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Summary and Reviews of The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld

The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld

The Interpretation of Murder

A Novel

by Jed Rubenfeld
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (7):
  • Readers' Rating (4):
  • First Published:
  • Sep 5, 2006, 384 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jun 2007, 450 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

In this ingenious, suspenseful historical thriller, Sigmund Freud is drawn into the mind of a sadistic killer who is savagely attacking Manhattan’s wealthiest heiresses

Inspired by Sigmund Freud’s only visit to America, The Interpretation of Murder is an intricate tale of murder and the mind’s most dangerous mysteries. It unfurls on a sweltering August evening in 1909 as Freud disembarks from the steamship George Washington, accompanied by Carl Jung, his rival and protégé. Across town, in an opulent apartment high above the city, a stunning young woman is found dangling from a chandelier—whipped, mutilated, and strangled. The next day, a second beauty—a rebellious heiress who scorns both high society and her less adventurous parents—barely escapes the killer. Yet Nora Acton, suffering from hysteria, can recall nothing of her attack. Asked to help her, Dr. Stratham Younger, America’s most committed Freudian analyst, calls in his idol, the Master himself, to guide him through the challenges of analyzing this high-spirited young woman whose family past has been as complicated as his own.

The Interpretation of Murder leads readers from the salons of Gramercy Park, through secret passages, to Chinatown—even far below the currents of the East River where laborers are building the Manhattan Bridge. As Freud fends off a mysterious conspiracy to destroy him, Younger is drawn into an equally thrilling adventure that takes him deep into the subterfuges of the human mind.

Richly satisfying, elegantly crafted, The Interpretation of Murder marks the debut of a brilliant, spectacularly entertaining new storyteller.


In 2007 The Interpretation of Murder won the prestigious Best Read of the Year award from Richard and Judy's Bookclub in the UK (comparable to Oprah Winfrey in the USA).

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Reviews

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The Dante Club meets the sexual manipulations of Les Liaisons dangereuses in this intelligent historical, first novel...continued

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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).

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Beyond the Book



Background

The Interpretation of Murder is inspired by the real-life mystery surrounding Freud's one and only visit to America in 1909 when he came to deliver lectures at Clark University. The trip appeared to be a tremendous success and Freud was portrayed glowingly in newspapers. However, he returned to Europe referring to Americans as "savages" and "primitives" and blaming America for his breakdown in health, even though he had been sick well before visiting the USA.

Although many of Freud's theories have been rejected, his memory, and some of his methods, ...

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