Portobello (original 2008; edition 2009)

Joel Roseman has a heart attack in the street and loses some money which is found by Eugene Wren. When Eugene advertises his find, Lance Platt tries to claim the money is his. The story follows the consequences for the three men and their friends and relatives.

Ruth Rendell screws maximum tension out of everyday scenes and actions which I read with mounting dread, though not everything I feared occurred. Excellent ( )

I feel like this was an idea book. That after decades of writing novels in which people with psychological issues commit crimes, Rendell thought one day about how many people with bizarre psychological issues never go on to commit crimes, and how most crimes are probably committed by really comparatively ordinary people. And she thought about how people are so interconnected sometimes, in unexpected ways. And so she set this situation up, some people with issues who nevertheless, are leading fairly normal lives, and some people who seem saner, yet who end up in inexplicable situations - and she tied them all together, in ways that we can see as the outside observers, but which they themselves cannot. I don't know that this book is the edge-of-your-seat thriller you may be expecting from Rendell. But it's a brilliant experiment.

There's a fictitious painting described in the book, Undine in a Goldfish Bowl - a painting so well described that I thought it was real until a Google Image search told me the sad truth. The painting seems to sum up the book very neatly - a mermaid, trapped in a goldfish bowl, struggling to breathe air and get out - as if she, like some of the people in the book, is more afraid of her own potential weakness than she is cognizant of her ability to breathe underwater. As if she is trapped in the bowl for our viewing pleasure. Like a cast of characters, perhaps. ( )

This book was a disappointment. The plot was weak and left me wondering what the point of the story was. The book did not capture my attention, and I felt no connection to any of the characters. This was the first book of Rendell's that I've read, and it did not inspire me to read any other works by the author. ( )

Kindle
PW: London's Portobello Road, a street fabled for its shops and outdoor market, provides the backdrop for Edgar-winner Rendell's superlative suspense novel, which features a cast of colorful characters from varied classes and walks of life. Secretive 50-year-old Eugene Wren, who's addicted to cheap candy lozenges, is toying with marrying his longtime girlfriend, physician Ella Cotswold. Rootless Lance Platt cases the neighborhood for costly homes he can break into, and clashes with his great-uncle, Gilbert Gibson, a former burglar who now preaches the gospel. One man's losing 115 pounds triggers a series of coincidences that brings this disparate lot closer together, toward haphazard violence and death. Rendell (The Water's Lovely) is particularly adept at portraying young people just a dole check away from homelessness as well as the carelessness and callousness of the book's upper-middle-class characters. Her style has become ever more spare while retaining its subtle psychology and vivid sense of place.

I agree about sense of place, but found the novel lacking any real coherence. I got very tired of Eugene's candy addiction -- which seemed silly -- and never quite managed to connect with any of the characters. A Rendell disappointment.

Read 11/10 ( )

Ruth Rendell is not just a great British mystery writer, she is also a plain great writer, whose characters and plots are always a bit off the map. In this one, the Portobello Road in London figures prominantly in the story. There is the art gallery owner who finds money in the street and advertises to find the owner, which starts a rather nasty chain of events. Each of the characters Rendell weaves into the story has a story of his/her own, such as the gallery owner who is secretly addicted to sugarless candies, and is terrified his fiance will find out. The lazy layabout who tries unsuccessfully to claim the money is desperate to get back in the good graces of his girlfriend. The young man who lost the money is the guilt-ridden and mentally ill son of a wealthy business man who casts him out because he has inadvertently caused the death of his sister. He's being treated by the young female doctor who is engaged to the sweet addict. It's un-put-downable. Rendell is best known for her Inspector Wexford novels, and they are great in themselves. But Portobello, one of her many psychological suspense stories, is also great. I want to read more!” ( )