Ruth Rendell, Asta's Book

Susan A. Rowland

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kerry Myler (Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1993

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Crime and Detective
Novel

Resources

Written by Ruth Rendell under the nom-de-plume of Barbara Vine, the story of Asta’s Book opens in 1905, when a Danish family arrives in London and the lonely young mother, Asta, begins a diary. After Asta’s death more than sixty years later, her daughter Swanny discovers a huge pile of diaries which, since they are written in Danish, she can barely read. Fascinated by their contents, the widowed Swanny begins a new life as their editor and translator. Once published, Asta’s Book becomes a sensation, a phenomenal bestseller. However only her close family know the real reason for Swanny’s obsession with her mother’s diaries. For all their apparent eloquence and detailed chronicling of daily life, …

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1443 words

Citation: Rowland, Susan A.. "Asta's Book". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 June 2005 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16822, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Save this article