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Authors: Ruth Rendell
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familiar to Wexford and he had no time to waste wondering about it. He went on into the library and its large fiction section, and there he was, rubbing shoulders with Rebecca and Morris. Three of Grenville West’s novels were in, Killed With Kindness, The Venetian Courtesan, Fair Wind to Alicante, and each was marked on the spine with an H for Historical. The first title appealed to him most and he took the book from the shelf and looked at the publisher’s blurb on the front inside flap of the jacket.
‘Once again,’ he read, ‘Mr West astonishes us with his virtuosity in taking the plot and characters of an Elizabethan drama and clothing them in his fine rich prose. This time it is Mistress Nan Frankford, from Thomas Heywood’s A Woman Killed with Kindness, who holds the stage. At first a loving and faithful wife, she is seduced by her husband’s trusted friend, and it is her remorse and Frankford’s curious generosity which contribute to the originality of this compelling book. Mr West sticks closely to Heywood’s plot, but he shows us what Heywood had no need to attempt for his contemporary audience, a vivid picture of domestic life in late sixteenth-century England with its passions, its cruelties, its conventions and its customs. A different world is unfolded before us, and we are soon aware that we are being guided through its halls, its knot gardens and its unspoilt pastoral countryside by a master of his subject.’
Hmm, thought Wexford, not for him. If Killed With kindness was from Heywood’s play of almost identical title, The Venetian Courtesan was very likely based on Webster’s The White Devil and Fair Wind to Alicante - on what? Wexford had a quick look at the blurb inside the jacket of that one and saw that its original was The Changeling of Middleton and Rowley. A clever idea, he thought, for those who liked that sort of thing. It didn’t look as if the author went in for too much intellectual stuff, but concentrated on the blood, thunder and passion which, from the point of view of his sales, was wise of him. There was a lot of Elizabethan and Jacobean plays, hundreds probably, so the possibilities of West going on till he was seventy or so seemed limitless.
Killed With Kindness had been published three years before. He turned to the back of the jacket. There Grenville West was portrayed in tweeds with a pipe in his mouth. He wore glasses and had a thick fringe of dark hair. The face wasn’t very interesting but the photographer’s lighting effects were masterful. Under the picture was a biography:
‘Grenville West was born in London. He has a degree in history. His varied career has led him from teaching through freelance journalism, with short spells as a courier, barman and antique dealer, to becoming a highly successful writer of historical romance. In the twelve years since his first book, Her Grace of Amalfi, was published, he has delighted his readers with nine more novels of which several have been translated into French, German and Italian. His novels also appear in the United States and are regularly issued in paperback. Apes in Hell was made into a successful television play, and Arden’s Wife has been serialized for radio. ‘Mr West is a francophile who spends most of his holidays in France, has a French car and enjoys French cooking. He is 35 years old, lives in London and is unmarried.’
On the face of it, Wexford thought, the man would appear to have little in common with Rhoda Comfrey. But then he didn’t really know much about Rhoda Comfrey, did he? Maybe she too had been a francophile. Mrs Parker had told him, that when a young woman, she had taught herself French. And there was firm evidence that she had wanted to write and had tried her hand at journalism. It was possible that West had met her at a meeting of one of those literary societies, formed by amateurs who aspire to have their work published, and who had invited him to
‘Once again,’ he read, ‘Mr West astonishes us with his virtuosity in taking the plot and characters of an Elizabethan drama and clothing them in his fine rich prose. This time it is Mistress Nan Frankford, from Thomas Heywood’s A Woman Killed with Kindness, who holds the stage. At first a loving and faithful wife, she is seduced by her husband’s trusted friend, and it is her remorse and Frankford’s curious generosity which contribute to the originality of this compelling book. Mr West sticks closely to Heywood’s plot, but he shows us what Heywood had no need to attempt for his contemporary audience, a vivid picture of domestic life in late sixteenth-century England with its passions, its cruelties, its conventions and its customs. A different world is unfolded before us, and we are soon aware that we are being guided through its halls, its knot gardens and its unspoilt pastoral countryside by a master of his subject.’
Hmm, thought Wexford, not for him. If Killed With kindness was from Heywood’s play of almost identical title, The Venetian Courtesan was very likely based on Webster’s The White Devil and Fair Wind to Alicante - on what? Wexford had a quick look at the blurb inside the jacket of that one and saw that its original was The Changeling of Middleton and Rowley. A clever idea, he thought, for those who liked that sort of thing. It didn’t look as if the author went in for too much intellectual stuff, but concentrated on the blood, thunder and passion which, from the point of view of his sales, was wise of him. There was a lot of Elizabethan and Jacobean plays, hundreds probably, so the possibilities of West going on till he was seventy or so seemed limitless.
Killed With Kindness had been published three years before. He turned to the back of the jacket. There Grenville West was portrayed in tweeds with a pipe in his mouth. He wore glasses and had a thick fringe of dark hair. The face wasn’t very interesting but the photographer’s lighting effects were masterful. Under the picture was a biography:
‘Grenville West was born in London. He has a degree in history. His varied career has led him from teaching through freelance journalism, with short spells as a courier, barman and antique dealer, to becoming a highly successful writer of historical romance. In the twelve years since his first book, Her Grace of Amalfi, was published, he has delighted his readers with nine more novels of which several have been translated into French, German and Italian. His novels also appear in the United States and are regularly issued in paperback. Apes in Hell was made into a successful television play, and Arden’s Wife has been serialized for radio. ‘Mr West is a francophile who spends most of his holidays in France, has a French car and enjoys French cooking. He is 35 years old, lives in London and is unmarried.’
On the face of it, Wexford thought, the man would appear to have little in common with Rhoda Comfrey. But then he didn’t really know much about Rhoda Comfrey, did he? Maybe she too had been a francophile. Mrs Parker had told him, that when a young woman, she had taught herself French. And there was firm evidence that she had wanted to write and had tried her hand at journalism. It was possible that West had met her at a meeting of one of those literary societies, formed by amateurs who aspire to have their work published, and who had invited him to
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