Editing Ruth Rendell (section)

==Early life==
Rendell was born as Ruth Barbara Grasemann in 1930, in [[South Woodford]], [[Essex]] (now [[Greater London]]).<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11579110/Ruth-Rendell-crime-writer-obituary.html|title=Ruth Rendell, crime writer - obituary|date=2 May 2015|access-date=23 March 2018|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> Her parents were teachers. Her mother, Ebba Kruse, was born in Sweden to Danish parents and brought up in Denmark; her father, Arthur Grasemann, was English. As a result of spending Christmas and other holidays in Scandinavia, Rendell learned Swedish and Danish.<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/aug/03/featuresreviews.guardianreview9|title=The Profile: Ruth Rendell|author=LibBrooks|work=The Guardian|date=3 August 2002}}</ref>  Rendell was educated at the County High School for Girls in [[Loughton]], Essex,<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/> the town to which the family moved during her childhood. In 2016 a blue plaque was unveiled at her former home, 45 Millsmead Way, Loughton, in recognition of her time living there.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-24 |title=Blue plaque unveiled for renowned and much-loved author Ruth Rendell |url=https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/14298745.blue-plaque-unveiled-renowned-much-loved-author-ruth-rendell/ |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=East London and West Essex Guardian Series |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Plaques |first=Open |title=Ruth Rendell blue plaque |url=https://openplaques.org/plaques/40276 |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=openplaques.org |language=en-GB}}</ref>

After high school, she became a feature writer for her local Essex paper, the ''Chigwell Times''. She submitted a story narrating a local sports club dinner she had not attended. Because of her absence at the dinner, she did not know that the after-dinner speaker had died midway through the speech, and failed to report it. She was subsequently forced to resign.<ref>{{cite news|work=BBC|title=Author Ruth Rendell dies aged 85
|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32564813}}</ref>