The Bridesmaid

Philip Wardman had more than just the ordinary squeamishness where death was concerned. Yet he could hardly avoid the suspicious disappearance of his sister's friend Rebecca Neave, especially when everyone was ascribing the cause to murder. Philip's feminine ideal is the statue of the Roman goddess Flora in his mother's garden. His marble Flora doesn't fade, doesn't alter, doesn't die. But then he meets Senta Pelham, a beautiful, sensual, childlike actress who flagrantly disdains the morals of society and passionately desires the elusive Philip. But what is the real reason for her obsessive devotion? Most important, will their flesh-and-blood relationship require a murder to prove it is the real thing? From the New York Times –bestselling author of A Dark-Adapted Eye : A unique psychological thriller about a gentle young man tempted to kill for love. Philip Wardman is disgusted by murder. He cannot tolerate violent films or the local news, and when his friends discuss such things he often leaves the room. At his sister’s wedding, Philip becomes infatuated with a strange, silver-haired woman named Senta Pelham. They sleep together after the reception, and Philip finds himself falling headfirst into obsessive, all-consuming love. He wants to marry Senta and live an ordinary life—but before they can, she has a murderous idea. To prove the unconventionality of their love, Senta proposes that each of them commit a murder. Shocked by the idea, but unable to resist his beloved, Philip is drawn into a maze of violence and deceit—and is horrified to find that he feels quite at home. “Subdued tones, stultifying atmosphere, and omniscient narration mark this telling depiction of mutual psychological obsession,” writes Library Journal . Ruth Rendell was one of the twentieth century’s finest thriller writers, and The Bridesmaid is one of her most chilling. A man falls under the spell of a mysterious woman, a marble statue, and a lover{u2019}s promise{u2014}and must confront his role in the violence and death that follow Meeting Senta, a woman who looks like a certain marble statue of the goddess Flora, is just about the most extraordinary thing that has happened to otherwise ordinary Philip, who dutifully cares for his mother and sisters in the London suburbs. But as their secret trysts evolve into an all-consuming passion, Philip learns that reality and fantasy cannot be easily separated in Senta{u2019}s mysterious, clouded world of secrets{u2014}and a deadly lover{u2019}s pact. Rendell{u2019}s effortless fusion of hidden truths and little white lies builds into a taut psychological thriller of obsession, delusion, and desire When Philip Wardman's feminine ideal, a Greek goddess, appears in the flesh as Senta Pelham, Philip thinks he has found true love. But darker forces are at work, and Senta is led to propose that Philip prove his love by committing murder. A beautiful woman fascinated by death insists that Philip, whose one eccentricity is a neurotic fear of death and violence, must commit murder to prove his love for her