On This Page
Description
"The body found under the hedge was that of a middle-aged woman. The gray eyes were wide and staring, and in them Inspector Wexford thought he saw a sardonic gleam. But that must have been his imagination. The woman was a stranger. There was nothing to give him her address, name or occupation, let alone any clues that might lead to her killer."Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Another one of my favorites in the Wexford series. The primary focus is on Wexford and his family, with his Kingsmarkham and London staff involved only as they are needed in their roles as his support team. That was a pleasant change, part of a nice balance across the length of the series.
I was struck on this re-read (just as I was when I first read it long ago) at how successful this book is at reflecting social conditions of the time. Rendell's effort to incorporate issues related to the then-contemporary rock culture in [b:Some Lie and Some Die|508905|Some Lie and Some Die (Inspector Wexford, #8)|Ruth Rendell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1300540274l/508905._SY75_.jpg|3187097] seem dated now, show more but not so with the women's equality issues she tackles in this book.
Of course, it could be that it's just me, remembering the feeling of feminism at that time, and also sensitive to the ongoing nature of the struggle for women to achieve parity in their work and home lives. But I don't really think that's it.
The book is just really well plotted, the characters realistic, and the settings well developed. I love the way Wexford's personality develops logically over time, and the way he is open to accepting the validity of cultural change.
There is no question that this series is like comfort food for me. It's nice knowing that there are a dozen more left to re-read! show less
I was struck on this re-read (just as I was when I first read it long ago) at how successful this book is at reflecting social conditions of the time. Rendell's effort to incorporate issues related to the then-contemporary rock culture in [b:Some Lie and Some Die|508905|Some Lie and Some Die (Inspector Wexford, #8)|Ruth Rendell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1300540274l/508905._SY75_.jpg|3187097] seem dated now, show more but not so with the women's equality issues she tackles in this book.
Of course, it could be that it's just me, remembering the feeling of feminism at that time, and also sensitive to the ongoing nature of the struggle for women to achieve parity in their work and home lives. But I don't really think that's it.
The book is just really well plotted, the characters realistic, and the settings well developed. I love the way Wexford's personality develops logically over time, and the way he is open to accepting the validity of cultural change.
There is no question that this series is like comfort food for me. It's nice knowing that there are a dozen more left to re-read! show less
What a splendid writer Rendell is! Her ongoing characters, particularly of course Inspector Wexford, are always interesting, always changing, yet always consistent. And the characters that determine the plot of each novel, even when they are very strange, are fully realized and believable. Her plots are a delight, leading you forward and then back, but always keeping you involved. And her prose is a delight -- clear, supple, and pleasurable.
In "A Sleeping Life", the good Inspector is faced with a dead woman who appears to have erased any information about the last twenty years of her life. And on the home front, he is faced with a daughter in the grip of Women's Liberation (the book was written in 1979). The book is full of side show more instghts about men and women, aging, and even hairlines. A delight. show less
In "A Sleeping Life", the good Inspector is faced with a dead woman who appears to have erased any information about the last twenty years of her life. And on the home front, he is faced with a daughter in the grip of Women's Liberation (the book was written in 1979). The book is full of side show more instghts about men and women, aging, and even hairlines. A delight. show less
Wexford Awakes
Review of the Arrow Books/Cornerstone Digital Kindle eBook edition (2010) of the original Hutchinson (UK) hardcover (1978)
This was an easy 5-star rating, I think my first of the Chief Inspector Wexford series, which are usually solid 3s or 4s at least (I do have a later 1 or 2 rating coming up though). A Sleeping Life has quite an incredible twist ending, but in an interesting way it is show more likely more guessable in the present day than it was when originally released in the 1970s. Saying anything more about that would be a spoiler though.
The body of a middle-aged woman named Rhoda Comfrey is found stabbed to death in Kingsmarkham. She was on a visit to her ailing father from her home in London. As Wexford and Burden being to investigate they find there is very little known about the woman after she left home for big city life. Clues found on the body lead them to investigate an historical fiction author named Grenville West and his typist/secretary Polly Flinders. But the solution of the case eludes them until Wexford makes a breakthrough and explains all in the end.
A Sleeping Life continues my 2023 binge read / re-read of Ruth Rendell (aka Barbara Vine) and this is the 10th of the Inspector Wexford series.
See cover image at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/ASleepingLife.jpg
Cover image for the original Hutchinson hardcover edition from 1978. Image sourced from Wikipedia. By http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=11560886237, Fair use, Link
Favourite Quotes
There were plenty of Wexford's quotes and allusions to classic literature in this one. Some favourites below:
Trivia and Links
A Sleeping Life was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 3 Episodes 4 to 6 in 1989 with actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford. You can watch the entire 3 episodes on YouTube here. show less
Review of the Arrow Books/Cornerstone Digital Kindle eBook edition (2010) of the original Hutchinson (UK) hardcover (1978)
The woman was dead, but death by murder is in a way not an end but a beginning. The lives of the naturally dead may be buried with them. Hers would now gradually be exposed, event after event, obscure though she had been, until it took on the character of a celebrity’s biography. - The investigators ponder the consequences of murder.
This was an easy 5-star rating, I think my first of the Chief Inspector Wexford series, which are usually solid 3s or 4s at least (I do have a later 1 or 2 rating coming up though). A Sleeping Life has quite an incredible twist ending, but in an interesting way it is show more likely more guessable in the present day than it was when originally released in the 1970s. Saying anything more about that would be a spoiler though.
The body of a middle-aged woman named Rhoda Comfrey is found stabbed to death in Kingsmarkham. She was on a visit to her ailing father from her home in London. As Wexford and Burden being to investigate they find there is very little known about the woman after she left home for big city life. Clues found on the body lead them to investigate an historical fiction author named Grenville West and his typist/secretary Polly Flinders. But the solution of the case eludes them until Wexford makes a breakthrough and explains all in the end.
A Sleeping Life continues my 2023 binge read / re-read of Ruth Rendell (aka Barbara Vine) and this is the 10th of the Inspector Wexford series.
See cover image at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/ASleepingLife.jpg
Cover image for the original Hutchinson hardcover edition from 1978. Image sourced from Wikipedia. By http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=11560886237, Fair use, Link
Favourite Quotes
There were plenty of Wexford's quotes and allusions to classic literature in this one. Some favourites below:
In English law one can call oneself what one likes. What you call yourself is your name. People think you have to change your name by deed poll but you don’t. I could call myself Waterford tomorrow and you could call yourself Fardel without infringing a hairsbreadth of the law.’ Looking puzzled, Burden said, ‘I suppose so. Look, I see the Waterford thing, but why Fardel?’ ‘You grunt and sweat under a weary life, don’t you? - Wexford quotes from Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Burden looked injured, and when they had said good-bye and were crossing the Circus to Parish Oak station, remarked that Clements was a very nice chap. ‘Very true,’ sneered Wexford with Miss Austen, ‘and this is a very nice day and we are taking a very nice walk.’ - Wexford quotes from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.
Loring who was a romantic young man thought that it was in just such a tone that the Shunamite had said to the watchmen: Have ye seen him whom my soul loveth? - The Bible - Song of Solomon.
Burden went to the window and said wonderingly, ‘There’s a cloud up there.’ ‘No bigger than a man’s hand, I daresay.’ ‘Bigger than that,’ said Burden, not recognizing this quotation from the Book of Kings. - The Bible.
‘Now where shall I begin?’ ‘At the beginning,’ said Wexford with perfect gravity. ‘Go on to the end and then stop.’ - Wexford quotes from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Trivia and Links
A Sleeping Life was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 3 Episodes 4 to 6 in 1989 with actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford. You can watch the entire 3 episodes on YouTube here. show less
(48) I think 10 or 11th in the Inspector Wexford Series - and hey, I figured out half the mystery. A middle aged woman is found stabbed to death in Kingsmarkham while home visiting her ailing elderly father. It proves nearly impossible to find out where she came from or anything about her life outside of her hometown. In seemingly unrelated matters, Wexford's younger daughter has left her husband after reading all those nasty new fangled 'women's lib' authors. Good old Dora - Reg's wife - doesn't go in for all that nonsense. It is hard to know what Ruth Rendell herself thinks. Methinks she presents a much more close minded and sexist attitude than she herself subscribed too. But it is oh-so-interesting to see how devastatingly show more 'politically incorrect' these books are. Even written by someone who was likely a 'bluestocking' liberal elite of her time.
This one was of similar quality to the others I have read. They are all so similar in style, atmosphere, tone that it is hard to have a favorite or to truly judge these novels independently. I bet when I read others' reviews it will be clear that my more modern sensibility blunted the 'big reveall.' and made it easier to "see." - just like in Book 1 of the series. Oh, is that all?....
I am committed to a series I was lukewarm about for awhile - now I look forward and settle in to an accustomed style. I don't quite have the quote right, nor do I know where it comes from but I liked - "I am the monster I see in the mirror." Yup, most days. show less
This one was of similar quality to the others I have read. They are all so similar in style, atmosphere, tone that it is hard to have a favorite or to truly judge these novels independently. I bet when I read others' reviews it will be clear that my more modern sensibility blunted the 'big reveall.' and made it easier to "see." - just like in Book 1 of the series. Oh, is that all?....
I am committed to a series I was lukewarm about for awhile - now I look forward and settle in to an accustomed style. I don't quite have the quote right, nor do I know where it comes from but I liked - "I am the monster I see in the mirror." Yup, most days. show less
The corpse of a woman down from London to visit her elderly father, who has been hospitalised after a bad fall and a stroke, is found on a country path near her father's house. Although it is agreed she had come down from London, nobody seems to know anything about her London life, even her address or phone number. Can Wexford find her killer without knowing anything about her?
Although I had an inkling of the answer half way through it seemed to be ruled out, but I hadn't taken into account how unobservant some (most?) people are.
Although I had an inkling of the answer half way through it seemed to be ruled out, but I hadn't taken into account how unobservant some (most?) people are.
A Sleeping Life was originally published in 1964. The Women's Liberation movement is brought into this mystery as a subplot involving the marriage of one of Inspector Wexford's daughters, who wants to have a paying job, not the unpaid ones of wife and mother. While I liked the way Wexford treated his Dora after their daughter made a very cutting remark, I wish he had told that young woman that what she said to her mother wasn't true -- not for her parents' relationship, anyway.
In the end we do find out both why the victim was murdered and why it was so difficult to get her London address. I did not see it coming.
As for Wexford's remark about the curate's egg, it comes from a 19th Century magazine cartoon in which the host tells the show more curate he fears he's gotten a bad egg and the curate assures him that parts of it are excellent. show less
In the end we do find out both why the victim was murdered and why it was so difficult to get her London address. I did not see it coming.
As for Wexford's remark about the curate's egg, it comes from a 19th Century magazine cartoon in which the host tells the show more curate he fears he's gotten a bad egg and the curate assures him that parts of it are excellent. show less
It's always a pleasure to read Inspector Wexford mysteries and this was no exception.
The story is as much about identity as anything else. At first the victim has to be identified. A middle-aged woman is found dead at the edge of a little copse. She was stabbed to death. Detectives soon discover her name, and that she occasionally visits her father in the village, but lives in London. Here's where it gets complicated. Wexford can't find her address in London. Nobody in the village knows it and official records don't reveal it.
The search turns up a mysterious character, however, and Wexford needs to find this man. Much of this small book is taken with finding people, finding addresses. In the end, that is the key to the mystery.
Written show more in the late 1970s, we find Wexford and wife dealing with a grown daughter who has taken on feminism cloaks and has become something of a complainer. I was of two or more minds about these altercations because I didn't think feminism should be taken lightly, certainly not as a joke. But that did not absorb an undue amount of space and I understood that the daughter was perhaps as much affected by her own decisions as by society's. show less
The story is as much about identity as anything else. At first the victim has to be identified. A middle-aged woman is found dead at the edge of a little copse. She was stabbed to death. Detectives soon discover her name, and that she occasionally visits her father in the village, but lives in London. Here's where it gets complicated. Wexford can't find her address in London. Nobody in the village knows it and official records don't reveal it.
The search turns up a mysterious character, however, and Wexford needs to find this man. Much of this small book is taken with finding people, finding addresses. In the end, that is the key to the mystery.
Written show more in the late 1970s, we find Wexford and wife dealing with a grown daughter who has taken on feminism cloaks and has become something of a complainer. I was of two or more minds about these altercations because I didn't think feminism should be taken lightly, certainly not as a joke. But that did not absorb an undue amount of space and I understood that the daughter was perhaps as much affected by her own decisions as by society's. show less
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
British Mystery
469 works; 14 members
Author Information
318+ Works 51,199 Members
Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) Ruth Rendell was born in Essex, England on February 17, 1930. She was educated at Loughton County High School. Rendell began her career as a journalist. She wrote six novels before sending her work in to a publisher. She writes crime novels and psychological thrillers, and is best known for her Inspector Wexford books. show more Rendell also writes under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Rendell has received many awards for her writing, including the Silver, Gold, and Cartier Diamond Daggers from the Crime Writers' Association, three Edgars from the Mystery Writers of America, The Arts Council National Book Awards, and The Sunday Times Literary Award. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Many of her titles have been made into films and made-for-tv movies. Rendell died on May 2, 2015. She was 85 years old. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Sleeping Life
- Original title
- A Sleeping Life
- Original publication date
- 1978-05-08; 1978
- People/Characters
- Polly Flinders; Grenville West; Reginald Wexford (Chief Inspector)
- Important places
- Kingsmarkham, West Sussex, England, UK
- Related movies
- Ruth Rendell Mysteries: A Sleeping Life: Part One (1989 | IMDb); Ruth Rendell Mysteries: A Sleeping Life: Part Two (1989 | IMDb); Ruth Rendell Mysteries: A Sleeping Life: Part Three (1989 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- Those have most power to hurt us, that we love;
We lay our sleeping lives within their arms,
O, thou hast raised up mischief to his height,
And found one to outname thy other faults.
Beaumont and Fletcher, ... (show all)The Maid's Tragedy. - Dedication
- For Elaine and Lesley Gray,
with affection and gratitude - First words
- Home early for once. Maybe he'd start getting home early regularly now August had begun, the silly season.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)'Not for me, sir,' said Wexford. 'Good night.' And he walked out into the dark and went home, leaving his superior planning reprisals and his subordinate affectionately incensed.
- Original language*
- inglise
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 677
- Popularity
- 42,154
- Reviews
- 18
- Rating
- (3.61)
- Languages
- 11 — Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 54
- ASINs
- 14
