The Scapegoat (Virago Modern Classics)

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The story follows John, who tries his best to live his doppelgänger's life without making too many missteps or being discovered as a fraud. Chock-a-block full of symbolism, this is a very well thought out plot but I think the less said the better. She used these impressions and experiences, drawing on them to create an atmospheric, dramatic suspense novel, set in France. I had never heard of this book (originally published in 1957) BUT SEE BELOW …until several months ago it got a favorable review from a GR friend.

There’s so much more to this author than just her masterpiece, Rebecca, and you would be missing out if you didn’t immerse yourself in every last bit she had to offer – I know I will!

Exploring the derelict buildings, she saw fragments of the glass they had made, still there, scattered by the wind. After a night of drinking, he finds himself having to take on the identity of this man, an earl caught in financial and domestic trouble. So John steps into the Frenchman's shoes, and faces a variety of perplexing roles, as owner of a chateau, director of a failing business, head of a fractious family, and master of nothing.

At an early age, she recognised that her readership was comprised principally of women, and she cultivated their loyal following through several decades by embodying their desires and dreams in her novels and short stories.In this post WWII setting, the three generations live in genteel poverty amid bitterness and a failing glass factory. In brief, it’s the story of a disaffected Englishman and an aristocratic Frenchman who meet by an accidental encounter and are at once struck by how much they resemble one another. Two men—one English, the other French—meet by chance in a provincial railway station and are astounded that they are so much alike that they could easily pass for each other. This is one of the best books I've read this year - it is definitely the best fiction that is not a reread.