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A review by sardinetin
The Saint Zita Society by Ruth Rendell
2.0
Another slightly odd book by Ruth Rendell - definitely not classic crime fiction in the traditional sense.
The story tells of the trials and tribulations of a number of characters at Hexam Place, a wealthy street in the wealthiest part of London. While most of the action focuses on "below stairs" with the Saint Zita Society representing the servants (sometimes in a loose sense of the word) of the street, there is the odd glimpse into life above stairs.
My main issue with this book was that there were simply too many characters introduced from the beginning, which meant it took a while to work out who they all were in relation to each other. I also found it meant that very few of them seemed properly fleshed out, and I didn't really feel like I got much insight into what made any of them tick, which is a shame, as one or two plots strands could have been made more of and made to stand out in their own right. These different plot strands just didn't seem to go anywhere - only accentuated by the open ending.
Odd.
The story tells of the trials and tribulations of a number of characters at Hexam Place, a wealthy street in the wealthiest part of London. While most of the action focuses on "below stairs" with the Saint Zita Society representing the servants (sometimes in a loose sense of the word) of the street, there is the odd glimpse into life above stairs.
My main issue with this book was that there were simply too many characters introduced from the beginning, which meant it took a while to work out who they all were in relation to each other. I also found it meant that very few of them seemed properly fleshed out, and I didn't really feel like I got much insight into what made any of them tick, which is a shame, as one or two plots strands could have been made more of and made to stand out in their own right. These different plot strands just didn't seem to go anywhere - only accentuated by the open ending.
Odd.