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• A beautifully crafted tale of an old English mansion physically decaying while Britain's class system also begins to fray following World War II. The Little Stranger presents itself as a gothic romance with all of the trappings thereof, yet the author, the more than capable Sarah Waters, has a few tricks up her sleeve.Dr. Faraday is summoned to Hundreds Hall to tend to the ill housekeeper and is reminded of his previous visit, when he was all of ten years old. Through repeated interactions with the hall's residents, the Ayres family, Faraday manages to insinuate himself into their lives. Mrs. Ayres, the matriarch, and her children, 27 year old Caroline and 23 year old Roderick, live in the dilapidating estate house with their teenaged housemaid Betty. Faraday's mother had been a housekeeper in the hall years before. Mrs. Ayres' first daughter Susan died in the hall's nursery in childhood. From these elements, Waters brews an insightful, penetrating account of class tension, envy, jealousy, lovers' quarrels and, just possibly, a ghost or some other malevolent presence. The family are slowly driven mad by the hall, both mentally through the possible hauntings and physically by the shear enormity of the situation - trying to maintain an ungodly large estate on dwindling income.The novel brilliantly evokes its time and place, give us characters to care about and places them in harm's way. The suspense is slowly, almost excruciatingly built up. The doctor remains skeptical, the family members slowly succumb to the madness the house induces. And in the end, the ghost is masterfully revealed causing the reader to reassess everything revealed previously. Creepy, lyrical and lonesome, The Little Stranger makes the perfect October's evening read.

  5.00 out of 5

  TheTwoDs

• This is not a horror but is a spine-tingler. Its between the supernatural and the psychopathological. A great read - one I really enjoyed.Back Cover Blurb:In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, its owners - mother, son and daughter - struggling to keep pace with a changing society. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his.

  5.00 out of 5

  mazda502001

• Sarah Waters third novel is set in Britain after World War II. The main characters include the Ayres family and their family physician, Dr. Faraday. Dr. Faraday is called in for an innocent visit with the family's new maid, Betty, who lets slip during their interview that she has a strange feeling about the house. The good doctor passes this off as her naivete - she is young and not used to such a grand residence, nor in being away from her family. But, soon, the reader begins to see the cracks in the surface. Roderick, the heir to Hundreds Hall and the hope for the survival of the family's existence in the small village, begins to experince bouts of anxiety, depression, and something more. Soon the family hears noises in the hall, finds scratches in the woodwork, andThe Little Stranger reminded me very much of Shirley Jackson's fiction. Full of psychological suspense and tension, the novel will make you wonder - is the Ayres' family's residence, Hundreds Hall, haunted or not? Is there a taint on the Ayres family as some in the village suggest? Are they all mad? Dr. Faraday does not seem quite sure, and neither will you, dear reader! Once you start reading this book, you will not be able to put it down. However, sleep with a night light on - you'll need it! If you liked previous Gothic summer hits such as The Thirteenth Tale or The Historian, then check out this title!

  5.00 out of 5

  kmoellering

• When I started reading this book, I was instantly put in mind of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca which, given how much I loved that novel, can only be a good thing. Sure enough, this book did not disappoint. The Little Strangerhas the same eerie feel, the same crumbling manor house setting, the same complex psychology, and the same basic premise of an outsider breaking into the closed social circles of the landed gentry that has made du Maurier’s work such an enduring classic. In spite of this, Sarah Waters’ book is not in any sense a copycat; it draws on the standard themes of this type of gothic novel and employs them to create a new novel which is fresh, engaging and wonderfully, chillingly open-ended. What I enjoyed most about The Little Stranger was that it isn’t just a ghost story or a psychological drama, but also a portrait of the declining fortunes of the aristocracy following the Second World War. Like many others, the Ayres family find themselves inundated with land and a lovely (albeit dilapidated) historic house in which to live, but utterly lacking in money onwhich to live. This is a novel of social history as much as it is of possible paranormal activity, and rather than sitting uneasily side by side, the two aspects are inextricably linked. As the social and economic difficulties for the Ayres family increase, so too do the strange occurrences at the house until the two seem interdependent. The chilling uncertainty of the novel is very well balanced. The build up to the strange events is very gradual and the occurance of these events is random so that the reader never knows when the next will happen, creating an atmosphere of suspense. As the novel progresses, these events slowly increase in frequency and develop from being things which are reasonably easy to explain (an old dog biting a young child, for example) into the inexplicable, leaving the reader unsure of exactly what is happening and why. Is the little stranger a ghost? An evil presence brought about through the thoughts of one or other, or possibly even all, of the characters? Is it merely the imaginings of a family of overwrought people struggling desperately to make ends meet? Are they mad? Sarah Waters doesn’t lead the reader to any particular conclusion, but leaves you stranded in your own confused thoughts. I loved this about the book, but I appreciate it isn’t for everyone.

  5.00 out of 5

  Ygraine

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