Tigerlily's Orchids
A stand-alone novel published by Hutchinson in 2010
Ruth Rendell’s novels of London amount to a modern cultural history of the city — a fictional urban archaeology of Holland Park in the hippie-chick era, redbrick terraces before and after the attentions of the “property ladder”.
When Stuart Font decides to throw a housewarming party in his new flat, he invites all the people in his building. After some deliberation, he even includes the unpleasant caretaker and his wife.
There are a few other genuine friends on the list, but he definitely does not want to include his girlfriend, Claudia, as that might involve asking her husband. The party will be one everyone remembers. But not for the right reasons.
Notes
Valentin Valentin: a 2015 film adaptation directed by Pascal Thomas.
Ruth Rendell Discusses Sherlock Holmes.
Ruth Rendell talks to Victoria Lane about her long life as a writer, growing up with warring parents and being a working Labour peer.
My favourite author is Iris Murdoch. I find her books exciting and unputdownable. Her characters are so carefully studied and in-depth; I love that.
—Ruth Rendell 2The Fiction of Ruth Rendell: Ancient Tragedy and The Modern Family.
Ruth Rendell presents the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the Family Holiday Association.
Rendell has always excelled at underscoring the grim violence that lurks on the fringes of everyday life, a path she trail-blazed long before other mystery writers. It’s hard to think of another writer in the genre doing this sort of thing so well, and none does it better.
Contemporary Reads 4
- Arnaldur Indriðason - Strange Shores
- Aminatta Forna - The Memory of Love
- Peter James - Dead Like You
- Rosamund Lupton - Sister
- Louise Doughty - Whatever You Love
- Neil MacGregor - A History of the World in 100 Objects
Footnotes
The Independent 2010 ↩︎
One Minute With Ruth Rendell. Independent 2010. ↩︎
The Washington Post 2011 ↩︎
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