31 October 2014

The Water's Lovely - Ruth Rendell

I have been a slow reader, despite knowing I have forty two more books to finish before the year ends. I know it is not possible to do it. But if I stop now, I won't cross 12.

Ruth Rendell's The Water's Lovely is a crime fiction novel, focusing more on the psychological aspects of the crime, on the perpetrator and the victims. I had never heard of Ruth Rendell before, and I discovered her via Book and Borrow, my online library.

I liked the book. I can't say I loved it - the writing is very good, but book is too long. On second thoughts, the meandering story is probably intended to be so, as to delve into the minds of the characters - what they do and why they do so.

The story is about two sisters, Heather and Ismay, whose stepfather was killed thirteen years ago, supposedly by one of them. Now that Heather is getting married and settling down, Ismay has to figure out if she ought to speak about the crime that happened thirteen years ago.
There are many characters (Beatrix the mother, Pamela the aunt, Irene the mother in law, Marion the caretaker, Edmund the honest lover, Andrew the boyfriend, etc) and almost all the characters have been explored and developed, with the exception of the mother who has lost her mental balance after the death of her husband and other minor characters. It is almost funny how everyone is out to deceive/manipulate/exploit the other.

I may borrow her books again, but I will need enough patience to go on till the last page.