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The Fig Eater

A Novel

By Jody Shields

(5)

| Paperback | 9780316785266

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Book Description

Vienna, 1910. A hot August night. An eighteen-year-old girl named Dora (loosely inspired by Freuds famous patient) is found brutally murdered in the Volksgarten park. The crime is being investigated by the Inspector, newly schooled in rationalist criminology. Meanwhile, his Hungarian wife, Erszbet, Continue

Vienna, 1910. A hot August night. An eighteen-year-old girl named Dora (loosely inspired by Freuds famous patient) is found brutally murdered in the Volksgarten park. The crime is being investigated by the Inspector, newly schooled in rationalist criminology. Meanwhile, his Hungarian wife, Erszbet, driven by Gypsy superstition, and a teenage English governess become obsessed with the murder. They are certain the figs found in Doras stomach during the autopsy are the clue to the identity of the murdererfor there are no fresh figs in Vienna at this time of year. The book is rich with detail about Vienna and Gypsy folklore and filled with descriptions of food, photography, botany, perverse medical practices, and sexual secrets. The detective work is based on an actual turn-of-the-century manual of criminology. Jody Shields is the former design editor of The New York Times Magazine and a former editor at Vogue, House and Garden, and Details. She is the author of two nonfiction fashion books: All That Glitters and A Stylish History.

Critics

  • First novels

    Ask publishers what they are looking for right now and they'll shout "big books!" No longer hungry for the angst-ridden confessional, editors are ravenous for swingeing historical plots, preferably set in exotic locations. Douglas Galbraith's The Ris ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

  • A choice of first fiction

    THE BEACH ROAD by Sarah Diamond Orion, £9.99, pp. 228 A WHORE IN THE KITCHEN by Amanda Coe Virago, £6.99, pp. 213 CURFEW AND OTHER STORIES by Sean O'Reilly Faber, £9.99, pp. 174 When the body of a young woman is found lying in her blood in a Viennese ... (read full critics)

    spectator published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

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Book Details

  • Rating:
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  • English Books
  • Paperback 368 Pages
  • ISBN-10: 0316785261
  • ISBN-13: 9780316785266
  • Publisher: Back Bay Books
  • Pub date: Mar 06, 2001
  • Dimensions: 1355 mm x 903 mm x 129 mm Just how big is that?
  • Also available as: Hardcover, Audio Cassette and Unbound
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9780316785266 Paperback $13.99 $11.96 bn.com
$13.99 $11.39 The Book Depository
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