A Judgement in Stone

1977 novel by Ruth Rendell

0-09-129070-8OCLC3606842

Dewey Decimal

823/.9/14LC ClassPZ4.R4132 Ju PR6068.E63

A Judgement in Stone is a 1977 novel by British writer Ruth Rendell.

Plot summary

Eunice is taken on as a housekeeper by a family of four. She has kept her illiteracy a secret and is obsessed by continuing to keep it so. Unknown to her new employers, she has already murdered the father for whom she had been caring, and has falsified her references. Her inability to adapt to her place in society is masked by the cunning with which she conceals the truth about herself. Misinterpreting every act of kindness she is offered by her employers, she eventually turns on them, stealing the guns that are normally kept locked away. With the aid of a fellow social misfit, she murders the entire family. But Eunice's illiteracy prevents her from recognizing and disposing of a written clue that was left behind. Eventually a tape recording of the shooting made by one of the victims is discovered. Eunice is charged with the crime, and is mortified when her illiteracy is revealed to the world during the court proceedings.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The novel was filmed twice: The Housekeeper (1986) starred Rita Tushingham as the illiterate maid, and La Cérémonie (1995), directed by Claude Chabrol, starred Sandrine Bonnaire in the same role.^[1]^[2]

Release details

1997, UK, Hutchinson (ISBN 0-09-129070-8), Pub date 2 May 1977, hardback (First edition)

References

^ Maslin, Janet (20 December 1996). "Maid Is Hired: Danger Is Served (Published 1996)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
^ "Jeff Smith on Offscreen Sound in La cérémonie". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 19 October 2020.