Sterlin, sounds considerably older than the character needs to be: at the narrative time, she's maybe in her 40s, while the narrator sounds like she's in her 70s. I also found her faux Swedish accent terrible.

[Tom Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a little let down by the ending, mostly because I thought it wasn't dark enough. It's also maybe a tad too long. Just a little bit. But the writing is so strong and it's complex and has depth. Ruth Rendell spent a lot of time writing procedural Inspector Wexford books, but when she decided to write as Barbara Vine, it really was a cut above. I wouldn't describe Grasshopper as a thriller, mostly because it spends so much time developing its central character and taking its time. It's a slow-moving but immersive psychological study. The electricity pylon scene is the first of many expertly written scenes that just might make you ask: "what's wrong with these people?" The book slowly moves from what you think it will be about to what it is actually about. Rendell/Vine explores a lot: risk taking and its psychological origins, phobias, savior complexes, the class system, and the book is expansive enough to not feel overstuffed. Really it's a coming-of-age novel, and the plot is secondary (in a good way) to the exploration of its characters and themes. And it's so well written. She could really write a wonderful sounding sentence. It was a completely immersive book and I'm sad it's over.