The Girl Next Door is Jack Ketchum’s fourth novel, published in 1989 . The work is based on the real story of the American girl Sylvia Likens , tortured to death by Gertrude Baniszewski [2] [3] .
| Girl next door | |
|---|---|
| The girl next door | |
 Title page of the first edition | |
| Genre | thriller horrors [1] |
| Author | Jack ketchum |
| Original language | English |
| Date of first publication | 1989 year |
| Publishing house | Hachette Book Group USA |
Content
Story
The main character of the work is David Morgan, on behalf of whom the narrative is being conducted. Morgan talks about his youthful memories. The action takes place in the 1950s in one of the small American cities [4] .
Near the house of Morgan lived a woman named Ruth Chandler, a single mother who raised six children and abused alcohol . Chandler aroused the sympathy of the surrounding teenagers, as she allowed her to fight and behave rudely in her house, to drink beer and smoke .
In 1958, two of her orphaned nieces, Meg and her younger seriously ill sister Susan, came to Chandler. After some time, David fell in love with Meg, while at the same time he began to notice more and more oddities in Ruth's behavior, testifying to the mental deviations of the woman.
The first time after the girls arrived, Ruth only insulted them, but then proceeded to regular beatings; Chandler soon began to praise her children when they tortured Meg, for example, they extinguished the body of the last cigarette . The woman locked Meg in the basement, where the girl died from the injuries inflicted on her shortly before the arrival of the police .
An angry David pushed Ruth down the stairs, causing Chandler to suddenly die. The policeman knew about this, but imagined death as suicide . In the finale, David says that Ruth’s children, who tortured Meg, became either criminals or beggars, and all died at an early age [5] .
Sylvia Lykens
The novel is based on the story of the murder of Sylvia Mary Likens . At the age of sixteen, Likens was left by her father in the care of the housewife Gertrude Baniszewski with her younger sister Jenny. Father paid Banishevsky $ 20 per week [6] . Sylvia has been abused by Banishhevsky, her children Paula and John, and teenagers Richard Hobbs and Koy Hubbard, who live next door. Three months later, Likens died of intracerebral hemorrhage , shock, and malnutrition . This case received a wide response in the United States and was called "the worst crime against a person in Indiana's history" [7] .
Criticism
On Amazon.com, the work has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 [8] . Fans of the book are American writer Stephen King [9] and former Australian politician David Bartlett [10] .
Screen version
In 2007, the film "The Girl Next Door " was released, based on this novel. This film starred William Atherton (adult David Morgan), Blythe Offart (Meg) and Blanche Baker (Ruth Chandler) [11] .
Notes
- ↑ Beahm G. Stephen King from A to Z: an encyclopedia of his life and work. - Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1998 .-- P. 113. - 272 p. - ISBN 978-0836269147 .
- ↑ Maberry J., Kramer DF THEY BITE !: Endless Cravings of Supernatural Predators. - Citadel Press, 2009 .-- P. 176. - 320 p. - ISBN 978-0806528205 .
- ↑ Dean J. House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying. - Brownsville: St. Martin's True Crime, 2008 .-- P. 231. - 256 p. - ISBN 978-0312946999 .
- ↑ Burt DS, D'Ammassa D., Danford N., Ford M. What Do I Read Next ?: A Reader's Guide to Current Genre Fiction. - Gale, 2009 .-- 656 p. - ISBN 978-1414422176 .
- ↑ Laymon R. The Lake. - Leisure Books, 2004 .-- 374 p. - ISBN 0843954507 .
- ↑ The murder of Sylvia Likens . indystar.com (September 16, 2010). Date of treatment October 7, 2010. Archived on February 20, 2012.
- ↑ Trials: Avenging Sylvia . Time Magazine (May 27, 1966). Date of treatment October 7, 2010. Archived April 30, 2012.
- ↑ The Girl Next Door . Amazon.com Date of treatment March 8, 2012. Archived on May 28, 2012.
- ↑ Noe, Denise. The Girl Next Door: A Powerful Film . The Torturing Death of Sylvia Marie Likens . Crime Library. Date of treatment October 7, 2010. Archived May 20, 2012.
- ↑ Rosenberger B., Dawson J. Dead Men (And Women) Walking. - Bards and Sages, 2006. - P. 169. - 174 p. - ISBN 1847289061 .
- ↑ Genzlinger N. Jack Ketchum's the Girl Next Door (2007 ) . The New York Times (3.10.2007). Date of treatment May 27, 2012. Archived May 27, 2012.
Links
- Page of the novel on the website of D. Ketchum
- The Girl Next Door on the Internet Movie Database