The Little Stranger
3 journalers for this copy...
Picked this up at the Little Free Library in Atlantic Heights, Portsmouth, NH (#19505).
This book came along with me to a "Friendsgiving" party this weekend, where I read it in the big, broken reclining armchair in my sister's living room (I always claim it because no one else likes it!). It witnessed some strange things, up to and including the ritual burning of a plastic Pokémon figurine (as pictured here)...
Bringing this along to the Boston Bookcrossers meeting this afternoon for trading. If no one takes it then it'll come back home with me.
I got this book at today's Meetup at the Porter Square Panera. (It was a lovely meetup, with some new faces as well as old friends; thanks to all! And it was great to finally meet you, Iddylu!)
I enjoyed Waters' novel Fingersmith, and couldn't resist grabbing this one; looks nicely sinister! (I have to admit that the incinerated-Pokemon anecdote tickled me; I wonder what else this book has seen???)
Later: Very creepy story here, with one odd note: it's set in England, and yet I kept envisioning it as in the Deep South of the US, more of a fading plantation than a crumbling English country house. It wasn't until late in the novel that the English-ness of the setting really sank in. I suppose there are lots of similarities in rural communities with a heavy class-distinction tone, but every time I was reminded that the story was NOT set in, say, Mississippi, it jarred me!
The setup's fairly simple. Village doctor Faraday remembers the "big house" from his youth, when his mother worked there and allowed him to visit now and then. But that was decades ago, and the Ayres family fortunes have dwindled in the post-war years (again, I kept reading this as "post Civil War" rather than "post World War", not sure why). The family consists of the widowed matriarch, frail and retiring; her son, who suffered injuries during the war and has yet to recover, though he tries to manage the affairs of the Hall and its remaining land; and her daughter, who does a lot of drudge work around the crumbling house and weed-choked garden in an attempt to keep things running. There's one young servant, a 14-year-old girl of a nervous temperament, and other than that the huge hall stands empty... or does it?
The doctor's growing interest in the family seems a bit odd - he's more fascinated with the house as it appeared in his memories than with the way it is now, never mind with the actual people. But he woos the daughter and attempts to help the son with physical therapy for his injuries, and in general is a supportive neighbor. But odd things begin to happen, from a friendly dog lashing out at a visiting toddler to unusual injuries on the bodies of the residents - and the doctor is told that there's something in the house that seeks to do harm!
By the time the story plays out, the characters have suffered some extreme trials - and the doctor's true motives come into question. As he's the viewpoint character it makes the reader very uncomfortable to realize all this. Whether the cause of the troubles is indeed something supernatural or is the result of prolonged poverty, stress, and illness - or, perhaps, all of the above - is left to the reader to determine.
I admit that it was more than a little depressing to see the characters suffer, when some simple decisions could have freed them all - but, perhaps, it just wasn't possible for them to make those choices at the time.
Very atmospheric, if not very cheerful!
I enjoyed Waters' novel Fingersmith, and couldn't resist grabbing this one; looks nicely sinister! (I have to admit that the incinerated-Pokemon anecdote tickled me; I wonder what else this book has seen???)
Later: Very creepy story here, with one odd note: it's set in England, and yet I kept envisioning it as in the Deep South of the US, more of a fading plantation than a crumbling English country house. It wasn't until late in the novel that the English-ness of the setting really sank in. I suppose there are lots of similarities in rural communities with a heavy class-distinction tone, but every time I was reminded that the story was NOT set in, say, Mississippi, it jarred me!
The setup's fairly simple. Village doctor Faraday remembers the "big house" from his youth, when his mother worked there and allowed him to visit now and then. But that was decades ago, and the Ayres family fortunes have dwindled in the post-war years (again, I kept reading this as "post Civil War" rather than "post World War", not sure why). The family consists of the widowed matriarch, frail and retiring; her son, who suffered injuries during the war and has yet to recover, though he tries to manage the affairs of the Hall and its remaining land; and her daughter, who does a lot of drudge work around the crumbling house and weed-choked garden in an attempt to keep things running. There's one young servant, a 14-year-old girl of a nervous temperament, and other than that the huge hall stands empty... or does it?
The doctor's growing interest in the family seems a bit odd - he's more fascinated with the house as it appeared in his memories than with the way it is now, never mind with the actual people. But he woos the daughter and attempts to help the son with physical therapy for his injuries, and in general is a supportive neighbor. But odd things begin to happen, from a friendly dog lashing out at a visiting toddler to unusual injuries on the bodies of the residents - and the doctor is told that there's something in the house that seeks to do harm!
By the time the story plays out, the characters have suffered some extreme trials - and the doctor's true motives come into question. As he's the viewpoint character it makes the reader very uncomfortable to realize all this. Whether the cause of the troubles is indeed something supernatural or is the result of prolonged poverty, stress, and illness - or, perhaps, all of the above - is left to the reader to determine.
I admit that it was more than a little depressing to see the characters suffer, when some simple decisions could have freed them all - but, perhaps, it just wasn't possible for them to make those choices at the time.
Very atmospheric, if not very cheerful!
I'm adding this book to the Already Been Crossed bookbox, which will be on its way to its next stop soon. Enjoy!
*** Released for the 2019 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2019 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***
I took this from kaila-ann's Already Been Crossed Book Box. I've read one other by Sarah Waters (Fingersmith) and liked it, so have high hopes for this one.