Ruth Rendell's The crocodile bird: A review

Extract

[...] The first man that her mother killed was a stranger. He tried to attack Eve in her own home and rape her. She called the two Dobermans that she had been looking after and they both attacked the man. She went inside to get a shotgun, called the dogs off, and shot the man. Years later, Eve became involved with a painter name Bruno. Bruno begins to get tired eventually of always having Liza around and threatens to tell the authorities that Liza is not attending school, if her mother does not agree to move away with him. [...]

[...] At the end of this story, after months go by, Sean is accepted for a management training program for his job at the grocery store. This means they will go to Scotland. Sean asks Liza to marry him and begins talking about her staying at home and having children in the future. Liza soon realizes that her and Sean are not right for each other and are searching for very different things in life. They decide to go their separate ways. [...]

[...] Ruth Rendell's The crocodile bird: A review Reason, Type, and Setting I came across this book at random when I needed something for a book check. After reading the first few pages I was hooked. The book seemed mysterious and provocative in its own slightly twisted way. This story takes place in a very small town in England in the nineteen eighties and early nineties. It is categorized as realistic fiction and is a young woman recounting the story of her unique childhood. [...]