The Girl Next Door (Rendell novel)

The Girl Next Door is a novel by British crime writer Ruth Rendell published in 2014. It was the last of her novels published in her lifetime.^[1]

Plot and characters

During World War II, a group of children in Loughton, Essex, United Kingdom play in tunnels (in reality, the foundations of an uncompleted house) they discovered under a hill. In the present day they are re-united after the discovery of two hands in a tin box when the tunnels are dug up for construction work.^[2] The novel deals frankly with changes and interrelationships of the characters and social changes generally, over seven decades.

Critical reception

In a review in The Observer, it was noted that instead of focusing on the crime, the novel dealt with the lives of the now elderly people in the present.^[3]

References

1. Jake Kerridge (2 May 2015). "The best of Ruth Rendell: 10 to read, watch and listen to". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group). Retrieved 9 July 2015.
2. Jane Jakeman (7 August 2014). "The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell, book review: Author's latest mystery doesn't shy away from uncomfortable subject matter". The Independent. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
3. Hazelton, Claire (14 September 2014). "The Girl Next Door review – Ruth Rendell's acute investigation of old age". The Observer (Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 26 September 2015.