I picked this up from my bookshelves as a gentle remedy to struggling with Graham Greene’s existential questionings in ‘The end of the affair.’ It proved to be a very good choice.
I haven’t read Ruth Rendell for a long time and I had forgotten what an accomplished, confident writer she is. I particularly enjoyed this story for a couple of reasons. It is set in London and my goodness it is like being taken on a walking tour of the place. Fascinating. Also I really like the characters she has created in Reg Wexford and his wife Dora. They are so real and believable. It is a skill to make the reader care about an invented character and this author has it in bucket loads. You are with Reg and Dora in their fright and fear when their daughter is attacked. You feel as they do when she behaves, in their view, badly and, you completely understand their inward sigh of relief when they eventually get their home back to themselves.
Ruth Rendell writes about the over use of cliches and comments on the active and passive voice. Was she an English teacher in a previous life I wonder?! She also quotes WH Auden and this resonated with me as it has happened in other novels I have read recently. Sarah Moss quotes him in ‘Names for the Sea’ (she is an English teacher!) and Alexander McCall Smith cites him with great frequency and happily admits to loving his work.
This is an easy read, accessible and with humour. I might pick up another one from the same shelf very soon.