The Water's Lovely [Hardcover]

It is always interesting to read the thoughts of other reviewers here on Amazon but I was rather surprised a self-confessed Rendell buff would be disappointed with this latest book. I would rate it as her best written under her own name for several years. As another reviewer has pointed out her worst book was The Rotweiler and that was only three years ago. I really cannot imagine how anyone could prefer that to this!

The two sisters Ismay and Heather are the main characters and both are convincing and realistic. What I found particularly interesting is the way my opinions of them changed over the course of the story. Ismay starts out as the normal sister but gradually goes to pieces after she is dumped by her boyfriend. Anyone who has ever been dumped by someone they just could not get over will feel a lot of sympathy for some of the mad and desperate things Ismay does to try and get him back. The other sister Heather, who is a suspected murderer, starts out strange and reclusive but matures into a sensible, loving and determined young woman.

This is not a conventional mystery but then Ruth Rendell is always original and inventive in her psychological thrillers. The main crime in the book is the one Heather may have commited years ago but the novel is still full of suspense as we wait to see if Heather will be exposed and her happiness ruined. There is a big surprise at the end of the novel which is very tragic and the final scene is is ominous and chilling.

Of course tastes differ and all these reviews are just matters of opinion but for what its worth I would recommend this book to any Ruth Rendell fan. I am already looking forward to her next!

I ordered The Water's Lovely from Canada because it is unavailable still in the U.S. It is a pleasure to read the intelligent reviews of Rachel Walker and M.D. Smart on this page - I wish I knew people who appreciated Ruth Rendell as they obviously do. As for the novel - well, as M.D. Smart said, I tried to read it slowly to make the pleasure last, but midway through I was gripped and abandoned myself to a pell-mell pace, eager to learn what would next unfold. This is a wrenching and poignant and funny book. Marion Melville is my absolute favorite character, an often blundering but eventually triumphant manipulator. She dances through the storyline, alighting on each character for a pas de deux, then skittering away, always with a new plot and ploy. No one mentioned what I see as the theme of these intermingled tales (and tales they are - disparate lives that intertwine) - and that is home. So many of the characters are motivated by seeking a place to live. Their living situations define them. From the homeless beggar who keeps returning to his sister's flat to the duplex where Ismay and Heather live, so many of the plot twists turn on living circumstances and the search for home. I too felt there was a lot of coincidence here, but I do find that our lives are full of coincidences, and maybe they are not just coincidence but fate. Rendell is brilliant as ever, she must be diabolical. Once again as in Thirteen Steps Down, she leaves the zinger for the last paragraph. Don't look!

Ruth Rendell has been one of my favourite crime authors for many years now, but there was a period recently when she appeared to have lost her way slightly, producing a couple of books well below her usual standard. 2002's Wexford novel, 'Babes In The Wood' read like a short story padded out to three hundred pages, it was so slow and cumbersome. 2003's 'The Rottweiler' was even worse, surely the weakest book she has ever written, full of absurd stereotypes, ridiculous coincidences and ill-judged attempts at humour. It was hard to believe it had really been written by the same author who produced the likes of 'A Dark-Adapted Eye' and 'Keys To The Street'. Even her 2002 Barbara Vine novel 'The Blood Doctor', although far better than the two Rendell books, had something missing.

Since then, I'm relieved to say, she has been back to her usual self; her two novels from last year - the latest Wexford, 'End In Tears', and another Barbara Vine book, 'The Minotaur' - showed she was on form once more, and 'The Water's Lovely' continues that run of successes.

It's a typical Rendell tale of the secrets which bind a family together and eventually drive them apart. Sisters Ismay and Heather are trying to forget the death of their stepfather Guy twelve years ago when they were just teenagers. Guy was drowned in his bath, and Ismay has always suspected that Heather was responsible, protecting her beloved sister from Guy's sexual advances. Now both sisters are in serious relationships, and Ismay is wondering if Heather's fiance Ed should be told about his bride-to-be's apparently murderous past.

As usual in a Ruth Rendell mystery, a whole host of other characters become caught up in the events, from the girls' mad mother and her long-suffering sister to the families, friends and neighbours of their partners. All have a part to play in the unfolding drama, and the seemingly disparate threads are drawn inexorably together with consummate skill as the novel approaches its climax.

One of the author's greatest gifts is her skillful characterisation. It would be true to say she rarely draws especially likeable or heroic characters, which is either a fault or an accurate reflection of human nature, depending on your point of view. However, there is no one better at exposing and examining human frailties, weaknesses, compulsions and unpleasant impulses. Simple definitions of good and evil have no place in Ruth Rendell's books; she constantly challenges the reader not to make hard and fast judgements by pulling the rug out from under us. It could be argued that some of the peripheral characters occassionally verge on caricature, but overall both minor and major figures are richly and convincingly portrayed, their faults all too recognisable to us - much to our discomfort.

One of the recurring themes in all the Rendell and Vine books which I find most compelling is the frequently capricious fate whose machinations have us all at its mercy. The decent, helpless and innocent often suffer unhappy fates, while the devious, selfish and downright nasty sail through life without an apparent care. The author doesn't make overt judgements, but leaves us to ponder the injustice of it all. It's particularly apt that this novel contains allusions to 'Tess of the D'Ubervilles', as Hardy (perhaps my all-time favourite author) was always deeply concerned by the essential unfairness of life.

I tried hard to ration myself with this book, starting out by reading a chapter or two at a time to make it last and savour the experience, but the storyline soon had me by the throat and I rushed through it in a day. Ruth Rendell is clearly back to her best, and there are few other crime writers, if any, who can match her on such blisteringly good form. Those who want quick, cheap thrills with bloody corpses littering every chapter would do well to look elsewhere, but for an intelligent, slow-burning thriller you'll be hard-pushed to find better this year.