The Lodger
About this audiobook
According to legend, in 1910, Marie Belloc Lowndes attended a London dinner party where a guest told her that his mother’s butler and cook claimed they had once rented rooms to Jack the Ripper, the notorious mass murderer. The idea for “The Lodger” was born.
Mr. and Mrs. Bunting have sunk their savings into their house with plans to let rooms. But no lodgers have materialized, and they are on the verge of penury when, one foggy night, a knock on the door brings Mr. Sleuth, an unassuming gentleman whose needs are perfectly suited to the suite of rooms the Buntings have to rent.
Gradually, relief turns into suspicion, then dread, as Mrs. Bunting notices their savior’s strange habits are not mere eccentricities. When his late-night forays seem to coincide with the lurid headlines her husband reads to her about the grisly murders in London, she slowly realizes she may be harboring a monster. And if he’s discovered, it will mean ruin for the Buntings.
This is the original 1911 short story. Jack the Ripper’s identity was never discovered but “The Lodger” offers a tantalizing possibility that has entertained and intrigued readers for more than a century.
About the author
Marie Belloc Lowndes (1868–1947) was a prolific English novelist and the sister of the celebrated writer Hilaire Belloc. Her most famous novel, The Lodger, based on the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888, was an immediate bestseller and became the basis for Alfred Hitchcock’s first talking motion picture.
Anne Hancock began her career with the Library of Congress's National Library Service (NLS) Talking Books Program, where she has narrated more than 300 audiobooks in a variety of genres. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner, she has lived in France and the Netherlands and uses her training in the languages of both countries in her narration. In addition, she has successfully narrated books with English and Irish accents.
