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Innocent Blood |
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 Innocent Blood byP. D. James Random House (Vintage Canada) 384 pages, June 2000 ISBN 0676972284 Reviewed by Maria Y. Lima Mention P.D. James and many things come to mind - mysteries, Inspector Dalgliesh, Cordelia Gray. But the one thing that most readers remember about P.D. James is the carefully crafted, intense and compelling nature of her novels. Innocent Blood features the story of Phillippa Palfrey, adopted at a young age by ever-so-proper parents, and 18 years old when the book begins. Feeling the need for love and affection, emotions she sadly lacks from her legal guardians, she decides to search for the identity of her biological parents, a move made possible by the Children Act of 1975. Half excited, half afraid, she requests the information. Imagining that she is the illegitimate daughter of a maid from a respectable home - in the manner of the typical romantic gothic novel - conceived perhaps of an ill-fated love affair between said maid and a member of the aristocracy, Phillippa anxiously awaits the news. After receiving her original birth certificate, she tries to track down her parents, only to find that they were brutal killers, convicted in the rape/murder of a 12-year-old girl a scant 10 years before. Learning that her father died in prison, and that her mother Mary Ducton will soon be released on parole, Phillippa decides to let a flat for two months and invite Mary to live with her. But unknown to her, there is much more happening that she has yet to learn - things that may change her life forever. A recent re-release of a 1980 favorite, Innocent Blood could easily take over a reader's waking moments. With a multi-layered plot that thrills from beginning to end, James ekes out the suspense quietly and calmly, deceptively involving the reader until one is hooked and can't stop reading. Characterizations are complete and relentless, ruthlessly laying open the emotional wounds and hidden pasts of the players. Magnificently crafted and splendidly suspenseful, Innocent Blood lays proof that excellent writing is timeless. |
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