Little Stranger is the first book I read by Sarah Waters, and the 500
paged novel scared the hell out of me!The book is well written and
builds slowly to a chilling supernatural tale that sure to build up
tension and dread. Though I felt like the plot was developing a little
too slowly for me, I still could not put down the book.Taking us to just
after the World War 2 in an English countryside, the little stranger is
a haunting story of one man’s obsession with a once grand Georgian
house knows as the Hundreds Hall.
mother once worked as a maid, will soon throw his life and the lives of
the family at Hundreds hall into one terrifying nightmare.The story is
well written and draws you into the lives of those at a Hundred Hall as
you see it thought the eyes of the narrator, Dr. Faraday.Image Credit:
Amazon.com
The Plot
faraday once visited Hundreds Hall with his mother when he was just a
small boy. She worked for the Ayresses – a then rich family – as a maid.
The boy completely fell in love with the house and it’s splendor.The
second visit happens years later and is mostly accidental.
Though very
happy to be seeing the once handsome house one more time, the now middle
aged bachelor is left completely disappointing at the deteriorating
state he finds the house in. It is clear that the Ayresses, just like
the other formally aristocratic families, are struggling with the
decline in their fortunes. But they still hold on, refusing to let go of
the estate.Dr. Faraday seems to be caught in between the hatred he
feels for the Ayres for belittling the ones beneath them, and the great
admiration that just draws him to the family. And that is when strange
and violent ghost-like happenings start taking place.
The Little Stranger
My Take
developing a little too slowly for me. This however all fell into place
later on in the book when you start to feel like that is how it should
be. I was also left feeling like the climax was a few pages away from
the end. The extra chapter just took away from the cliff hanger. But
that’s probably just me.