 Book cover | |
| Author | Laird Koenig |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller |
| Publisher | Coward McCann |
Publication date | 1974 |
| Pages | 254 pp [1] |
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is a 1974 novel by Laird Koenig, about a 13-year-old girl named Rynn Jacobs who lives alone in a house, and murders people who threaten her solitary life. The book was adapted into a film by same name in 1976 that starred Jodie Foster as Rynn and Martin Sheen as perverted antagonist Frank Hallet.
Thirteen-year-old Rynn Jacobs, a British immigrant to America, occupies a small but comfortable house at the end of a lane in rural Long Island, New York with her frequently spoken-of yet absentee father. On Halloween night, Rynn celebrates her 13th birthday alone, but is rudely interrupted by the local town deviant and landlady's son, Frank Hallet, who claims to be out trick-or-treating with his wife's two sons (who lag considerably far behind him). Frank pesters Rynn with questions, and leers at her, attempting to pat her buttocks before she whirls around and stops him, to which he defends the act by claiming that by American custom, he gets to spank her on her birthday, before he leaves, embarrassed. The next day, Rynn runs her usual errands in town, revealing that she lives off of traveller's cheques left in a joint bank account by her father, and also that she has a fondness for Emily Dickinson poetry. She spots some other girls her own age on the bus, but finds them vapid and annoying. Rynn does, however, make one new friend: Officer Ron Miglioriti, a local policeman and an Italian immigrant with a kindly and humorous disposition. He cautions Rynn to avoid Frank Hallet, who was caught in the bushes in an incident where he molested an underage girl but was never formally convicted of the crime.
Rynn has an altercation with snobbish landlady Cora Hallet, a woman who insists on showing up uninvited and claims to be looking for jelly jars that she keeps stored in the cellar. Mrs. Hallet questions Rynn about her father, demands to know why the girl isn't in school, makes rude ethnic slurs about a local Italian-American family, and hints at the possibility that Rynn is Jewish, making an antisemitic comment about "sweet wine". After Rynn becomes frustrated and mocks Mrs. Hallet for having a sex pervert as a son, the woman slaps the girl harshly across the face, pushes past her and attempts to enter the cellar. Something inside frightens her, causing her to scream, but the cellar door hits her on the head, knocking her unconscious. Rynn attempts to hide the expensive vehicle that Mrs. Hallet left parked in her driveway, but Mario, a local high school student, spots her and becomes curious. Mario reveals that he's a "cripple" (walks with a limp due to not getting his polio vaccine), which often keeps him out of normal high school activities such as sports, and also that he's an amateur magician, earning extra money by doing magic shows for wealthier children in town. Rynn initially distrusts him, but after Mario surprisingly aids her in hiding Mrs. Hallet's car, she lets her guard down and invites the boy for dinner. While the dinner is very formal and proper aesthetically, the children eat with their hands and drink alcohol, and Rynn's father never shows up. As the children get drunk, play and chase one another, Mario finds Mrs. Hallet's umbrella stuffed among the couch cushions, which, to Rynn's shock again, he plays with jokingly for a bit but then hides before anybody can find the item. Officer Miglioriti makes a surprise visit, and Mario reveals that the man is his uncle. The trio laugh and chat, but after Officer Miglioriti is gone, Frank Hallet shows up and harasses the children. He tortures Rynn's pet rat, Gordon, by burning into the animal's eye socket with his cigarette and the tossing its body into the fireplace. He also mocks Mario for being disabled. Mario snaps and attacks Hallet with a concealed knife after Hallet calls him a derogatory term ("wop"), threatening to kill Hallet and calling him a pervert. After Hallet flees, Rynn finally reveals her secret to Mario: her father died by suicide after being diagnosed with a terminal illness, leaving her enough money in cheques to rent her house for 3 years, until she can get a job and support herself. She keeps up the illusion that she is homeschooled and that her father exists but is "working' or "travelling". Rynn's abusive mother had at one point located her, but Rynn poisoned her with potassium cyanide and then preserved her corpse in the cellar (this is what frightened Mrs. Hallet). Mrs. Hallet met the same fate. Mario fears that Rynn might poison him as well, but she doesn't.
As the days go by, Rynn and Mario form a romantic relationship, burying the corpses of Mrs. Hallet and Rynn's mother in the garden, hiding the muddy shovel, and keeping a low profile. Mario gets severely cold after digging in the November rain, so Rynn looks after him and tries to keep him warm, while also evading an obnoxious telephone call from Frank Hallet. Rynn and Mario have their first sexual encounter that night, which turns out awkwardly, but still affectionate. Officer Miglioriti begins to wonder where Rynn's father is, but he is fooled when Mario dresses up as an elderly gentleman with a rough voice, "autographing" a poetry book for the policeman and lifting his concerns. Unfortunately, Rynn's world begins to collapse when Mario falls ill with pneumonia and ends up in the hospital. She sobs and hugs Officer Miglioriti when he reveals that he is being transferred for work. He warns her to be careful around Frank Hallet. She visits Mario in the hospital and kisses him, crying when she learns that he might die. After wandering aimlessly through town, she returns home, but that night, she sees the shadow of a top hat and cape emerging from the cellar, believing it is Mario, fully recovered and playing a trick. She is disgusted when she discovers that it's Frank Hallet, who reveals that he knows about her murders and will tell somebody unless she allows him to rape her and make repeated sexual visits. The prospect horrifies Rynn, but she pretends to accept the offer, brewing tea and allowing the man to stroke her hair. The book ends on the implication, as Frank has a coughing fit, that Rynn has poisoned him with the cyanide as well and will bury him with the other corpses to conceal her life from anybody else.
Koenig adapted his novel into a 1976 film of the same name, directed by Nicolas Gessner and starring Jodie Foster as Rynn with supporting roles from Martin Sheen, Alexis Smith, Mort Shuman, and Scott Jacoby. [2] In 1997, he adapted it into a stage play. [3]
In 1974, the science fiction magazine Luna Monthly reviewed it as "A light, gripping, smoothly written thriller." The review also assessed the character of Rynn Jacobs as not precisely a villain, but "brilliant" and "warmhearted." [4] However, The Critic journal concluded "This doesn't work", saying Rynn was so clever and effective she did not come across as a teenager, comparing her to "an IBM computer". [5]
In 2015, Rynn was voted the 20th most evil child in literature by Abebooks experts and readers. [6]
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is a 1976 cross-genre film directed by Nicolas Gessner and starring Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen, Alexis Smith, Mort Shuman, and Scott Jacoby. It was a co-production of Canada and France and written by Laird Koenig, based on his 1974 novel of the same title.
Little Dorrit is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Clennam encounters her after returning home from a 20-year absence, ready to begin his life anew.
The Three Friends and Jerry(Swedish: De tre vännerna och Jerry) is a children's animated television series produced by Happy Life and TMO Film GmbH (Germany) in association with Nickelodeon UK and Nickelodeon Germany. The show was created by the Swedish illustrator Magnus Carlsson.
Jessica Beatrice "J. B." Fletcher is a fictional detective and writer and the main character and protagonist of the American television series Murder, She Wrote. Portrayed by award-winning actress Angela Lansbury, Fletcher is a best-selling author of mystery novels, an English teacher, amateur detective, criminology professor, and congresswoman. In 2004, Fletcher was listed in Bravo's "100 Greatest TV Characters". AOL named her one of the "100 Most Memorable Female TV Characters". The same website listed her among "TV's Smartest Detectives". She was ranked at number six on Sleuth Channel's poll of "America's Top Sleuths". Guinness World Records called her the "most prolific amateur sleuth".
Girls Bravo is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mario Kaneda and serialized from 2000 to 2005 in Shōnen Ace by Kadokawa Shoten. The story focuses on a high school boy who is allergic to girls who is transported to a mysterious world with a mostly female population; when he returns, one of the girls from that world becomes his housemate.
The Queen Victoria is the Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.
Parker Pyne Investigates is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins and Sons in November 1934. Along with The Listerdale Mystery, this collection did not appear under the usual imprint of the Collins Crime Club but instead appeared as part of the Collins Mystery series. It appeared in the US later in the same year published by Dodd, Mead and Company under the title Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
Mr. Mystery is a mystery-fiction book series written by Jim Aitchison under the pseudonym of James Lee. Unlike Mr. Midnight, it has a fixed group of main characters. The series is published by Angsana Books, Flame Of The Forest Publishing. 36 books in the series, including 6 Special Edition titles, have been published.
Psycho is a 1959 novel by American writer Robert Bloch. The novel tells the story of Norman Bates, a caretaker at an isolated motel who struggles under his domineering mother and becomes embroiled in a series of murders. The novel is considered Bloch's most enduring work and one of the most influential horror novels of the 20th century.
Gata Salvaje is a telenovela which aired first on Venevisión in Venezuela on May 16, 2002. It was released some days later on the Spanish language US TV network Univision from mid-summer 2002 until May 2003. Later, it aired in Mexico on Canal de las Estrellas from January 2003 to December 2003.
KITE Liberator is a 2008 Japanese direct-to-video adult animated action science fiction film and the second installment of the film series. It was directed and written by Yasuomi Umetsu, who previously directed the first film in the series. The film was released on 21 March 2008 on DVD and on 25 November 2014 on Blu-ray. Unlike the first installment of the film series, Kite Liberator does not include an extended cut, and therefore, it is the only one in the franchise not to include sexual scenes.
Emma Spool is a fictional character created by screenwriter Tom Holland for the 1983 film Psycho II. She serves as the primary antagonist, and is portrayed by Claudia Bryar. More attention is given to her character in Psycho III, although she only appears as a corpse.
Norma Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch in his 1959 thriller novel Psycho. She is the deceased mother and victim of serial killer Norman Bates, who had recreated her in his mind as a murderous alternate personality.
Laird Philip Koenig was an American author and screenwriter. His best-known work was The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, a novel published in 1974. The novel was adapted into the 1976 film of the same name starring Jodie Foster. He also wrote a play based on his novel.
The Lives of the Saints is a 2004 TV miniseries directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, written by Malcolm MacRury, and based on the 1990 novel Lives of the Saints, by Nino Ricci. The film stars Sophia Loren, Fab Filippo and Jessica Paré.
Three Stories is a 1997 Russian-Ukrainian crime comedy film directed by Kira Muratova. It was entered into the 47th Berlin International Film Festival. The picture won the Special Jury Prize at Kinotavr.
Wait Till Helen Comes is a 2016 Canadian film directed by Dominic James and written by Victoria Sanchez Mandryk. It is adapted from the book by Mary Downing Hahn. It stars Maria Bello with biological sisters Sophie Nélisse and Isabelle Nélisse, who play stepsisters in the film. The film was released in multiple Canadian cities on 25 November 2016.
Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales is a collection of interconnected short stories by Yōko Ogawa. It was published in Japan in 1998, and in the United States by Picador in 2013. Stephen Snyder translated the book into English.
Summerland is a 2020 British drama film written and directed by Jessica Swale, starring Gemma Arterton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Lucas Bond, Dixie Egerickx, Siân Phillips, Penelope Wilton and Tom Courtenay.
Hattie Livermore Whitten was an American serial killer who poisoned her husband and two daughters in the early 20th-century. Arrested after attending her daughter's funeral, Whitten hanged herself while in prison custody, and thus was unable to be put on trial for her crimes.