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Books

A JUDGEMENT
IN STONE
by
Ruth Rendell
(1977)

Born in the borough in 1930 (when in Essex) Ruth Rendell wrote over 60 crime novels. Her books took the genre of crime writing to a higher level.

In addition to her Inspector Wexford series, she wrote psychological thrillers (under the pseudonym of Barbara Vine) and also standalone crime novels which reflected her views on society's problems and their causes.

One of her best is A Judgement in Stone which starts in an unorthodox way: it names the killer.

London | Redbridge

The County of London was formed in 1889 from parts of the ancient counties of Middlesex, Kent and Surrey, with the City of London remaining an independent body.

In 1965 Greater London was formed, taking in the rest of Middlesex (which no longer existed as a county) together with parts of Essex and Hertfordshire and further areas of Kent and Surrey.

Greater London is made up of 13 Inner and 19 Outer London boroughs together with the City of London.

Redbridge once lay in Essex and is today one of the 19 boroughs making up Outer London. It lies on the northeast edge of the capital.

London Boroughs

Actors and Directors

The stage and screen actor Maggie Smith was born in Ilford in 1934.She was awarded two Academy Awards early in her career for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) and California Suite (1978). Later recurring roles in the Harry Potter films and Downton Abbey meant she remained at the top of her profession in theatre and film for seven decades.

She was awarded a Tony Award in 1990 for the leading role in Peter Schaffer's Lettice and Lovage which had transferred to Broadway after a successful West End run.

In 2003 she was awarded her first Emmy Award for her leading role in the television film My House in Umbria and she went on to win three more for her role in Downton Abbey.

This made her one of only a small group of actors who had won the three most prestigious acting awards in the US (Oscar for cinema, Emmy for television, Tony for stage).

Maggie Smith (1970)

Maggie Smith (2012)

Anglo-Saxons and Danes

Anglo-Saxon Kings

Danish Kings

The borough once lay in Essex which once formed the kingdom of the East Saxons, later becoming part of the kingdom of Wessex. The East Saxon kingdom reached from the river Thames in the south (on the other side of which lay the kingdom of Kent) to the river Stour in the north (which separated the kingdom from that of the East Angles).

Writers and Poets

The writer Ruth Rendell was born in South Woodford in 1930 and became best known for her Inspector Wexford crime novels of which she wrote 24 including her 1964 debut in From Doon with Death.

She also wrote standalone thrillers which were internationally highly regarded: A Judgement in Stone was made into a film by Claude Chabrol in 1995 and Live Flesh was filmed by Pedro Almodóvar in 1997.

From 1986 she also wrote psychological suspense novels and due to this change in style published them under the name of Barbara Vine.

In 1976 Ruth Rendell was awarded a Gold Dagger from the Crime Writers' Association for A Demon in My View and in 1986 another one for Live Flesh. Writing as Barbara Vine: in 1987 she was awarded a Golden Dagger for A Fatal Inversion and in 1991 a second one for King Solomon's Carpet. In the same year she was awarded the Diamond Dagger for her lifetime contribution to crime writing.

Ruth Rendell died in London in 2015.

Ruth Rendell

Some say life is the thing, but I prefer reading.
A Judgement in Stone (1977)