The Bridesmaid
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Review
A young man refurbishes suburban homes, lives with his mother and sister, becomes obsessed with a garden nymph statue and then dangerously infatuated with its living lookalike. This relationship is emotional, erotic and vampiric, with him as the victim --Guardian
Every sentence is appallingly, shockingly convincing . . . a memorably harrowing journey through sick and weak minds, written with a skill that makes it relentlessly gripping --The Times
To read her at her best - and The Bridesmaid is perhaps her best book - is like stepping on to a trundling country bus and feeling it turn into a roller coaster --Sunday Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Every sentence is appallingly, shockingly convincing . . . a memorably harrowing journey through sick and weak minds, written with a skill that makes it relentlessly gripping --The Times
To read her at her best - and The Bridesmaid is perhaps her best book - is like stepping on to a trundling country bus and feeling it turn into a roller coaster --Sunday Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Book Description
A young man must prove his devotion to the woman he loves by killing someone
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I believe Ruth Rendell is at her best when she enters the psychological world of her characters especially the murderer and the victims. There are two bridesmaids in this novel one a marble statue called Flora and the other a flesh and blood character called Senta. These two seem to dominate the mind of Philip, a young man who has a phobia about all things violent. This we learn on the first page of this book when there is a news item on television of a young woman missing and her death seems to be assumed. You have to be in the mood for this type of tale but the rewards are great as long as you aren't too squeamish.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read this about 10 years ago when I found a copy going for a few pence in a charity shop, and I was glued to its pages throughout. I've read it again very recently, and I was even more impressed on this second reading. This is Ruth Rendell at her very, VERY best, and believe me, that's unbeatable! Philip Wardman is a decent, but somewhat priggish young man, afraid of violence in any form, and who gets ridiculously upset when he finds out that his widowed mother is sleeping with her boyfriend. At his sister's wedding he meets one of her bridesmaids, Senta Pelham, a beautiful, unusual young woman, who to say the least, is a tad eccentric.
Over the course of a long hot summer Philip becomes more and more obsessed with Senta, who has a habit of coming out with things like "our first evening together should be sacred", and claiming he is the soul-mate she has been looking for since the dawn of time, normally the sort of thing which would have most young men heading for the hills at a rate of knots! Then Senta decrees that to prove their love for one another, they should each commit murder. It is clear to anyone, even Philip, that Senta isn't quite the full picnic, but he is too smitten and obsessed to back off. There are more twists and turns in this than a corkscrew, and the ending is quite horrifying and gruesome to say the least.
I sometimes feel that no one today writes about London so evocatively as Ruth Rendell, and in "The Bridesmaid" we get some startlingly good moments of surrealism. The decaying old house in Kilburn in which Senta lives in a room in the basement seems almost to have a life of its own, and is downright spooky at times. I can't begin to describe just how Atmospheric some of these scenes are, you won't shake them off easily afterwards. I would love to see this one filmed, but not in some ITV1 9pm sanitised "Midsomer Murders"-style effort, PROPERLY filmed, by an imaginative director. If you want to read only one Ruth Rendell, to see what all the fuss is about, then make it this one!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Set in the seedy backwaters of London suburbia, Rendell draws you into a labyrinth - just as the main character is drawn into erotic but murderous complicity by the bridesmaid of the title in her dark house in Kilburn.
Much the best Rendell I've ever read, it successfully creates its own world into which the reader wanders like a fly into a spider's parlour: before you know it, you're hooked.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Ruth's writing - not what I expected!
I don't recall ever reading a Ruth Rendell novel before, as I have usually been able to find a PD James, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham or non-Poirot Agatha... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2010 by IT Lady
A page-turner
I very much admire Ruth Rendell's writing. She makes everything seem so real - the characters, the little ordinary details of their lives, and the feeling of menace hanging over... Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2010 by Reader 11
Good stuff
Classic thriler fiction from the modern master (mistress?) of the genre. I have onlr rarely suffered any disappointment from Ruth Rendell / Barbara Vine books. Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2009 by Mr. M Errington
To Dark
Generally I like Ruth Rendall books, but these are just too "dark" for me, no humour and too twisted. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2009 by REZ-base ops
The Bridesmaid/To Fear A Painted Devil
Ruth Rendell at her very best. Her characters seem real and the detail about them makes this so.
Published on 8 May 2009 by Marilyn Davis
gripping
This is I would say, one of my favourite books ever. The contrast between the two main character is vast. One gets so completely drawn into this fascinating book. Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2006
My favourite Rendell novel so far
This is my favourite Ruth Rendell novel. It begins with likeable Philip falling for the mysterious and beautiful Senta, and proceeds as a passionate love story. Read more
Published on 26 July 2004 by sam155
Relentlessly gripping
Philip Wardman is a young man working for Roseberry Lawn Interiors. He is of quiet, sedate character and he hates violence of any kind. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2004 by HORAK
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