Book dossier

The Lodger

by Marie Belloc Lowndes

<p><i>The Lodger</i> is the first known novelization of the Jack the Ripper story. It follows the lives of <abbr>Mr.</abbr> and <abbr>Mrs.</abbr> Bunting, a maid and butler. An eccentric lodger, <abbr>Mr.</abbr> Sleuth, arrives at their lodging-house just as a wave of horrific murders begins to sweep London. The Buntings become engrossed in the newspaper sensationalism as well the detailed accounts of their young friend, a Scotland Yard detective.</p> <p><a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/marie-belloc-lowndes">Lowndes</a> first wrote <i>The Lodger</i> as a short story published in <i>McClure’s Magazine</i>, then later published the novelization in the <i>Daily Telegraph</i> as a serial. It was very successful, with over a million copies sold within a few decades. Writers like <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/ernest-hemingway">Ernest Hemingway</a> and <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/gertrude-stein">Gertrude Stein</a> praised it, with one contemporary reviewer calling it “the best novel about murder written by any living author.” It has since been adapted to other media, notably as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s first movies. Today the novel is still considered the best fictional adaptation of the Jack the Ripper legend.</p>