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I'd predict that 99 percent of the small talk in the staff elevator at my library involves the following question and its answers: "Are you reading... Continue »

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The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family
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The Little Stranger

by Sarah Waters

ISBN13: 9781594484469
ISBN10: 1594484465
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

From the multi-award-winning and bestselling author of The Night Watch and Fingersmith comes an astonishing novel about love, loss, and the sometimes unbearable weight of the past.

In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to see a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the once grand house is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its garden choked with weeds. All around, the world is changing, and the family is struggling to adjust to a society with new values and rules.

Roddie Ayres, who returned from World War II physically and emotionally wounded, is desperate to keep the house and what remains of the estate together for the sake of his mother and his sister, Caroline. Mrs. Ayres is doing her best to hold on to the gracious habits of a gentler era and Caroline seems cheerfully prepared to continue doing the work a team of servants once handled, even if it means having little chance for a life of her own beyond Hundreds.

But as Dr. Faraday becomes increasingly entwined in the Ayreses' lives, signs of a more disturbing nature start to emerge, both within the family and in Hundreds Hall itself. And Faraday begins to wonder if they are all threatened by something more sinister than a dying way of life, something that could subsume them completely.

Both a nuanced evocation of 1940s England and the most chill-inducing novel of psychological suspense in years, The Little Stranger confirms Sarah Waters as one of the finest and most exciting novelists writing today.

From the Hardcover edition.

Synopsis:

The New York Times bestseller and Booker Prize contender that "delivers...a ghost story that creeps up your spine" (Seattle Times).

One post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, Dr. Faraday is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once impressive and handsome, is now in decline. Its owners-mother, son, and daughter-are struggling to keep pace with a changing society, as well as with conflicts of their own. 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 intimately entwined with his.

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About the Author

Sarah Waters is the author of Tipping the Velvet, a New York Times Notable Book, Affinity, which won her they Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award, Fingersmith, and The Night Watch, both of which were shortlisted for both the Orange Prize and the Man Booker Prize. She lives in London.

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: nrlymrtl, September 27, 2012 (view all comments by nrlymrtl)
I became captivated by the story because of Sarah Waters‘ nuanced take on a gothic-style ghost story. In fact, if I did not know from the beginning this was a ghost story, this tale would have been a historical fiction in my mental categorization for nearly all of the book.

This book kept me riveted during my commute and on days when I didn’t commute, I often thought of reasons to run a few errands just so I would have time and opportunity for this book. I truly enjoyed the slow buildup of the mystery; were all the unfortunate and abnormal incidents at Hundreds Hall due to some paranormal force or aberrant human behavior? This book kept me guessing to nearly the end. I also liked how there was some ambivalency to the ending, leaving it up to the reader to decide one way or the other. In short, this book made me think, and we all know I like a good think.
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: karenlibrarian, February 22, 2012 (view all comments by karenlibrarian)
If you love Shirley Jackson (The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castle), please read this. Here it is:

After the end of the second World War, a remote English country house called Hundreds is falling to pieces around the Ayres family. A country doctor is called out to see to the ailing maid. He acquaints himself with the elderly Mrs. Ayres and her daughter Caroline, begins to treat her son Roderick for a war injury, and slowly becomes a fixture. After a while, strange things start to happen.

On one level, this is a ghost story. The strange, unsettling things that happen at Hundreds might be caused by a poltergeist, or an unhappy spirit, or possibly some psychospiritual manifestation of the unhappy family themselves. The story is measured (i.e., a little slow--but I loved it) and builds suspense nicely. As a ghost story, this is as good as Jackson or James.

But it's also quite obviously a story about class. Doctor Farraday is a member of the labouring classes, who pulled himself up to his profession thanks to the hard work of his parents. (His mother once served in Hundreds as a governess.) With so many houses destroyed in the Blitz, and so many people displaced, England's new Labour government is struggling to supply housing. The huge, ailing estates of the formerly-rich (most now penniless) are a natural target. As Farraday becomes a part of the household, so does the modern, workaday world encroach on the family's land--and housing begins to be built on the grounds that Farraday remembers loving as a boy. So, it's complicated.

This is, besides a scary book, also a lovely, bittersweet book. Waters has powers of description that amaze me. She pays attention to all the right details--in how people behave, in how the house looks, in everything. Four big shiny stars for this one.
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: firemirage22, January 2, 2011 (view all comments by firemirage22)
I love it because there are no vampires, no zombies, no rogue Catholic monks, no genteel lady detectives, and no blue aliens. Just great writing, a fabulous story, and actual character development. Read it by the fire on a cold rainy night & prepare to be awake for many hours!
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Product Details

ISBN:: 9781594484469
Author:: Waters, Sarah
Publisher:: Riverhead Books
Subject:: Literary
Subject:: Historical - General
Subject:: Literature-A to Z
Edition Description:: Paperback / softback
Publication Date:: 20100531
Binding:: TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:: from 12
Language:: English
Pages:: 528
Dimensions:: 8.14x5.56x1.05 in. .86 lbs.
Age Level:: 13-13

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Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

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