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The Girl Next Door: A Novel Audiobook
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Publisher Description
In this psychologically explosive story from “one of the most remarkable novelists of her generation” (People), the discovery of bones in a tin box sends shockwaves across a group of long-time friends.
In the waning months of the second World War, a group of children discover an earthen tunnel in their neighborhood outside London. Throughout the summer of 1944—until one father forbids it—the subterranean space becomes their “secret garden,” where the friends play games and tell stories.
Six decades later, beneath a house on the same land, construction workers uncover a tin box containing two skeletal hands, one male and one female. As the discovery makes national news, the friends come together once again, to recall their days in the tunnel for the detective investigating the case. Is the truth buried among these aging friends and their memories?
This impromptu reunion causes long-simmering feelings to bubble to the surface. Alan, stuck in a passionless marriage, begins flirting with Daphne, a glamorous widow. Michael considers contacting his estranged father, who sent Michael to live with an aunt after his mother vanished in 1944. Lewis begins remembering details about his Uncle James, an army private who once accompanied the children into the tunnels, and who later disappeared.
In The Girl Next Door Rendell brilliantly shatters the assumptions about age, showing that the choices people make—and the emotions behind them—remain as potent in late life as they were in youth.
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“Rendell’s sociopath proves to beneither the centerpiece of this mystery nor of Ric Jerrom’s narration.Nonetheless, Jerrom’s portrayal of Rendell’s narcissistic killer is indeedchilling, but the greater challenge—and his best portrait—is that of primRosemary, who stumbles from complacency into her own murderous state as theseemingly rock-solid footing of her life pitches unexpectedly. Ostensibly, themystery is that of sixty-year-old double murder. But the greater questions areposed by senior citizens who wonder: ‘How did I come to this point in my life,and is this how it continues until the (no longer distant) end?’ Jerrom’sthoughtful narration gets us convincingly inside their minds.”
— AudioFile
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“Refined, probing, and intelligent….The book is never less than a pleasure.”
— USA Today -
“Grim, grotesque and yet strangely beautiful…Rendell makes clever work of a split time frame to transport her characters from the past to the present and back again. But her best, most idiosyncratic study is her portrait of the villain of the piece, a wicked man in his youth and an absolute devil in his dotage, determined to live to be 100 out of pure spite.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“[Rendell] has always been at her heart-stopping best when she pushes the reader out of the comfort zone with her stand-alone psychological thrillers…The Girl Next Door is vintage Rendell and a perfect celebration of her half-century…This novel reminded me of the singularity of Ruth Rendell’s talent, her effortless mastery of language, and her uncanny genius for mapping a criminal mind.”
— Times (London) -
“This book is extraordinarily courageous, a demonstration that fiction can take us where reportage dares not go.”
— Independent (London) -
“What I love about the prolific Rendell is her adherence to the elegant traditions of British mysteries without ignoring modern life.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune -
“The characters jump off the page. The page-to-page surprises are so clever that the reader is left agape at each twist and turn. The pieces fit together brilliantly.”
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -
“[Rendell] creates another riveting story with her sharp characterizations and keen sense of irony that will keep readers engaged from start to finish. Fans of psychological suspense, along with Rendell’s loyal following, will love this complex story.”
— Library Journal (starred review) -
“Using her customary spare yet decorous style and measured pace, Rendell, now in her 80s, beautifully and carefully individualizes each member of her ensemble cast, at the same time creating not a grim reminder of mortality but a picture of moribund lives renewed. A special book by a special writer.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“In this assured novel of psychological suspense from Diamond Dagger Award–winner Rendell, a gruesome discovery jolts a group of friends and acquaintances who grew up outside London during WWII…Rendell keeps the plot and the home fires burning.”
— Publishers Weekly
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About Ruth Rendell
Ruth Rendell (1930–2015) wrote more than sixty novels in a career spanning fifty years. She won numerous awards for her writing, including three Edgars—the highest accolade from Mystery Writers of America—as well as four Gold Daggers and a Diamond Dagger for outstanding contribution to the genre from England’s prestigious Crime Writer’s Association. She was also the winner of the MWA Grand Master Award. A longtime member of the House of Lords, she lived in London.
About Ric Jerrom
Ric Jerrom is an actor, writer, and—occasionally—director. He has also narrated audiobooks in genres from classics to romantic fiction to mystery and suspense, winning three AudioFile Earphones Awards and placing as a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award. He has written plays, film scripts, short stories, poetry, and journalism. He has performed in many radio plays, sundry theaters, and internationally for the Natural Theatre Company of Bath.