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The Saint Zita Society

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The Saint Zita Society

By: Ruth Rendell
Narrated by: Carole Boyd
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About this listen

Dex works as a gardener for Dr Jefferson at his home on Hexam Place in Pimlico: an exclusive street inhabited by the rich, and serviced by the not so rich. The hired help, a motley assortment of au pairs, drivers, and cleaners, decide to form the St Zita Society (Zita was the patron saint of domestic servants) as an excuse to meet at the pub and air their grievances. When Dex is invited to one of these meetings, the others find that he is a strange man, ill at ease with human beings... and then they discover he has recently been released from a hospital for the criminally insane, where he was incarcerated for attempting to kill his mother.

Dex's most meaningful relationship seems to be with his mobile-phone service provider, Peach, and he interprets the text messages he receives from the company as a reassuring sign that there is some kind of god who will protect him - and give him instructions about ridding the world of evil spirits....

©2012 Ruth Rendell (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Suspense Thriller & Suspense
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I enjoyed the reading of this book, I enjoyed the story, but all of the time I kept asking, "Who killed the young boys?" This question was a red herring that in my understanding was never answered.

However, the reading of the tale passed a really enjoyable 8 hours!

Who killed the boys?

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Love Carole Boyd’s narration. After the first few chapters I had to go back and start again as there are so many intriguing characters, I couldn’t keep up with who was who. Second start, I managed to get to grips much more, but was still a little overwhelmed as the characters are all so vibrant with such different lives and backgrounds. I found listening in thorough quiet got me concentrating better and I soon became obsessed with them all and found I couldn’t stop listening….I’d definitely recommend this book with its fabulous, unwinding story, in fact, I could and will definitely listen again. There’s nothing better than a feeling of actually knowing the people in a book and not wanting to part from them.

Thoroughly enjoyable

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This is the second time that I've listened to this particular audiobook, although the first time was when I reviewed the cumbersome eight disc CD package, so thank goodness for Audible! The story is classic Rendell: ergo a London setting and a series of characters with a myriad of secrets. This novel is set in upmarket Belgravia and concerns the lives of the householders and servants of Hexham Place, the latter of whom convene a servants' union, The Saint Zita Society of the title.

The narration is lively and varied; the characters really come alive. Recommended.

The Saint Zita Society

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Just didn't take to this one. The narration is pleasant, but found I didn't much get into the plot, or the characters and gave up.

Pleasant narration, poorer story

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Would you consider the audio edition of The Saint Zita Society to be better than the print version?

I was impressed both by the quality of the writing and of the performance of the narrator. Ruth Rendell of course is rightly known for her novels, Carole Boyd is perhaps less well known but she is an extremely talented and versatile actor and does a fine job with the diverse characters in 'The Saint Zita Society'. I loved the tyrannical, soi-disant princess who was so well understood by her 'not-a-servant' and I relished the general bizarreness of the rest of the characters, whether 'upstairs' or 'downstairs'. So well done, Ruth Rendell and Carole Boyd. Carole, hope you get a fabulous review in the Borchester Echo. (BBC 'The Archers' related joke.)

What other book might you compare The Saint Zita Society to, and why?

Oddly enough it reminds me of Paul Gallico's 'Jennie' where the animals and their people are all so beautifully described, especially the peculiar crew of the 'Countess of Greenock'.

What does Carole Boyd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Love Carole Boyd, she is so versatile and has a wonderful ear for accents.

Ruth Rendell and Carole Boyd - great team!

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