This was my first Sarah Waters book, and I must say I do enjoy her writing style.
Hundreds Hall. Haunted or not? Ghost, poltergeist, or murderer?
Minor spoilers ahead.
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Hundreds Hall, once a grand estate, has fallen into decline with the decline of its family’s fortune. The narrator, Dr. Faraday, first knew of the house as a small child when his mother was a maid there. After a 30 year absence, he is called back to the house because of a maid’s illness and is taken aback by the condition of the house and the family.
Over time he becomes sort of a family friend to Mrs. Ayres and her adult children Roderick and Caroline, though perhaps the friendship is more on his side than theirs due to class differences. All the while, strange happenings are afoot. Strange burn marks, footsteps in empty rooms and the like are witnessed by each occupant. The story is cleverly told, and the ending is left for the reader to decide. I’m one who actually likes this type of ending because I end up thinking about all the possibilities for days! The mood of the book was sufficiently creepy without being gory and was an excellent choice for the RIP Challenge, too.
The Little Stranger is shortlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize.
2009, 480 pp.
[Disclaimer: This book was obtained from my public library.]
Ok.
So now that that’s over you have to read FINGERSMITH! Pretty please?
I do need to read another Sarah Waters novel!
I didn’t read the review coz of spoilers
What if I really do get this book 
This sounds like a really interesting book. I read a similar creept tale sometime back: Thirteen Tales by Diane Setterfield and loved it. I should read this one too.
Well, I read the review but didn’t see anything too overtly spoilerific which is good because it does sound interesting. Though I’m not sure about this whole “leave it to the reader” ending… is it done like a cliffhanger, or more of a fill-in-the-blank?
It’s not a cliffhanger, there are just a few possibilities.
I really want to read this one, so I skipped most of your review to avoid spoilers! Sorry!
But I’m glad you enjoyed it, makes me even more eager to read it!
I have read all her books, loved all of them except for The Night Watch but for some reason, have delayed buying this book. I think, maybe after your review, I may just buy it.
I have heard of Fingersmith but not this one. Sounds interesting!
I’m reading this at the moment. I’ve enjoyed her other books more than this, because I’m finding it just a little bit slow.
Hi! I have a quick question. I love your little ball cloud of tags! How on earth did you do that?! I promise I won’t tell
It’s a wordpress plugin so I don’t think it’s available for blogger. Thanks, though, I love it, too!
I really want to read this! Just need to find the time…
I think reading Fingersmith about two weeks back actually resulted in me not enjoying The Little Stranger as much as I could’ve, for I kept expecting the surprises and twists that Fingersmith was brimming with.
Highly recommend Fingersmith though
)
Don’t you just love the cover, too? One of the things I liked most about this book was the tension that just kept simmering throughout the story. She is one of my favorite authors and like others, highly recommend Fingersmith (as well as Affinity).
Lesley, I do love the cover — it was perfect!
This was an incredible book. But I loved The Night Watch more. If you have a chance, please read it.
Yes it definitely was creepy without anything majorly out of the ordinary happening. This was my first audiobook and I really enjoyed it. I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future.
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