Ruth Rendell
Ruth Rendell
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBEwas an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth17 February 1930
becoming love people specialist strikes terror
Reading is becoming a kind of specialist activity, and that strikes terror into the heart of people who love reading.
people perhaps
People tell me the most extraordinary things. I've noticed it for years. Perhaps they know I won't be shocked. Or judgmental.
people
People are still being put into geriatric wards when they don't need it. They need treatment, not just being put into bed and fed.
afraid ask book food husband idiotic people putting replied written
People do sometimes ask me some really idiotic questions: 'Is your husband afraid of you putting arsenic in his food?' I replied that I have never written a book about poison, ever.
I've never met a murderer as far as I know. I would hate to.
I've never really been satisfied with a book. I always want it to be better.
life people
The things I write about are completely removed from my own life, but people want to know the characters better.
awful nearly
I used to get an awful lot of letters, and they have almost all gone. I used to answer nearly all of them.
happen longer men nobody older ruth wants women
Some women say as they get older they're no longer noticed: they disappear. Men, for instance, don't see them. Nobody wants them. That doesn't happen to me because of who I am. Not because I'm any more scintillating company, but because I'm Ruth Rendell.
change common financial lose women worlds
Some women lose their husbands, and their worlds change because their financial circumstances change. All I have in common with them is a grief.
change doubt life quite separate sure upset
Violence is very much with us, and we like to see it. I doubt if you can change that, and I'm not sure you should want to. I have occasionally been very upset by something I was writing, but it's quite rare: I keep my writing very separate from my life.
apply
The old detective story that's got a really complicated motive doesn't apply to mine.
brought cold neighbors people rather sunshine warmth weather
The weather was still what people called glorious. He would rather it had been cold and gray, for this warmth and sunshine brought the neighbors out into their gardens.
novelists philip sex
There are some novelists who can get away with writing about sex - Philip Roth, Ian McEwan - but they are rare.