Rumpole Rests His Case
By John Mortimer
Penguin (2003)
ISBN 0142003476
Reviewed by Rochelle Caviness - January 12, 2003
Rumpole Rests His Case contains seven exhilarating tales by Sir John Mortimer that feature the indomitable barrister, Horace Rumpole, and it is a 'must read' for all Rumpole fans.
Rumpole is a rotund, quick-witted, and somewhat weatherbeaten lawyer who has a habit of taking on those cases that no one else will take because they think that the case is hopeless. Rumpole seems to take a perverse pleasure is solving the unsolvable, and then rubbing it in the nose of his colleagues, and enemies, in the fact that he did the impossible - again! In one case in this collection, Rumpole manages to do the impossible while stuck in the hospital.
Mortimer's Rumpole stories served as the basis for the excellent PBS-TV series, Rumpole of the Bailey. For those who have watched the series, but have never read or heard one of Mortimer's Rumpole stories, this volume will be a real treat. The Rumpole in Rumpole of the Bailey series was played by Leo McKern, and you will find that his interpretation of the character exactly matched that of Mortimer's Rumpole.
Mortimer was a barrister, himself, so he brings a sense of reality to the stories that elevates them to a level above that of simply being well wrought stories. Mortimer, through Rumpole, satirizes the British legal system and the 'traditions' that circumscribe a barristers life and work. In this premier collection of Rumpole stories, we find that the esteemed barrister has once again surrounded himself with a eclectic assortment of clients and cases, from blackmailers to antismoking radicals, and of course, his indomitable wife, Hilda a.k.a. "She Who Must Be Obeyed."
If you are not already a card carrying Rumpole fan, you will be after reading these well-plotted, witty stories!
The seven tales contained in this collection include:
