The Crocodile Bird
by Ruth Rendell
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ruth RendellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1994-10-10
ISBN: 0440218659
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Dell
Book Reviews of The Crocodile Bird
Book Review: "I think to be driven to want to kill must be such a terrible burden."
Summary: 4 Stars
In one of her most "psychological" novels, Ruth Rendell focuses on Liza, a sixteen-year-old girl whose mother, Eve, orders her to flee alone from the only home she has ever known and her mother's "protection." Home schooled in the remote countryside, kept away from TV and radio, and with no friends of her own, Liza learns that her mother is about to be arrested for murder and that she herself may be considered an accessory if she is caught. Running to her boyfriend Sean, a young man hired to work on the estate where her mother works, Liza unfolds the story of Eve, her mother, through tales she likens to those of Scheherazade, keeping her boyfriend interested in the outcome of her own story by slowly unveiling the details of more than one murder.
As Liza recreates her earliest years and the disappearances of her mother's suitors, she is also exploring her own growing sense of independence, her sexuality, her need to experience the world beyond Shrove House, and her desire for books and serious schooling. Skillfully and subtly, Rendell draws parallels between Liza's motivations and the presumed motivations of the reader, making this strange and limited girl seem more normal, less bizarre, despite her upbringing. Liza's ingenuousness and her acceptance of the men's fates as a "normal" part of her life increase the horror and tension.
Rendell's careful rendering of details and her juxtaposition of bloody scenes with idyllic country living make the story come alive, while Liza's normal curiosity about other people and her love of Sean throw her mother's damaged psyche and psychotic need to "protect" herself into sharp relief. Despite the fact that the reader knows from the outset that Eve has committed murder and is about to be arrested, the author develops considerable suspense about Liza's own life and her feelings for her mother.
Because Liza has observed her mother committing several murders associated with love and/or love-making, her own sexual freedom and lack of inhibition regarding Sean are surprising and seem emotionally incongruous, and some readers will not accept this implausible, but crucial, element. The story is skillfully constructed with its flashbacks, however, and Rendell's association of Liza's story telling with the legend of Scheherazade creates neat associations with other serial murders. Suspenseful and entertaining. n Mary Whipple
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