The Lodger

This book was surprisingly good and felt much more modern than something written in the 1910's! Loosely based on Jack the Ripper and another serial killer from the same general time, the novel follows a retired (not by choice) couple of house servants who have been trying to earn money by running a lodging house but are close to ruin. That is, until a stranger comes to stay with them and pays them generously for very little in the way of attention. The lodger is more than a bit strange and gradually the couple (each on their own) come to suspect him of being an infamous murderer who is currently on the loose. What makes this novel stand out is that it is more of a psychological novel than a murder mystery and the author does a fantastic show more job of looking at the public fascination with murder as well as the mindset of the wife as she both suspects yet wants to protect her lodger. It is really well done. show less

I remember being amazed a few years ago when, in a random discussion about books with my best friend, I made a remark about Hilaire Belloc (basically saying that while he may be best known for his Cautionary Tales poems, he had been a prolific writer including spy novels, history books and some accounts of his sea travels). She replied with the stunning throwaway remark, ‘You don’t need to tell me anything about him – he was my great great-grandfather.’

Having been put in my place for such an egregious attempt at mansplaining, I had to confess that my knowledge of the literary Bellocs was fairly limited, and mostly stemmed from Jonathan Raban’s discussions of Hilaire’ s The Cruise of The Nona within his own book Coasting. show more Such was my ignorance that I hadn’t realised that Belloc’s sister marie had also been a prolific and celebrated novelist. In fact, she wrote several immensely popular crime novels in the first two decades of the twentieth century, including a few that featured her own sleuth, Hercules-Popeau who first appeared at around the same time as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot.

The Lodger follows the travails of the Buntings, a couple who had previously been employed as butler and maid in a succession of established households. Now fallen on hard times, they are poverty-stricken and wondering how they will be able to afford their next monthly rent. They had previously sublet a large part of the property near Marylebone that they are leasing, but currently have no tenant, and little prospect of finding one before their own rent falls due.

However, they are suddenly visited by a retiring and mysterious stranger (with the odd name of Mr Sleuth) who seems to be looking for exactly what they have to offer. He also seems to have decent financial resources, because he pays several weeks in advance, allowing the Buntings to start to dream of a measure of financial security, in the short term at least. In the meantime, newspaper reports about a series of brutal murders of young women abound.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I began reading this, and was prepared to be fairly ruthless if the book proved to be at all tedious. There was, however, no worry there at all – the story grabbed me right from the opening paragraphs, and I really couldn’t put it down.

Marie Belloc Lowndes doesn’t indulge in minute developments of her characters, although all of the figures are completely believable. Mr Bunting is a laconic character, slightly obsessed with the lurid accounts of crime in general, and the current series of murders in particular, while his wife is more reserved. Mrs Lowndes’s account of the murders is clearly inspired by the Whitechapel killings attributed to Jack the Ripper, but she carefully avoids any hint of glorifying such awful crimes. Although the newspapers in her novel revel in the sense of terror, the reader is not offered any details at all. I thought the depiction of the response of different elements of London society to the killings was captured very acutely.

The novel was a huge success when first published in 1913, and various film adaptations have been made, include an early silent movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I will certainly be delving further into the works of Marie Belloc Lowndes. show less

Mr. and Mrs. Bunting, after years of working in service, put their savings into running a lodging house. But things haven’t worked out as profitably as they’d like, and they find themselves very near to starvation when one day the perfect lodger knocks on their door. He wants to rent out all the rooms – he claims he needs peace and quiet for his work – and pays a large sum up front. At first the Buntings are ecstatic, but their eccentric lodger’s arrival in their lives coincides with the beginning of a string of murders near their London neighborhood, and Mrs. Bunting begins to suspect that it may not be a coincidence at all.

Inspired by the theory that Jack the Ripper was himself a lodger of this kind, the story does a great show more job of exploring the gamut of emotions and thoughts and fears that someone in Mrs. Bunting’s position might experience. Lowndes strikes a nice balance of good story and eerie atmosphere as well. show less

The ending is quite anti-climatic and disappointing. Readers are probably expecting some huge confrontation with the killer. However, the killer merely runs from his lodgers once he realizes that they are onto him. He does not return to collect his things, nor does he attempt to silence them like other killers might. Additionally, there was a lack of action.
I was so frustrated at how oblivious that the main characters were. Even with avid details from the newspapers and their detective friend, they remain oblivious for majority of the book. When they finally do accept who the killer is, they chose not to inform their detective friend or the police. Their reasoning was that they did not want to be swarmed by the police. It irritates me show more so much! This guy is a serial killer for crying out-loud! Who has been killing women for years! We also do not learn why he only targets blonde women.

The wife is also so stubborn in her old-fashioned mannerism and beliefs that I just wanted to scream! This was the most frustrated and annoyed that I've been with characters this year. I'm relieved that I've finally finished it. show less

I vaguely recall a movie based on this novel, but didn’t remember much of it at all. Basically it’s a riff on Jack the Ripper - what if he was your lodger? A couple living on their last shillings receive a reprieve from starvation and poverty when a gentleman lets the rooms on their upper floors. He has little baggage, strange hours, and most important of all, ready money. The pounds he pays for his room and board put them back on the road to financial security and all seems right in the world. Except the coincidence of his late-night excursions and reports of killings in the paper. At first the wife suspects that he may be the killer and tiptoes around him and her family, hoping that no one else notices what she has. How can they show more though? Friend and policeman Joe Chandler has never laid eyes on the man since his are reserved for Daisy alone. Bunting hardly interacts with the lodger at all and Mrs. Bunting has all the duties of caring for him sewn up. Until the night Bunting accidentally meets the lodger in the night fog of the neighborhood. Did he really have blood on his sleeve? Did he really throw away his rubber-soled boots after a footprint was printed in the paper? Did he really utter threats against the Buntings and the police? Is he the Avenger? It’s not as tense or gory as it sounds, but is pretty entertaining.

Read more: http://thebookmarque.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-08-10T14:47:00-07:00#i... show less

Tremendously creepy and suspenseful (though not graphic). However, in the end, I wanted resolution and I felt that it wasn't there. Early on, I thought that it might be left up to the reader to decide whether or not the lodger was guilty, but no, that gets spelled out pretty clearly. Then I thought there would be some kind of comeuppance, but nope, it's left hanging. I know this story is based on the Jack the Ripper murders, so I guess that's why the resolution is so unsatisfying, since they were never solved in real life? I also thought that the landlord and his wife might express more regret, but...I'm still not sure how they really felt about their actions or lack thereof.

This is a free Kindle ebook, written around 1913.
It's not a horror novel, by today's standards, but it is a fascinating observation about morals and class differences in that time period. It made me think more carefully about what people are willing to do or not do to be comfortable in life. It's a bit slow paced but I thought it was worth the time.