Ruth Rendell
Ruth Rendell
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBEwas an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth17 February 1930
added bad blood burden early far further illnesses itself less
Haemophilia itself is bad enough. It is disabling day by day, even if far less incapacitating than in the 19th and early 20th centuries. But the added burden of life-threatening further illnesses from contaminated NHS blood is far worse.
although call change less open richard sort
I call myself an agnostic. I'm open to change. I'm the same sort of person, although much less aggressive, as Richard Dawkins.
I've never met a murderer as far as I know. I would hate to.
I've never really been satisfied with a book. I always want it to be better.
good kept lose nicer none others people tried turning various wrote
I started by writing short stories, but they weren't very good; I tried them on various magazines, and none of them was published. People were nicer then about turning you down, and so I didn't lose heart - I kept on writing and wrote a lot of books, one or two of which I finished, and others I didn't.
becoming love people specialist strikes terror
Reading is becoming a kind of specialist activity, and that strikes terror into the heart of people who love reading.
people perhaps
People tell me the most extraordinary things. I've noticed it for years. Perhaps they know I won't be shocked. Or judgmental.
people
People are still being put into geriatric wards when they don't need it. They need treatment, not just being put into bed and fed.
afraid ask book food husband idiotic people putting replied written
People do sometimes ask me some really idiotic questions: 'Is your husband afraid of you putting arsenic in his food?' I replied that I have never written a book about poison, ever.
life people
The things I write about are completely removed from my own life, but people want to know the characters better.
awful nearly
I used to get an awful lot of letters, and they have almost all gone. I used to answer nearly all of them.
happen longer men nobody older ruth wants women
Some women say as they get older they're no longer noticed: they disappear. Men, for instance, don't see them. Nobody wants them. That doesn't happen to me because of who I am. Not because I'm any more scintillating company, but because I'm Ruth Rendell.
change common financial lose women worlds
Some women lose their husbands, and their worlds change because their financial circumstances change. All I have in common with them is a grief.
difference famous knock work writer
You don't knock television, even if you don't always like what they make of your work. It makes all the difference between being an also-ran writer and very famous.