The Little Stranger

A novel about the crumbling remains of a once-great English manor house, the now-impoverished aristocratic family struggling with its upkeep, and the family doctor who finds his life becoming increasingly intertwined with theirs. And, perhaps, also of something else, something in the house that might be a ghost, or might be the projected imaginings of unhappy, stressed-out souls, or neither, or both.

Objectively, this is a rather slow book. It takes at least a hundred pages before anything at all happens, and it doesn't exactly get much more fast-paced from there. And, while the are some moderately spooky moments, it's not slow in that creepy, building-up-suspense way, either, exactly. It just quietly takes its time. But Waters' writing flows so effortlessly and is so utterly readable, that it doesn't really feel slow. In fact, I found it pretty absorbing, in an oddly low-key sort of way. Similarly, the ending, which is suggestive and ambiguous, rather than building to a big revelatory climax, doesn't seem like it should be entirely satisfying, but pretty much worked for me, anyway. ( )

The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters, takes place just after the end of World War II, in a formerly magnificent country estate in rural England. The Ayres family has fallen on hard times, however, and their home, Hundreds Hall, has become shabby in its genteel decline. Dr. Faraday, a country physician who comes from the lower classes, is summoned to the Hall to care for Betty, the young servant of the household, and from that unprepossessing start, he soon finds himself enmeshed with the upper class family. The son and heir has long suffered from war wounds, both physical and mental; the mother's health and mental faculties are gradually declining; and strapping sister Caroline seems to be the only one of the family untouched by the troubles of the house, but perhaps she is merely covering up what she knows of the evils haunting the house and family.... I generally dislike the label "literary fiction" because it tends to ghettoize all other kinds of fiction no matter how well written they are, but I would have to use that term to describe this novel. Also terms such as "ghost story," "psychological thriller" and "haunted house" come to mind, all set within a scenario in which the reader is free to decide what s/he would like to believe about the goings-on at Hundreds Hall. The writing style is a little old-fashioned, as is fitting for the period in which the novel is set, but that in no way keeps the reader from becoming absorbed by the book. I actually took a great deal of time to read this novel - a week, whereas ordinarily I would have read at least two books of comparable length in that period - simply because I wanted to savour the experience for as long as I could. Recommended. ( )

This is a psychological thriller, very well-written but a little thin for Sarah Waters. You keep turning pages because you want to see why all these strange things are happening, but it’s hard to feel totally invested in these lonely people. The ending is excellent, and brings everything together. ( )

Simon Vance did a wonderful narration of this audio book. Had I read a hard copy I might have given it 3 stars. I was disappointed with the ending, but the story, plot and characters were, otherwise, nicely developed. ( )

A fantastic book. Why? Well when you have finished a book and still keep on thinking about it the author did a very good job.

After about 100 pages I expected that I knew what was really happening (Mainly because of other books I'd ready by Sarah Waters) but boy did she put me on the wrong footing here.

After reading this it was so hard to start a new book. 4.5 stars. ( )