Featured Reading Guide
Ruth Rendell
‘Adam and Eve and Pinch Me went down to the river to batheAdam and Eve were drowned. Who was saved?‘This old nursery rhyme is a favourite of Jerry Leach (if that is the name he is using at the time), a handsome ne’er do well, who sponges off women. Five women, unknown to each other, are his willing victims. One he even married once and abandoned, while promising to marry another. But, with the cruel irony he would be the first to recognize in that nursery rhyme, Jerry, almost accidentally, becomes the victim of one of his female prey. ‘Minty Knox sees ghosts. And because this is Rendell territory…
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Ruth Rendell has won many awards for her writing, including the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger for 1976’s best crime novel with A Demon in My View , a Gold Dagger award for Live Flesh in 1986, the 1990 Sunday Times Literary award, and the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger. In 1996 she was awarded a CBE and in 1997 became a Life Peer.
topAbout the Book
‘Adam and Eve and Pinch Me went down to the river to batheAdam and Eve were drowned. Who was saved?‘This old nursery rhyme is a favourite of Jerry Leach (if that is the name he is using at the time), a handsome ne’er do well, who sponges off women. Five women, unknown to each other, are his willing victims. One he even married once and abandoned, while promising to marry another. But, with the cruel irony he would be the first to recognize in that nursery rhyme, Jerry, almost accidentally, becomes the victim of one of his female prey. ‘Minty Knox sees ghosts. And because this is Rendell territory, we know this will not be a supernatural thriller but rather an exploration of what happens when personal delusions collide with reality-With her usual deft touch, Ruth Rendell pulls the strands of her story together, weaving a taut and terrifying narrative which reminds us that nothing we do is without consequence, nor are those consequences ever within our control.’ Val McDermid, Daily Express
topRuth Rendell interview/review
www.prairieden.com – 25-03-99
“I am interested in why people do apparently incongruous things, or things that seem out of character. And I’m very interested in fear. I don’t mean the kind of gothic fear of being alone in a churchyard, I mean a social fear, fear not of physical violence, but of mental or spiritual violence.
A lot of the books are set in suburbia, and those which are not would have to be set in central London or the country – because these are places I know and I really can’t write without setting something firmly somewhere. The grounds in A Fatal Inversion are my own, but the house is not. Kingsmarkham, where the Wexfords are set, was originally Midhurst in Sussex – which I knew vaguely as a child. But now TVS has made it in Romsey in Hampshire, and that suits it nicely.
I tend to have a bit of an idea. Then I begin to construct my characters and put them in family relationships. That’s very important to me. I can’t write about people who don’t have parents and grandparents. Houses are also very important. I use two dictionaries of names then I put people together and watch it developing. I tell it to myself. With the Wexfords, I work the whole story out then change the murderer in the last chapter. Then, of course, they need a lot of rewriting. But if I can deceive myself, I can deceive the readers.”
topStarting Points for Discussion
- Adam and Eve and Pinch Me could be described as a classic whodunnit or a psychological thriller, whilst also having supernatural elements. How well do you think Rendell combines these different strands?
- None of the characters in the book are very likeable, do you think this is a deliberate device to make the reader more sympathetic towards Minty, despite her being the murderer?
- Rendell uses the Paddington train crash in an extremely interesting way in the novel. How effective is it to introduce real life events into works of fiction?
- Ruth Rendell has been referred to as the queen of crime and her books are extremely popular. What do you think lies beneath the enduring appeal of the crime novel?
- Jerry/Jock is a lying, amoral sponger who manages to keep conning women into falling for him. Why are the female characters such willing victims? Is Jerry irresistible or are the women incredibly gullible?
- Various characters in the book have deep psychological problems – Minty is an obsessive compulsive and Michelle and Matthew have severe eating disorders. Are damaged people more interesting to read about or is Rendell perhaps suggesting these kinds of problems are more prevalent than we like to admit?
Other Books by Ruth Rendell
A Demon In My View
Her white face, beautiful, unmarked by any flaw of skin or feature, stared …
A Guilty Thing Surprised
A Judgement In Stone
A New Lease Of Death
It s impossible to forget the violent bludgeoning to death of an elderly lady…
A Sight For Sore Eyes
In traditional fairytales the handsome prince rescues the beautiful princess…
Suggested Further Reading
- Blindsighted ~ Karin Slaughter
- A Kind of Wild Justice ~ Hilary Bonner
- Déjà Dead ~ Kathy Reichs
- A Place of Execution ~ Val McDermid
- The Shape of Snakes ~ Minette Walters