The Lodger

(Hardback)

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The Lodger (1913) is a novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes. Inspired by the infamous murders committed by Jack the Ripper and Dr. Neill Creamalso known as the Lambeth PoisonerThe Lodger is a thriller that employs aspects of the popular penny dreadful novel while maintaining its literary status as a bone-chilling and highly original tale. The room, especially when it be known that it was part of a house standing in a grimy, if not exactly sordid, London thoroughfare, was exceptionally clean and well-cared-for. A casual stranger, more particularly one of a Superior class to their own, on suddenly opening the door of that sitting-room; would have thought that Mr. and Mrs. Bunting presented a very pleasant cosy picture of comfortable married life. Behind their polished exterior, the Buntings hide a common struggle. After countless failures, their business is threatened with total failure, forcing them to go cold and hungry in order to keep up appearances. As their savings plummet, a strange man named Mr. Sleuth arrives offering to pay for the next month in advance. The Buntings are in no position to turn him down. At the same time, a series of brutal murders shocks the city of London, raising their suspicions and fears to a fever pitch. The Lodger is a story of desperation and terror inspired by some of the twentieth centurys most notorious serial killers. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Marie Belloc Lowndes The Lodger is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

Author Bio

Marie Belloc Lowndes (1868-1947) was an English novelist. Born in London, she was raised in La-Celle-Saint-Cloud, France by a French father and English mother. Her brother, Hilaire Belloc, would later become a prominent writer, activist, and politician. Her mother Bessie Parkes, a principled feminist, was the great granddaughter of influential philosopher Joseph Priestley, whose work had a profound influence on modern chemistry, Christianity, and political liberalism. From a young age, Belloc Lowndes worked to live up to her family name, publishing biographies, memoirs, novels, and plays nearly every year until her death, beginning in 1898. Known for her mystery novels, often based on real events, Belloc Lowndes earned praise from Ernest Hemingway and continues to be recognized as a leading writer of the early twentieth century. The Lodger (1913), her most well-known work, is a retelling of the story of Jack the Ripper, and has been adapted for film several times by such directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Maurice Elvey, and John Brahm.