The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters

A recipe for a good old-fashioned yummy ghost story:

• One large, imposing and grand yet decaying English manor house
• Three eccentric family members
• A dash of old family tragedy
• Generous dollop of post-war angst
• One stolid, sensible outsider

Stir in some extra-heavy atmosphere.
Marinate until everyday objects start moving by themselves.

An English country doctor with modest upbringing finds himself involved in the matters of a well-to-do family when he is called in to tend to a sick servant. The isolated, eccentric family members ultimately come to rely on Dr. Faraday for companionship and for a connection to the modern outside world, and a deep friendship develops. As strange things begin happening at Hundreds Hall, the Doctor is drawn ever more deeply into the family drama.

Waters really draws out the tension. The “haunting incidents” evolve slowly from merely odd to terrifying and traumatizing. At the same time, the reader is gradually becoming emotionally invested in the characters, which makes what is happening to them all the more frightening. Listening to Simon Vance’s narration on the CD version intensifies this effect.

The author is masterful at cooking up psychological suspense even as she evokes the sad, uneasy atmosphere of post-WWII England, the almost physical ache of longing for the happier times that came before, and the fear of the unknown future. Waters’s exploration of the supernatural becomes a study in human motivations and fears, something that may appeal to fans of Daphne Du Maurier, Edgar Allan Poe, and Carol Goodman.

Check the WRL catalog for The Little Stranger

Check the WRL catalog for The Little Stranger on audio CD

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