The Lodger
Ratings7
Average rating3.5
The Lodger is the first known novelization of the Jack the Ripper story. It follows the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting, a maid and butler. An eccentric lodger, Mr. Sleuth, arrives at their lodging-house just as a wave of horrific murders begins to sweep London. The Buntings become engrossed in the newspaper sensationalism as well the detailed accounts of their young friend, a Scotland Yard detective.
Lowndes first wrote The Lodger as a short story published in McClure’s Magazine, then later published the novelization in the Daily Telegraph as a serial. It was very successful, with over a million copies sold within a few decades. Writers like Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein praised it, with one contemporary reviewer calling it “the best novel about murder written by any living author.” It has since been adapted to other media, notably as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s first movies. Today the novel is still considered the best fictional adaptation of the Jack the Ripper legend.
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“My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken.... There is none to stretch forth my tent anymore and to set up my curtains.”
Creepy, atmospheric, psychological, ripperish thriller about a series of gruesome murders in Victorian London, and an old couple who take in a strange Lodger to help ease their financial woes. This isn’t a whodunnit, it’s pretty obvious who the guilty man is, I mean the title gives it away, and everything is laid out for you at the start of the book. What really is works is the way the author moves the story on towards its conclusion, as Mrs Bunting (one of the landlords) suddenly realises with horror what is happening right under her nose.
There are some issues with this edition. There are some spelling mistakes, and I found some of the dialogue really difficult to follow, but let's just marvel at the fact that this was written in 1911 and was probably way way ahead of its time.
