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The Turning

2.66 of 5 stars 2.66 · rating details · 300 ratings · 96 reviews

A dark house.
An isolated island.
Strange dreams
and even stranger
visions . . .

Jack is spending the summer on a private island far from modern conveniences. No Wi-Fi, no cell service, no one else on the island but a housekeeper and the two very peculiar children in his care. The first time Jack sees the huge black mansion atop a windswept hill, he senses something cold, som...more

Hardcover, ebook, 256 pages

Published September 25th 2012 by HarperTeen

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September 2012 YA Fiction

27th out of 111 books — 84 voters

September 2012

45th out of 183 books — 261 voters

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Nov 28, 2012 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: continuations-n-retellings, why-yes-i-ya, oh-no-biiiiiiirds

"It's cold in here," she said.

"I know. I'm freezing," I said.

"But you're sick," she said. "I'm just dead."

"You're dead?" I said.

"You already knew that," she said.

"I am seriously sick," I said. "Is this really happening?"

"This is really happening," she said.

Once she said that, a lot of things seemed settled.

and what exactly, is settled?? well, that this epistolary retelling of The Turn of the Screw will lose a lot of the nuance of its source material, for one, and that while it isn't really as ba...more

28 likes · like · see review

Nov 13, 2012 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, library-book, young-adult

I had two major issues with this book. The first is format. I've loved some books that use a letter writing or diary format, in fact, some of my favorite books have unreliable narrators so they often use a letter or diary format. Unfortunately for The Turning, the use of letter writing just isn't well done. Jack doesn't write at all like a teenage - I mean AT ALL. It is really disconcerting. He also frequently tells the reader about something that was told to him. So you get things like, "Sophie...more

3 likes · like · see review

May 02, 2013 Life Between Coffee Spoons rated it 3 of 5 stars

Choosing a rating for this one was hard. Two stars feels so harsh, yet three stars feels far too generous.

Jack is a teenager hired to babysit two children for the summer on a remote island with no phones or television. Thus, to communicate with his father and girlfriend back home, he has to rely on writing letters. The epistolary format kept the book interesting, though I think it compromised some of the character depth.

The good: I've never read The Turn of the Screw, but this novel made me want...more

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May 01, 2013 Maria rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book is labeled as young adult, but I would definitely mark it as a tween novel, just in case.

The Turning focuses on a teenager named Jack who has decided to work a summer job as a babysitter on an island secluded in the middle of nowhere, in what looks like a haunted castle. Yea...sounds like my idea of fun.

I had a couple of issues with this book.

1) the entire novel is written in the form of letters between Jack and Sophie, his girlfriend, and Jack's dad. But to me, it was a great idea ex...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Megan Carr rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Turning is a story about a soon to be college student who lands a very odd job babysitting on an island. There is one house with two very unusual children with a chilling past and no modern technology on this island. The lucky part for Jack is that he will get to earn good money and use it toward his college dues next year. Jack is desperately hoping to go to college with his girlfriend who just happens to be more well off financially. The story is written in letters that Jack, his father, a...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Alicia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: boy, dysfunctional, magical, mystery, odd, outdoor-adventure

I'm not quite sure what I just read? I think it was a ghost story or was it about mental illness or two vampire-like, strange kids, or a creepy island, or a haunted house? I think it created some great suspense at the beginning as a very strange uncle interviews Jack to "play/entertain" his niece and nephew for a summer but the slow unravel of a sinister ghost story isn't sustained. There are a few mysterious stories that are told and set Jack up to begin hallucinating or dreaming and the odd pr...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

An epistolary novel about a young man spending the summer babysitting two odd children on a remote private island. The island has no phones, no wireless, no televisions, and no cell phone service. Better still, the island's main house is supposedly haunted and painted black in an erie tribute to a tragic accident. When the young man starts seeing people no one else can see his letters to his girlfriend become more unhinged and subtly menacing. A quick read and a good, fun ghost story (or tale of...more

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Nov 22, 2012 BAYA Librarian rated it 2 of 5 stars

In this modern retelling of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, high school student Jack takes a job as a guardian and playmate for two peculiar children on an isolated island. The children’s uncle, who hires Jack, says he wants no communication with Jack or with the orphaned children. The island has no telephone or Internet service, and Jack will see only Linda, the children’s full-time caretaker, and the occasional workman. But soon Jack begins to learn about the island’s strange past and be...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Owen rated it 2 of 5 stars

*Spoilers included in this review*

I'm so disappointed. I really wanted to like this. I got it from the library (free finished copy to keep!) for an upcoming Halloween book club and I was so excited because the cover is amazing. It sounded really creepy too.

It is about a boy named Jack who, in order to get some money for college, goes to spend the summer on a remote island, Crackstone's Landing, babysitting two kids, Miles and Flora Crackstone, whose parent were killed in an accident. There is no...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Once Upon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Given the opportunity to spend the summer away from home and make money at the same time, Jack was all for it. Little did he know, this easy job at making quick money for college would lead to not being worth it all. Jack has left behind his father and girlfriend to spend his summer with siblings and their yearly guardian at a castle located in a very secluded area. During his boat ride to his summer home, he meets a couple that shares with him some of the mysteries behind the family that he is...more

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May 18, 2012 Gem rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read2012, yabooks

Just finished an ARC of this book. I rarely read ghost stories so my creepy ratings are usually pretty skewed (ie. everything is scary).

The story is told in letters, mainly from the main character, Jack, to his girlfriend, Sophie. The story reads well, although the language doesn't exactly sound like a realistic teen boy to a teen girl. No matter though, as the letters are quite fluid and engaging. I read through this book in one sitting, mostly to find out what happened. I'm not familiar with...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, horror

In a modern retelling of Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, Francine Prose’s new novel The Turning transports readers to a haunted island. Jack has been hired by a wealthy man to babysit his niece and nephew, Miles and Flora, for two months until school starts. The children, whose parents died when they were very young, are living with are living in their family estate on an isolated island with the family cook, Mrs. Gross. Despite the fact that there is no Internet, television, or phone recep...more In a modern retelling of Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, Francine Prose’s new novel The Turning transports readers to a haunted island. Jack has been hired by a wealthy man to babysit his niece and nephew, Miles and Flora, for two months until school starts. The children, whose parents died when they were very young, are living with are living in their family estate on an isolated island with the family cook, Mrs. Gross. Despite the fact that there is no Internet, television, or phone reception on the island, Jack takes the job in hopes of earning money to go to the same college as his girlfriend, Sophie. The novel is narrated in the letters Jack and Sophie send each other.

From the ferry ride to his new job, Jack receives ominous warnings about his destination. An elderly couple tells him that nearly a hundred years earlier, a young couple from the island tried to run away and elope because the woman’s father did not approve of the match; tragically, their boat capsized and they drown, leaving the island with a haunted legacy. Jack finds this story spooky, but he is reassured about his decision to come when he meets Mrs. Gross. She is a warm, calm and attractive woman who convinces Jack that there is no merit to the wild rumors about Crackstone's Landing. He finds Miles and Flora to be very different from most children but well behaved and friendly enough. As Jack settles into life on the island though, he senses that something is not right. He is troubled by the strange stares that the children constantly give each other, the locked room in the house, and the two strangers only he can see on the island. As he tries to get to the bottom of these mysteries, he discovers that there is indeed something evil at Crackstone's Landing.

If you had not read Henry James’s original story, you probably would find The Turning to be a spooky, enjoyable horror story. For those who are familiar with The Turn of the Screw, this interpretation will be a disappointment. Prose never fully captures James’ creepiness and the ending falls flat. The problem is in the epistolary format, which does not allow the tension to build. The pacing feels too rushed; one minute Jack is fine and in the next letter he is completely mad. Though there are plenty of scary images, reader doesn’t have the opportunity to feel Jack’s fear and terror.

Despite the shortfalls, middle grade readers looking for ghost story will enjoy The Turning. Recommend it to those you liked Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children or The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray.
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Nov 13, 2012 Sage Collins rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed

In my ever-continuing quest to find a YA novel that actually creeps me out, The Turning was just one more disappointment. However, the low rating is more a reflection of other disappointments I found with this book.

Right from the beginning I had problems. I knew that the MC was a teenage boy, but I had to double-check that the first "chapter" was actually supposed to be his POV because I read it so much as a girl or as a young boy. I usually don't have this problem with voices. Unless it's one o...more In my ever-continuing quest to find a YA novel that actually creeps me out, The Turning was just one more disappointment. However, the low rating is more a reflection of other disappointments I found with this book.

Right from the beginning I had problems. I knew that the MC was a teenage boy, but I had to double-check that the first "chapter" was actually supposed to be his POV because I read it so much as a girl or as a young boy. I usually don't have this problem with voices. Unless it's one of your more stereotypical girl or boy voices, I pretty much have a gender-neutral reading voice. But I could not shake the feeling of Jack as a girl in the first letter.

The story is told through a series of letters, which lends a problem to the personalities, particularly through Jack who changes for the worse during the course of the book. Instead of seeing his mental processes naturally through his thoughts, he has to tell them to someone else in a letter. Mostly this is his girlfriend. So we get letters starting over and over again with his neediness for her to write him, with his suspicions that she's cheating on him, with his assertions that the only way he can get her to write to him is by saying whatever awful thing he wrote last time.

As uncomfortable as watching the letters progress in this manner is, the real problem lies in the fact that Jack's personality change doesn't fit in with the rest of the book. If there was a connection to the ghosts that explained it, I could have accepted that. Ghost stories like this are often little mysteries, where the crazy stuff that's happening to the character has some connection to the ghosts before they died. But Jack's personality change had no connection to the ghosts. In a novel like this, I really need to see all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, and instead they were left out scattered on the table.

I haven't read the original, so I can't say whether the author was held hostage to parts of the story she couldn't see to change.

Recommended for fans of: epistolary novels, remakes, maybe/maybe not crazy characters, ghost stories with no answers, prophetic seagulls.(less)

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Nov 19, 2012 Renae M. rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, fairytales-and-retellings, ghosts, gothic, paranormal, published-2012, books-i-own, epistolary

Though The Turning is the first novel I’ve read by Francine Prose, it isn’t my first experience with this author. A couple of semesters ago I had a class on rhetoric, and an essay (or rather, a raging rant) by Prose was used as an example of how NOT to make an effective argument. Similarly, I think that The Turning could be an example of how NOT to write a YA ghost story. Francine Prose did everything wrong in this book; the best part about The Turning is its gorgeous cover. Everything else was...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Aeicha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Francine Prose's The Turning is a modern YA retelling of the classic The Turn of the Screw. I've never read the original, but I am familiar with the basic storyline and Prose's updated version is a great example of a retelling with a twist. The Turning may not have blown me away, but I did have a lot of fun creeping myself out while reading it.

Jake is spending his summer on an isolated island babysitting the two young chargers of a wealthy man. Jake, the two young kids (Miles and Flora) and the...more Francine Prose's The Turning is a modern YA retelling of the classic The Turn of the Screw. I've never read the original, but I am familiar with the basic storyline and Prose's updated version is a great example of a retelling with a twist. The Turning may not have blown me away, but I did have a lot of fun creeping myself out while reading it.

Jake is spending his summer on an isolated island babysitting the two young chargers of a wealthy man. Jake, the two young kids (Miles and Flora) and the cook Mrs. Gross are the only inhabitants on the island and the house has no phone, tv or internet connection. Jake is hesitant about the job but it pays well and he needs the money for college. Even before Jake arrives at the big, black house, he experiences an uneasiness about the place; an uneasiness that is only increased once he meets the odd, overly polite children and learns about the tragic history surrounding the house. And when Jake starts to see people that no one else sees he struggles with his grip on reality. What's real? Who's lying? What can Jake really believe?

The Turning has a lot going for it: a genuinely eerie and captivating plot, a likable MC and a hauntingly palpable atmosphere and setting. One does not need to be familiar with The Turn of the Screw to enjoy or understand the modern YA retelling. Prose follows a very similar plot and keeps many of the same names as the original, but she definitely adds her own twists and turns to make the story fresh.

This is an epistolary novel, or narrated through the use of letters. In this case, the story plays out through Jake's letters to his girlfriend and dad and their letters to him. I've found that this narration style very rarely works well or usually reads awkwardly, and this book is no exception. When Jake's letters to Sophie are ten or more pages and recount days worth of activity and conversations they are bound to feel contrived and unbelievable. I would have rather the book was merely just told from Jake's POV and included a few letters here and there. But I do like that it is told from Jake's POV as this allows readers to really experience his emotions, thoughts and confusion. We only get to see people, places, things and reality through Jake's eyes and I think this is very important to the reader's overall experience and creates an immediate connection between Jake and readers.

Prose creates a really haunting, eerie and atmospheric setting with the isolated island, big black house and sprawling landscape. It really is that classic horror movie/story type of setting that gives you excited chills. The palpable fear and evil is made even that more chilling by the isolation of the island. The big, twisty, seemingly never ending house is fantastically scary and the kind of place I'd love to go ghost hunting in. Of course, with an isolated setting one must suspend a certain level of disbelief and merely accept it for what it is. For example, the childrens' uncle, who lives in the city and hired Jake, does not allow any phones, tv or internet on the island nor does he want Jake or Mrs. Gross to contact him for ANY reason. Now it's hard to believe that even the most isolated places wouldn't have at least a phone for emergencies, but this place doesn't. I found that the sooner I stopped questioning things like this and just went with it, that I enjoyed the story more, which I think we must often do when it comes to the horror genre.

Jake is a likable and relatble MC; he isn't overly remarkable or special, but his average-ness is comforting. I never had any problem believing in his authenticity or convictions. Mrs. Gross is an easy to like and laid back lady. She's funny and nurturing and genuinely cares for the children and Jake too. Now those kids, Miles and Flora, they are definitely an interesting pair. One of things that scares the beejeezus out of me in horror movies or stories is creepy kid ghosts, and while Miles and Flora are NOT ghosts, they are still some strange, creepy-ass kids! Miles, especially, gave me goosebumps and the shivers, but in a really fun way.

Once Jake encounters what he assumes are ghosts, Prose deviates from the original story and weaves her own shocking and twisty story. It was fascinating to witness Jake fall into a kind of frenzied madness and fear, and the author does a great job of creating very tangible emotions. While I enjoyed most of the story, I was pretty disappointed with the abrupt and loose ending. So many questions are left unanswered and so many things that seem like vital clues aren't discussed. It just feels like so much of what the author built throughout the story (world-building, character development, atmosphere) crumbles because of the unsatisfying ending.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS: The Turning is a loyal, yet fresh retelling of a classic, but more importantly it's an entertaining and captivating horror story. The story may not be mind-blowingly original or wildly unpredictable and the ending disappointed, but I thought, overall, it was a lot of scary fun.
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Nov 02, 2012 TheBookSmugglers rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: did-not-finish, terrible-books, what-the-fuck-is-this-shit, young-adult, horror

This was SO bad. Original review posted on The Book Smugglers

The Turning is a failed, poorly-executed attempt at retelling Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw.

Jack is a high school senior who needs to save money for college and as such, has accepted a summer position as a babysitter. He is to take care of two orphaned children, Miles and Flora, at the only house on an isolated island where the two children live with a housekeeper. Jack has been hired by the children’s uncle who does not want to...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Book Twirps rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jack has taken a job babysitting for the summer in hopes of saving up some money so he can afford to go to the same college as his girlfriend, Sophie. Babysitting doesn’t sound like much fun, especially when he has to spend his summer on an island cut off from civilization. Not only that, but the ferry only visits three times a week, he’ll have no phone, no internet and no television. The job seems a bit out of sorts — a wealthy man has asked Jack to watch his orphaned niece and nephew, the uncl...more Jack has taken a job babysitting for the summer in hopes of saving up some money so he can afford to go to the same college as his girlfriend, Sophie. Babysitting doesn’t sound like much fun, especially when he has to spend his summer on an island cut off from civilization. Not only that, but the ferry only visits three times a week, he’ll have no phone, no internet and no television. The job seems a bit out of sorts — a wealthy man has asked Jack to watch his orphaned niece and nephew, the uncle will not be on the island, and if there are any problems, he expects Jack and the live-in housekeeper to take care of them. He doesn’t want to be bothered. Jack is tempted to say no, but the amount of money he’s offered is enough for him to agree to the job.

When he arrives at the island, he’s happy to find that the housekeeper, Mrs. Gross, seems very normal and kind. The children, though, are slightly peculiar. They dress as though they’re from a different era and they are very quiet and reserved. He begins to sense something is off after a few days. There’s a locked room in the house, the children seem to share some unnerving secret and there are two people on the island that it seems only he can see. Is Jack imagining things, or is there something dark and dangerous lurking in the shadows?

I’m a HUGE fan of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I’ve read it countless times, and we produced the stage version at the theatre where I work a few years ago. It’s a chilling tale of haunting and madness. Just thinking about it gives me the creeps. I had really high hopes for this one since it is a modern retelling of that book. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. The basic story was still there, even though Ms. Prose updated it to modern times and made the governess from the original into a teen boy. The ending was also changed, and while it was okay, it felt rushed and didn’t carry the same punch as the original.

This novel is written as a series of letters, mainly from Jack to his girlfriend, Sophie. There are a few other letters peppered between the pages, but most are from Jack. I think my biggest problem was that Jack didn’t feel authentic. I just didn’t see a teen boy today speaking (or in this case, writing) the way Jack did. His phrases and word choice often didn’t work, and it really got on my nerves when he would call out Sophie by name in his letters. It would go something like, “Can you believe that, Sophie?” (This isn’t an exact quote, just an example). I wasn’t sure why that was necessary. He addressed her when he opened the letter, so we know to whom he is writing. It seems pretty trivial, but it bugged me.

I did like the children in the book, and I felt they were just as “off” as in the original story. Sadly, they were the two most interesting characters, and I wanted more from them.

This is a quick read at just under 300 pages, and if you’re not familiar with the original story, you may enjoy it more than I did. Maybe I was just too close to the original to really get into it.(less)

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Feb 04, 2013 Kim Smiley rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not the greatest book, but something to read in a day. Written in the form of letters, Jack is going off to live on a secluded island for the summer to help care for two orphaned children who live with only a caretaker/cook. Their uncle is never around and Jack got this job as his new boss is a friend of his girlfriend's father. There will be no internet, phone or tv. These kids were homeschooled, and the oldest, who is 11 (I think) went to a private school before summer break. Now Jack is to en...more Not the greatest book, but something to read in a day. Written in the form of letters, Jack is going off to live on a secluded island for the summer to help care for two orphaned children who live with only a caretaker/cook. Their uncle is never around and Jack got this job as his new boss is a friend of his girlfriend's father. There will be no internet, phone or tv. These kids were homeschooled, and the oldest, who is 11 (I think) went to a private school before summer break. Now Jack is to entertain the 8 yr. old girl and 11 yr. old boy for the next two months.

On the ferry on the way over, he hears from an older couple about the tragedies that happened upon the island he will be staying. A couple who fell in love but the families who wouldnt let them marry. They fled by boat to elope and were drowned. Legend has it that you can still see their boat in the water on a foggy night. jack immediately has a bad feeling about all of this. With the seagull that seemed to scream to him to get off the boat and go home to the redheaded woman who seemed to be crying and contemplating jumping off the boat, something just felt off.

Then Linda picks him up to drive him to the house. This is a very dark and menacing looking home. It was added on and added on and it gives him a creepy feeling. To add to that feeling are the odd children. Maybe it was the isolation or homeschooling, but they are very well behaved and proper.

Then Linda starts telling him about the woman that took care of the children before. She fell in love with the groundskeeper and she knew they were up to no good. She doesn't know what influence they had on the children, but it wasn't a good one. As they both left the island, they were both soon murdered in a bar. When he sees a picture of them, he immediately identifies the woman as the redhead he saw on the boat, and the man he swore was at the door to the library when he was alone one day.

As Jack is writing to his girlfriend back home, his letters are getting more and more bizarre as he seems to be losing his grip on reality. Once a non believer in ghosts, he now thinks he is seeing them. He is delusional about his girlfriend seeing an ex-boyfriend and he is soon believing he may be in love with the ghost of this woman.

A quick read that fell a little short for me. What could've been a really frightening, bone chilling story, was just kinda lukewarm.(less)

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Sep 30, 2012 Brandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, boy-books, library, speculative-fiction, teen, creepy-scary, potential_booktalks

Jack's summer job is to hang out with two eerily well-behaved children on an isolated island--no TV, phones, internet, cell service, nothing. Despite his early misgivings about the job (including the seagull screaming at him to turn back on the ferry over), he enjoys it--but there's still something weird. Then he starts seeing the man. And then the red-haired woman from the ferry. And then learns that they're both dead, and the mysteries keep on coming.

A retelling of The Turn of the Screw (which...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen

While spending the summer on a remote island with no internet and no tv would be as unappealing as you can get for most teens, Jack is more than willing to give it a try. See, Jack has been hired to take care of two children for the summer, and though it means spending those months away from his girlfriend, it also means a big boost towards his college funds. Flora and Miles are great. They're odd, to be sure, but they're well behaved and completely unlike most kids today. But Jack soon becomes...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Krissi Bryant rated it 3 of 5 stars

At first I didn't like how the book is in a format of just letters. Within the letters Jack writes Sophie telling her word for word, event to event what is happening on the island. But as the book goes on and you can slowly see jack going crazy it stops bothering me.
The main characters are Jack, Sophie, Jack's dad, Linda, Miles, Flora, Lucy, and Norris.
Jack is given a job on an island with no internet, no tv, no wifi, nothing. He is supposed to baby sit Miles and Flora for two months. Sophie is...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

This is by far one of the dumbest books I have ever read. What the heck was that that I just read. The cover was scary looking, and the inside sounded scary so I thought I would try it. It was in the YA section of the library. But I felt like I was reading a book for 10 year olds. Francine really could have made something of this book, but it was boring and it went absolutely no where. Now that I'm finished I realize I got NOTHING from it. I don't even feel like I read a book. Nothing happened....more

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Oct 11, 2012 Chris Wolak rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

I don't recall where I saw this book advertised online, but I didn't realize it was categorized as a young adult novel until I was asking for it at the bookstore. The blurb I'd read made it sound creepy and the cover looks somewhat creepy in a Harry Potteresque kind of way, so I bought it. I haven't read any fiction by Francine Prose, but I enjoy her book, Reading Like a Writer. And it is October, time for creepy reads.

The Turning tells the story of Jack, a teen who accepts a summer job living o...more I don't recall where I saw this book advertised online, but I didn't realize it was categorized as a young adult novel until I was asking for it at the bookstore. The blurb I'd read made it sound creepy and the cover looks somewhat creepy in a Harry Potteresque kind of way, so I bought it. I haven't read any fiction by Francine Prose, but I enjoy her book, Reading Like a Writer. And it is October, time for creepy reads.

The Turning tells the story of Jack, a teen who accepts a summer job living on an isolated island taking care of two kids, Miles and Flora. Jack got the job through his girlfriend's father, a father who supposedly wants Jack away from his daughter. Jack needs to raise money to attend the same college as his girlfriend. Miles and Flora were orphaned when their parents were killed in a train crash in India and are now provided for by their rich uncle who wants nothing to do with them. There's a cook, Linda, who lives year round with the kids who has become a stand-in mother. Linda's husband died on the island. Other people have died on the island as well. There's lots of rumors about bad happenings on the island and in the house. Is the house haunted? What's up with all the significant glances between Miles and Flora? Is Jack seeing people or ghosts? Is his girlfriend cheating on him with her ex? Jack's mind starts to spin.

The story is told through letters written mainly by Jack to his girlfriend and a few to his father. There are some return letters to Jack from the girlfriend and father. This framework doesn't work very convincingly. Epistolary novels are hard to pull off and while Jack sounds like a teenager some of the time, I just don't buy that these are letters he's written--they're much too safe, consistent, and prosy to have been written by a living person, let alone a teen adventurous enough to accept such a job.

And the letters from the girlfriend and father are so obviously designed to move the plot along. Here's an example from the father:

Dear Jack,
I'm glad to hear you're doing so well and have adjusted to the island and that you're even having fun. It's hard to believe that three weeks have passed since you left. Sometimes it seems like five minutes, and sometimes like five months. I miss you--even the loud music and the video games and all the stuff I used to complain about.
You know, Jack, something happened yesterday at work. I can't remember if I told you I got a couple of weeks of cabinet work in a house that this doctor from Boston is renovating. My friend Russ is doing the painting. I hadn't seen Russ for a while, and he asked how you were. I told him about your job on the island. . . . He got a strange look on his face and said he remembered reading about something strange that happened there, something nasty. Or maybe it was something that happened to some people from there. He thought maybe even a murder or a double murder. . . . I had to quit working for a minute and take a deep breath.
Russ always gets things wrong. He probably meant some other island completely. I figured you'd have heard about it now, if there was anything . . . which I'm sure there isn't.
Anyhow, keep having fun. Say hello to the kids for me, even though I've never met them. Likewise Linda. I'm sure I'd like her as much as you say I would.
Love,
Your dad (132-133)

Really? What dad would write something like that?

Leaving the epistolary problems behind, the book is simply flat. It has some curves and turns that seem promising that never develop into anything substantial. And it's also not very creepy, at least not for a young adult novel. I actually thought it read more like a book for middle schoolers. Then again, creepy reading when I was a teen was Stephen King, so perhaps I'm just skewed.

I'd recommend The Turning to middle schoolers and young teens who haven't read much creepy stuff. If they like this, there's certainly more out there to keep them reading. Speaking of which, I'm told The Turning is a retelling of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, which I thought I had read, but apparently have not, so I've added it to my own TBR list.(less)

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Nov 24, 2012 Tiffany (For Those About to Read...) rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I was in High School we had to read Turn of the Screw for my Gothic Literature class. I loved the novel because we had to figure out if the main character was crazy or if something paranormal was occurring (I thought she was crazy). I was so excited when I found out that Francine Prose was writing a retelling of the story called The Turning.

The Turning posses the same qualities that makes the original story so awesome—the question of the character’s sanity. While I do still think that Jack...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Jarica rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is really cool. I like it a lot. It's kind of strange and mysterioius but it has lots of twists and turns that make it so you will not be able to put the book down for more than a second!
It actually took me only a few pages to get into the book because he was saying how a seagull was screaming at him to turn around.
The whole time Jack is writing to his girlfriend, Sophie, about the strange things that occur after he was hired by Mr. Crackstone to babysit his niece and nephew on a seclu...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Kari rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, 2013

The Turning is being touted as a unique take on The Turning of the Screw. I was looking forward to a good ghost story. In truth, I'm still not sure what I read. In the end, I couldn't decide if it was a ghost story or the ravings of a delusional teen. The book is told through letters. The majority of which are written by Jack to his girlfriend. I'm not sure this really worked for me as the letters didn't feel real. Who recounts entire conversations the writer and reader had with each other? It j...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Christianne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

BAYA Review

Prose, Francine. The Turning. HarperTeen, 2012. 256 p. ISBN: 9780061999666. $17.99 All Teens **

In this modern retelling of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, high school student Jack takes a job as a guardian and playmate for two peculiar children on an isolated island. The children’s uncle, who hires Jack, says he wants no communication with Jack or with the orphaned children. The island has no telephone or Internet service, and Jack will see only Linda, the children’s full-time c...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Alma Ramos-McDermott rated it 4 of 5 stars

While reading this retelling of “The Turn of the Screw,” I was just as creeped out as I was when I saw the movie version “The Innocents” long ago as a young girl. I had never forgotten how scared I’d been when I saw the movie, and “The Turning” brought it all back to me.

In this version of the 1898 novella, high schooler Jack takes a job working for the summer on an island looking after two orphaned children, Miles and Flora, who live with their housekeeper, Linda, in an ancient mansion owned by...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Ali rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, short-stories, mystery

This just wasn't a good book -- I never realized how hard it must be to write an epistolary novel before, because I had never read one that failed so miserably prior to this.

The narrator's voice seemed totally off, and I don't understand why Prose chose to tell the story in letters (other than as a sort of nod to "Turn of the Screw.") Jack and Sophie are not believable teenagers, and the letters that they write are very stilted and un-authentic feeling. Not only is everything telegraphed, but t...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Peter rated it 4 of 5 stars

I quite liked this one. (It's been a long time since I read THE TURNING OF THE SCREW, but looking it up now, I realize that THE TURNING used a lot more from the original than inspiration, which does kind of lower my appreciation of it. As I felt with Gretchen McNeil's TEN, I would have liked more of a pastiche than such a strict retelling. But with this one, I had forgotten so much of the original that my reading was less influenced.) I thought the modernization of the story was good, and I thin...more

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About Francine Prose

Francine Prose (born in 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American novelist. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1968, and received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1991. She has sat on the board of judges for the PEN/Newman's Own Award, and her novel Blue Angel, a satire about sexual harassment on college campuses, was a finalist for the National Book Award. She is now teaching at Bard College.

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Books by Francine Prose

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“Something about the beauty of the library and how many books there were made me feel really eager to read, and I couldn't wait to get some free time so I could go back there and explore.” — 1 person liked it

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