Let down by the ending - Rated 
I am a great fan of Ruth Rendell's psychological approach and prefer her stand alone novels to her Wexford ones. There were many wonderful aspects to The Water's Lovely, however two aspects jarred with me a little and I felt strangely dissatisfied at the end. Ismay's realisation of the name was seemed incredibly contrived. How she could make the connection she did was somewhat fantastical in my opinion. And the twist at the end was in some ways ingenious and yet, that also seemed like Ms Rendell was being too clever.
This isn't her best by a long way...I don't think I'll ever forget the genius of The Keys to the Street. This book is still miles ahead of most of the fiction out there today though.
Recommended but she has written better.
Good fun, but doesn't quite get there - Rated 
As a long-time fan of mystery and crime stories, I am a little ashamed to say that it has taken me a very long time to get around to reading Ruth Rendell. This is the first novel of hers I have read. I'll definitely be reading more as "The Water's Lovely" is both enjoyable and highly readable, but it's a little disappointing that there are plot holes, dropped threads and inconsistencies that you could drive a lorry through.
The story concerns two sisters, Ismay and Heather. Ismay believes Heather killed their stepfather, Guy, a decade or so ago, but has never worked up the courage to ask Heather whether she really did it or not. Their mother has lost her mind, apparently as a result of Guy's death and the belief that Heather was responsible for it, and now requires near-constant care by her sister, Pamela.
Ismay's boyfriend, Andrew, is both a nasty piece of work and the spitting image of Guy. When Heather meets and gets together with her own partner, Edmund, Andrew has difficulty in concealing his contempt for the couple and the tension rises. Meanwhile, Pamela is trying to find excitement in her love life, and Edmund's mother has a visitor, Marion, who has particular reasons for dropping in on the elderly, and whose brother, Fowler, lives as a tramp, rooting through London's bins for any objects worth salvaging. Rendell interweaves the lives of these characters in a story with a few red herrings and a sprinkling of overly convenient and contrived coincidences. The most problematic of these has been noted by other reviewers and really does stretch the bounds of credulity, with the aforementioned Fowler finding something in his bin-foraging that creates a problem for another character. It's curious that an evidently accomplished writer like Rendell should take this ill-thought out short cut, not least when it is to earn a plot that only lasts a few pages and adds little to the story or character development. It feels very much like something that should have been edited out. Left in, it somewhat detracts from the other, more carefully handled, aspects of the book, such as the complex and believable character of Ismay.
I also saw at least one or two of the "twists" coming, but to be fair, this is a novel premised on characters rather than a complex mystery, and the book's sheer readability makes it very difficult to put down. Rendell knows how to keep her readers turning the pages and does this here to great effect, even if on reflection, those clunky coincidences, unanswered questions and last-gasp twist on the final page do seem a little rushed and less than satisfying.
Many reviewers feel Rendell has written better. There is enough here for me to see that Rendell can probably turn out something that hangs together much more convincingly, and having enjoyed "The Water's Lovely" despite its flaws, I will be picking up Rendell's other novels to see if the quiet menace and clever prose she brings to this book is combined with stronger stories elsewhere.
Ruined by an igorant and offensive comment - Rated 
I really didn't think much of this book, but I'll admit that the offensive and ignorant comment on page 10 of the book may well have had at least something to do with that.
Rendell claims on page 10 that her selfish, neurotic, malingerer mother character has M.E. and that this makes her very 'tired.' It is implied that M.E. and tiredness are basically synonymous, and M.E. is linked with a character prone to malingering and exaggerating her illness but who is only very mildly ill if at all.
I would have thought that such an intelliegent author would have been aware enough and smart enough to know that the whole M.E. = CFS = tiredness thing is an INVENTION by insurance companies to save them money but has no basis whatsoever in fact. That actually you can't believe everything you read in the paper where powerful vested interest groups are involved! Even the most basic research would have made this very clear.
The fact that the World Health Organization has classified M.E. as an organic neurological disorder since 1969 should have been a big clue. This would not be the case it it were merely a vague problem of tiredness or malingering. Not to mention the fact that there have been over 60 outbreaks of M.E. (M.E. is infectious) and that M.E. is sometimes fatal (causing heart failure most commonly).
M.E. has nothing to do with fatigue, and is initiated by a viral infection that simply does not care what sort of personality you have. Many people with M.E. are bedbound and housebound, again; it is hardly a problem of mere 'fatigue' or 'all in the mind' as Rendell claims. It also affects children as young as 5.
What defines M.E. is not mere 'fatigue' but a specific type of acquired damage to the brain (the central nervous system) caused by a virus; most likely an enterovirus. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is an acutely acquired illness initiated by a virus infection with multi system involvement which is characterised by post encephalitic damage to the brain stem; a nerve centre through which many spinal nerve tracts connect with higher centres in the brain in order to control all vital bodily functions - this is always damaged in M.E. (Hence the name 'Myalgic Encephalomyelitis') Symptoms may be manifested by virtually all bodily systems including: cognitive, cardiac, cardiovascular, immunological, endocrinological, respiratory, hormonal, gastrointestinal and musculo-skeletal dysfunctions and damage.
M.E. is not 'medically unexplained' either. If all tests are normal, then a person does not have M.E. M.E. is similar in a number of significant ways to illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, Lupus and Polio. More than a THOUSAND different studies prove the organic and serious neurological nature of M.E., and these abnormalities have also been confirmed on autopsies of those who have died from M.E.
1. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is a systemic acquired illness initiated by a virus infection which is characterised by (scientifically measurable) damage to the brain stem which results in dysfunctions and damage to almost all vital bodily systems and a loss of normal internal homeostasis. The onset of M.E. is always acute. M.E. can be diagnosed within just a few weeks. M.E. is an easily recognisable distinct organic neurological disease which can always be verified by objective testing. If all tests are normal, then a diagnosis of M.E. cannot be correct. M.E. can occur in both epidemic and sporadic forms and can be extremely disabling, or sometimes fatal. M.E. is a chronic/lifelong disease that affects adults and children. Fatigue is not a defining symptom of M.E., nor even an essential symptom of M.E. There are more than 64 M.E. symptoms. People with M.E would give anything to instead only be severely `fatigued' or tired all the time. At a minimum, poeple with M.E. can only do 50% of what they did pre-illness.
2. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a man-made construct created in the US in 1988. It is not a distinct disease, but a mere diagnosis of exclusion based on the presence of the symptom of fatigue. CFS cannot be diagnosed until after 6 months have passed. If serious abnormalities are found on testing, a person no longer qualifies for a diagnosis of `CFS.' (The fatigue in `CFS' is `medically unexplained.') The onset of `CFS' may be gradual or acute. A diagnosis of `CFS' does not mean that a person has any distinct disease, including M.E. In essence, every diagnosis of CFS can only ever be a misdiagnosis. `CFS' is made up of people with a vast array of unrelated psychological and non-psychological illnesses with little in common but the symptom of fatigue.
3. Chronic fatigue is not an illness, but a symptom, a symptom of many different dieases, as is tiredness.
Before you malign one of the most vulnerable and abused and neglected groups of society, please, DO SOME BASIC RESEARCH!!!
You would never make such unfounded and offensive comments about MS or Lupus sufferers, would you Ms Rendell? But M.E. is similar to both these illnesses actually, except very often it is FAR more disabling. If you have any decency...any sense of acting ethically, this comment will be removed from subsequesnt reprintings of this book.
The character suffererd with 'fatigue' or 'tiredness' NOT M.E. If she has had M.E. she would have been severely disabled and seriously ill, not 'tired' or malingering.
Surely it does not sit well with you to contribute - in however minor a way - to the needless deaths and abuse of countless innocent but very ill children and adults who were just unlucky enough to meet up with the wrong virus...and so lose absolutely EVERYTHING.
To read some research and articles on M.E. created by legitimate unbiased experts, and not people who work for insurance companies and have a vested interest (or who have been bought by such groups), see the 'A Hummingbirds Guide.com' website.
Worth reading, for entertainment - Rated
An intricately clever book. No major surprises or revelations but two days worth of rather interesting reading. This book has a lot of characters and I found it hard to keep track of each of them. Some parts were a little predictable but altogether the book was enjoyable. Interesting psychological novel though, for which I understand the author is well known.
"That little gorgon" - Rated
Murder, blackmail and deceit lie at the heart of Ruth Rendell's wickedly devious The Water's Lovely where the shady past inevitably reaches its sticky fingers into the complicated present. Ismay Sealand lives with her sister Heather in a ground floor flat in North London. Upstairs lives their aunt Pamela who spends most of her days looking after Ismay and Heather's mentally deranged mother Beatrix who shouts out violent passages from the Book of Revelations after she went off the deep-end when a death shook the family twelve years ago.
What first appears, as a rather civilized family arrangement is in fact a sort of pact based on an incident involving Beatrix's second husband, Guy who allegedly drowned in the upstairs bathroom. Heather supposedly murdered Guy after she witnessed him touching and kissing Ismay in appropriate ways. Doing little to alleviate Guy's advances, perhaps because she was secretly attracted to him, Ismay has spent the past twelve years dreaming over the drowned Guy and also over what exactly had Heather done, if anything.
The four have continued to coexist in a convenient relationship, in particular Ismay and Heather as they are sisters and are also very close. Living together, they have never discussed the changes to the house, still less what happened on that hot and sweaty August day when she was fifteen and Heather was two years younger.
The verdict was accidental death, the bruises on Guy's ankles dismissed as due to some other cause. But seeing how it looked - Heather's wet dress, the wet shoes, her dislike of Guy, and also Beatrix's lie that gave her an alibi, her need to protect her from police questioning have thrown Ismay into a maelstrom of anguish and for ten years. Ismay has constantly probed and speculated and wondered. Suppose if she found out about Heather, what could she do with the truth she discovered it?
This delicate familiaral balance is upset when Ismay falls in love with Andrew Campbell-Sedge, a stuffy and self-involved lawyer who takes an instant dislike to Heather and her latest beau Edmund Litton, a diffident hospice nurse, who still lives with his horribly autocratic mother Irine. Ismay is swept away by the throws of passion, but Andrew steadfastly refuses to live in the flat while Heather is there. Heather is a thorn in Ismay's side, "a mistress of the persistent silence, and "a gorgon." "It would matter less of she didn't live with you."
Meanwhile, petty thief and confidence trickster Marion cheats and lies her way in and out of elderly people's lives, especially those with money such as the kindly octogenarian Avice, who adores her two pet rabbits and is seeking someone like Marion to look after them. At her heart Marion is a cold-blooded opportunist and a ruthless blackmailer who will stop at nothing to convert Avice's will so that she will be the only beneficiary of much of the poor woman's wealth.
Particularly heedful of Marion is the irascible Irene, who thinks Marion will make a perfect wife for her beloved Edmund. Possessing a weak constitution with migraines that plague her for days on end and perpetually tired with acid indigestion, she sees Edmund's commitment with Heather as brittle and delicate; certainly the young girl is gauche to say the least. She's also appalled at her son's intentions to take out mortgage on a flat on his salary when he would be far happier living with her and her four-bedroom house at his disposal.
Presented with a family structure that they cannot seem to undo, Heather and Ismay become ever more involved with the Litton's and also with Marion who - along with the help of Fowler - her transient and dumpster scavenging brother - weaves together her web of murder and extortion. The multi-layered plot hinges on a brown bottle of morphine sulfate, a tape of Ismay's which falls into the wrong hands, and of course Ismay's reoccurring dreams, of Guy dead under the water, and all of the other dreams peopled by her mother, Pamela and Heather, and once by two older policemen one of which plays an integral part in Sealand family's secret.
The strength of The Water's Lovely is Rendell's fabulous ability to present such beautifully selfish characters who end up becoming so totally skewed in the perceptions of themselves and of each other. Everyone has subsequently modeled their lives on the assumption that Heather had essentially murdered Guy, especially by living the way they lived; Beatrix in madness, Ismay watching over Heather, and everyone over the years so totally convinced that Heather had actually done away with her stepfather.
Rendell continues to expound on her themes of misguided obsession and the kinds of mistrusts and suspicions that can lie at the heart of the human psyche. Set against a backdrop of the author's beloved Finchley Road and Chudleigh Hill area of London, Rendell proves that difficult times do indeed draw her characters into an unknown terrain: When a secondary character is ruthlessly murdered in a park one night, in the end, Ismay really does believe that Heather murdered Guy and that given the right circumstances, her sister might do it again.
Full of carefully crafted contrivances, The Water's Lovely proves that you can never really hide from the events of the past and that the kind of disconnections and misunderstandings that appear throughout can have devastating consequences for all. Mike Leonard November 07.
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