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A Judgement in Stone
 
 

A Judgement in Stone (Paperback)

by Ruth Rendell (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New Ed edition (21 April 1994)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099171406
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099171409
  • Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.8 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 72,151 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #13 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > R > Rendell, Ruth

Product Description

The Times
A classic

Synopsis
Four members of the Coverdale family died in the space of 15 minutes on St Valentine's Day. Eunice Parchman, the housekeeper, shot them down on that Sunday evening while they were watching opera on television, and was arrested two weeks later. But the tragedy neither began nor ended there.

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (13)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Judgement in Stone, Ruth Rendell, 23 Jun 2004
By RachelWalker "RachelW" (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
A Judgement in Stone is Rendell's masterpiece (well, along with one or two others). It is popular opinion among her fans, and it is also true. I have never read a better book on the class division in England; any books that deal with probing the minds of the mad are written only by Rendell herself.

"Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write", is its famous first line, and a brilliant one it is too. The crime writer Henning Mankell has said that it is his ambition to write a crime novel where, from the beginning, the reader knows exactly what is going to happen, but continues to read the rest of the book for a desperate need to find out more details such as why and how. In time, Mankell may well achieve that, but with A Judgement in Stone Rendell already has.

Despite that the reader knows what's going to happen, there is more compulsion to turn the pages even than in a normal detective story. The psychological insights and the gradual movements towards the foreshadowed events are absolutely gripping - this novel is possibly Rendell's most focused depiction of a mind driven to madness, mad actions, despite not being inherently "mad".

It's also told in a wonderful style. A retrospective one, looking back on events as if you are being told a story by a person in the room with you. It's almost delivered as a true-crime case study, a proper scientific rendering of murder.

It is truly superb. Only Rendell could write a novel where the psychoses of an illiterate lead to catastrophic murder. The writing is brilliant, the description of colliding classes is inspiring and very well-done indeed. Tension and suspension fill the pages until the very last, as the two women (Eunice and her friend Joan, follow down this terrible path.) How did it happen? What exactly set it off? Why? All questions the reader desperately wants to know. Also particularly chilling is the way that, throughout the book, the characters have so many opportunities to escape their fate, but they never take. There is always a possibility for escape, but we know they don't take it. Rendell snatches it away before long in any case.

An excellent book. It's only 200 pages, but it says so very much about people and society that it'd be easy to re-read it as soon as you finish it the first time.

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Judgement in Stone, Ruth Rendell, 24 Jun 2004
By RachelWalker "RachelW" (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
A Judgement in Stone is Rendell's masterpiece (well, along with one or two others). It is popular opinion among her fans, and it is also true. I have never read a better book on the class division in England; any books that deal with probing the minds of the mad are written only by Rendell herself.

"Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write", is its famous first line, and a brilliant one it is too. The crime writer Henning Mankell has said that it is his ambition to write a crime novel where, from the beginning, the reader knows exactly what is going to happen, but continues to read the rest of the book for a desperate need to find out more details such as why and how. In time, Mankell may well achieve that, but with A Judgement in Stone Rendell already has.

Despite that the reader knows what's going to happen, there is more compulsion to turn the pages even than in a normal detective story. The psychological insights and the gradual movements towards the foreshadowed events are absolutely gripping - this novel is possibly Rendell's most focused depiction of a mind driven to madness, mad actions, despite not being inherently "mad".

It's also told in a wonderful style. A retrospective one, looking back on events as if you are being told a story by a person in the room with you. It's almost delivered as a true-crime case study, a proper scientific rendering of murder.

It is truly superb. Only Rendell could write a novel where the psychoses of an illiterate lead to catastrophic murder. The writing is brilliant, the description of colliding classes is inspiring and very well-done indeed. Tension and suspension fill the pages until the very last, as the two women (Eunice and her friend Joan, follow down this terrible path.) How did it happen? What exactly set it off? Why? All questions the reader desperately wants to know. Also particularly chilling is the way that, throughout the book, the characters have so many opportunities to escape their fate, but they never take. There is always a possibility for escape, but we know they don't take it. Rendell snatches it away before long in any case.

An excellent book. It's only 200 pages, but it says so very much about people and society that it'd be easy to re-read it as soon as you finish it the first time.

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A BRILLIANT STUDY OF THE SOCIO-PATHIC MIND..., 6 Sep 2003
By Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)   
This is one of Ruth Rendell's earlier works and, perhaps, one of her best. More of a novella, rather than a full fledged novel, by virtue of its brevity, it is absolutely brilliant, well-written, and gripping from the get go. Ms. Rendell captures the reader with her first sentence, "Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write."

This is a descriptive and insightful literary stunner about how an illiterate, middle aged women gets to the point that she wipes out a family one fateful evening. The book takes the reader, step by step, through the events that lead up to this crossroad. It explores the mind of Eunice Parchman, a woman so limited in her world view and so robotic in her actions that she is almost repellent. The reader marvels at her very existence and is sure to find her fascinating character study.

Ms. Parchman's interactions with the well educated Coverdale family, who employs her as a housekeeper, are intriguing and always interesting, as she struggles to keep her illiteracy a secret. How Ms. Parchman circumvents its discovery for as long as does, the lengths to which she goes to maintain a facade of literacy, and her socially inappropriate responses to every day situations, paint an intriguing psychological portrait for the reader. The eventual discovery of her illiteracy results in a ghastly outcome, which makes for some gripping and chilling reading.

Ms. Rendell is masterful in her storytelling, infusing mundane situations with an understated horror that is all the more chilling because of the common denominator that strikes a chord with the reader. Written is well-nuanced, taut, spare style, this book is a literary gem that will keep the reader riveted to its pages. Bravo!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Judgement in Stone
Fantastic psychological thriller with a cast of real characters caught in tragedy. Honest, powerful and gripping, Rendell handles the characters with care. Recommended.
Published 14 months ago by Rich

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, gripping read
My first read of a Ruth Rendell book, having previously read most of Susan Hill's novels. I loved it. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Nandina

5.0 out of 5 stars We Know Whodunnit!
I've always hated mystery novels where I have to guess who the killer is, and I can't resist cheating by reading the last few pages. Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars "A stone that breathed was Eunice, as she had always been"
"A judgement in stone" is the story of a crime, and the reasons behind it. All that happens is in direct relation to a secret, Eunice Parchman's secret. Read more
Published on 29 April 2005 by Bel Alcat

5.0 out of 5 stars A Judement in Stone, Ruth Rendell
A Judgement in Stone is Rendell's masterpiece (well, along with one or two others). It is popular opinion among her fans, and it is also true. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2004 by RachelWalker

5.0 out of 5 stars A BRILLIANT STUDY OF THE SOCIOPATHIC MIND...
This is one of Ruth Rendell's earlier works and, perhaps, one of her best. More of a novella, rather than a full fledged novel, by virtue of its brevity, it is absolutely... Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2003 by Lawyeraau

5.0 out of 5 stars a well-written tragic though humorous crime-novel
ruth rendell has surpassed herself in this crime novel:
we know the murderer and we are told the end at the beginning. Read more
Published on 25 Oct 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Rendell thrills, chills, kills again!
In what "The London Times" calls a "classic," Ruth Rendell (probably better known as the creator of the immensely popular Inspector Wexford series) has certainly created an... Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Un-putdownable, slick and superbly written!
This is one of the best Ruth Rendell books I've read. She deals with so many themes here; illiteracy, religion, family life and the dark side of human nature, all tightly wound up... Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars RENDELLS CHARACTERS ALWAYS GET THEIR JUST REWARDS .
This is an early rendelll book and it shows. .I recently watched the french movie made from this book. it was true to the story. it reminded me of king soloman's carpet. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2000

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