Ruth Rendell is my favourite author, and the titles she wrote under the pseudonym Barbara Vine are my pick of her prolific output.
I own every single one of these 14 titles, as you can see in the main picture. But in recent years I’ve contemplated picking them up on Kindle as well, for easier travel re-reading and research.
I looked into the prices last year and resisted, since most were $16.99 or more on Amazon. But I was pleasantly surprised on checking again this week to find that most of them are currently available for $7.99 each. At that price, I couldn’t say no.
However, there were two exceptions. For no obvious reason, The House Of Stairs is still $14.99. Oh well. It’s in the top tier of Vine titles, so I’ll cough up.
Even more confusingly, it seems that Gallowglass, the 1990 Vine with a kidnapping-in-Italy theme, is just not available on Kindle at all. My paperback copy is well-worn, and I could use a digital replacement.
There’s no obvious reason that Gallowglass should be missing. It’s one of the better-known Vines, from arguably Rendell’s most visible period. Indeed, it was adapted as a TV series in 1993.
But it’s nowhere to be found on Amazon – at least in English. A little further digging reveals the German translation, Liebesbeweise, is available for $16.82.
But my German reading skills are non-existent, alas. So I guess there will be a gap on my digital Vine shelf – at least until someone at Penguin fixes it.
Leave a Reply