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The Little Stranger

3.46 of 5 stars 3.46 · rating details · 13,358 ratings · 2,554 reviews

A chilling and vividly rendered ghost story set in postwar Britain, by the bestselling and award-winning author of The Night Watch and Fingersmith.

Sarah Waters's trilogy of Victorian novels Tipping the Velvet, Affinity, and Fingersmith earned her legions of fans around the world, a number of awards, and a reputation as one of today's most gifted historical novelists. With...more

Paperback, 512 pages

Published May 4th 2010 by Riverhead Trade (first published 2009)

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Jul 15, 2011 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: creepycreepy, gorgeous-prose, hometown-glories-uk, e

This review is going to be like one of those fridge poetry thingymabobs because I'm tired and coherency isn't a top priority of mine right now.
Here are some words and phrases that came to my mind after finishing this book, in no particular order.

Atmospheric | Subtle| DON'T LOOK THROUGH THE KEYHOLE! | Observations are almost clinical at points | Man, I need to read more of Sarah Waters' books | Passionate | Perfectly paced | Holy twisteroo, Batman | WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?! | Don't go upstairs and i...more

40 likes · like · see review

Dec 23, 2010 Tatiana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: booker, 2010

As seen on The Readventurer

Looking back at The Little Stranger, I think I quite liked the novel as a whole, especially the ending that wrapped up the tale in a curious and deliciously ambiguous and enigmatic way.

This sort-of-ghost-story is an interesting portrayal of the downfall of an aristocratic family in post-war Britain and a deep exploration of what it means (psychologically) for such a family to witness a slow dilapidation of its once grand estate.

Sarah Waters's writing is elegant and h...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Margaret rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Departing from her preferred 19th century context, as she did in her last book The Night Watch, Sarah Waters sets her latest novel in post-World War II Warwickshire and tries her hand at an Old Dark House, Haunted-Or-Is-It story in the Jamesian tradition of subtle, ambiguous psychological chillers (The Turn of the Screw, The Beast In the Jungle. But while James intuitively understood that the atmosphere of such tales depends on sustaining the unsettling mood, and so they’re best realized – and i...more

27 likes · like · see review

Nov 02, 2009 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, britain, fiction, mystery, booker-books, ghost-stories

I was too busy wanting this book to be something that it wasn't, that when I realized my frustration at the narrator was Water's intent and plot strategy, I couldn't get passed my disappointment to fully enjoy what she created.

I have read similar books, which I won't mention here for fear of ruining them with the comparison, but this too may have played into my reading/opinion/frustration at The Little Stranger.

I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this book, but if you want to read a sligh...more

15 likes · like · see review

Oct 29, 2010 Mariel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: The proletariat will wear corduroy, not melancholic expressions

Recommended to Mariel by: I could have flirted with her, though

Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger was an uncomfortable book to read. I really, really disliked the narrator, Faraday. I didn't want to be in his headspace at all. The kind of guy that would think a woman should be grateful he looked at her because her ankles were supposedly fat. It's dickiness like that, relentlessly. That was the whole point of this book, his views of what he's owed and placements in life, and taking everything he said at face value would rob the story of its true creepiness. I...more Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger was an uncomfortable book to read. I really, really disliked the narrator, Faraday. I didn't want to be in his headspace at all. The kind of guy that would think a woman should be grateful he looked at her because her ankles were supposedly fat. It's dickiness like that, relentlessly. That was the whole point of this book, his views of what he's owed and placements in life, and taking everything he said at face value would rob the story of its true creepiness. It's not a ghost story in the Caspar sense of the word, but ghosts of the past as paranoia, and those kinds of ghosts taking up shop because they are all-consuming bad personality. The ghosts were not quite Scooby-Doo smoke and mirrors, but it still might be more a little annoying to any reader reading for traditional ghosts (I like different). Faraday uses it all as justification for being a bad man, ghosts and class issues. I wanted it to mean more than being mean.
I recall a discussion I had with a friend from South Africa about the troubles over there adjusting post-apartheid. She compared it to the American South where I lived, and asked me if it ever got any better. It has drawers of trapped stinky air to be released and opened when you don't expect it. I think of this because I don't really get the English class system of money and accents. I would if I ever travelled into other social circles, maybe (no country club membership for me). Faraday hates at the same time he longs to be "good enough" by those (not quite) dying standards. What I get is that people want to place blame. I'm confused when I read than an actor from Liverpool will have difficulty getting acting parts as an upper classmen. Anyway, there will always be new problems if you try to change any fucked-up situation. That doesn't mean it should always go on that way, just to avoid the ripped bandaid feelings. I could care less about the "big house" way of life coming to an end. I didn't cry for them only having one maid. Waters was smart playing on that specific growing pain period in time, but it really wasn't about that in the end. It wasn't about the supernatural (I didn't care about that except it wasted time). It was about a dick thinking he was owed, every time. That can be related to things going on in the world always, the haves losing what they had and the have-nots being angry about the past. Some people looking for any thing they can point to and blame for why their castles in the sky never appeared before them on a silver platter. That doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want. I'd rather not read a whole book rationalizing shit because of a goddamned house. It was too hard to read between the lines of Faraday's mind to reach anything else. Then it was about the stupid house. Ugh. What do you do afterwards? Whine and inventory what everybody else has?(less)

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Mar 09, 2010 Nicola rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was really great! I chose to read it after seeing it on the TV book club and I am really glad I did. It is one of the best written books I have read in a while and the story is clever and compelling. The characters are well developed and I can see why the TV book club chose this book because it opens up theories and themes that would be great to discuss.

The story is essentially a ghost story set at Hundreds hall following the story of the Ayres family as their home and society crumble...more This book was really great! I chose to read it after seeing it on the TV book club and I am really glad I did. It is one of the best written books I have read in a while and the story is clever and compelling. The characters are well developed and I can see why the TV book club chose this book because it opens up theories and themes that would be great to discuss.

The story is essentially a ghost story set at Hundreds hall following the story of the Ayres family as their home and society crumble around them on post war Britain. The story is told by the family doctor Dr Faraday and traces a line of one tragedy after another that leads to the complete collapse of the family. While labelled a ghost story - people who are not fans of that genre should not be put off because it is written in a way that leaves the ghosts in the plot in question. A stream of stubborn realism runs alongside the supernatural elements and so while it is a ghost story if you wish it to be, it doesn't have to be if you don't.

I think it is worth mentioning the characters in the novel as they are brilliantly formed and as essentially one of the main characters is not a human but Hundreds Hall. It becomes part of the story in too strong a way to be considered anything other than a character in my opinion

*Spoilers*

Caroline was to me a very interesting character. The strongest of the family, and the main connection with Dr Faraday, the narrator - we as readers probably knew her best and yet there was a feeling that at the end of the novel that we might not have known her at all. Mrs Ayres is the main touch point with the ghost element of the story - being the one who created the strongest link with an actual dead spirit. Roderick and his illness open up a whole new stream of thought - madness leading to belief in the supernatural or supernatural leading to madness? But by far the most interesting character in the novel is the narrator for me. My theory for the whole ending of the book was that the entire downfall of the family was his doing - the first decline in the house that would essentially go on to destroy them all was when he as a child chipped away at some of the plaster in the house - and it was when he returned years later that the downfall of the family happened. He is a proud and rather nasty character at times - full of his own self importance and self pity at his humble beginnings. Its obvious to me that he has a stronger connection with the house than he has with the family despite what he may say. I felt that throughout the book that HE was somehow feeding the negative energy that was giving the house power to do all the evil that was happening. I hated his attitude - how he felt spited on behalf of his servant mother when the Ayres laughed about old stories of their servants while at the same time quite blatantly bullying the current servant Betty. I hated his attitude towards Caroline, how he basically decided that they should be married and kept pushing and pushing at her when she was very obviously obviously not comfortable and how he planned to change her and her home once they were married. He then stood and declared her insane simply because she hadn't married him - when I believe that it is perfectly clear that she had not married him because she is a lesbian! Then, with the family destroyed he took it upon himself to continue to go to the house - he is obviously poisonous!

As I already said - I think this book is great. The only problem that I have with it is that I am not sure that it is particularly memorable! I think that 6 months down the line I may struggle to remember the story but it is most certainly well worth the read and I have every intention in following it up by reading more of Sarah Waters Novels(less)

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E2c Caroline: not at all sure that she's a lesbian; more convinced that she was frightened by Faraday's ultra-possessiveness, controlling attitude and (le...more
Oct 20, 2012 06:15pm

Jane Ayres I so agree with your review. I literally just finished the book and feel it will haunt me for some time as I try to unravel all the threads. As soon a...more
Mar 23, 2013 12:23pm

Oct 30, 2012 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ghost-story, bookclub-reads, first-person-narration

All I can say is I think Erica Wagner must be a real wuss. On the jacket of this book she is quoted from her review in ' The Times ' as saying ' Waters is determined to scare the pants off her audience....you'll want to sleep with the lights on '....I so didn't. As a ghost story it ranks middling and apart from one or two moments it was fairly anodyne but as a story of loneliness and neediness and the disection of an unfulfilled and disappointed life it was excellent. The two main characters of...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ghost-stories

This is classified as a ghost story, but as a ghost story it is very unconvincing and not really very chilling; no Whistle and I'll Come To You menace here. However this is actually a really good novel which captures the zeitgeist of post war Britain in the 1940s and Waters has done her research well. The real themes are class and the decline of the landed gentry, the rise of the welfare state and the NHS.
It is less Edgar Allan Poe more Josephine Tey; it reminded me of The Franchise Affair. The...more This is classified as a ghost story, but as a ghost story it is very unconvincing and not really very chilling; no Whistle and I'll Come To You menace here. However this is actually a really good novel which captures the zeitgeist of post war Britain in the 1940s and Waters has done her research well. The real themes are class and the decline of the landed gentry, the rise of the welfare state and the NHS.
It is less Edgar Allan Poe more Josephine Tey; it reminded me of The Franchise Affair. The themes are very similar. The narrator Dr Faraday is a doctor who tends to the residents of the Big House, the Hundreds, the Ayres family; mother, daughter and son. At one time he would have been trade; he now almost becomes a friend, even a potential suitor for the daughter, almost. It is a very English novel in its treatment of class, respectability and the inability of a certain section of the landed gentry to maintain their impossibly large and crumbling houses. There is, of course the spectre of a socialist government and death duties in the background and the encroachment of large council estates being built way too close to the hosue for comfort, on land that had to be sold to try to maintain an impossible lifestyle.
The ghost part of the story seems to be something stalking the residents of the house; possibly the ghost of a dead child, but it feels more like the dead hand of a lost Edwardian and 1920s past forever gone.
There are homages to lots of other novels. There is a touch of the Miss Havisham's about the decay of the house. The son is called Roderick (Fall of the House of Usher, I think) and of course The Turn of the Screw is recollected. There was almost a feel of Trollope in the plot construction and the interrelation of the characters and a touch of the detective story about the goings on in the house.
The story is slow to start, but on reflection, I enjoyed it, not as a ghost story, but like Night Watch, as historical novel exploring the changes Britain underwent in the 1940s(less)

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Nov 02, 2012 K.Z. Snow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

4.25

Time to eat crow. I was being a lazy (and probably stupid) reader when I began this book. Now that I've finished it, I know I must read it again to do it justice.

I realize how carefully it was conceived, with what meticulous attention to detail. The narrator, whom I'd initially dismissed as bland, is anything but (if a reader isn't lazy and/or stupid :)). The plot is full of subtle foreshadowing and telling symbols. The concluding chapters are riveting. All in all, The Little Stranger is a h...more

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May 22, 2009 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, audiobook, ghost

If you are looking for a traditional horror novel, you won't find it in
The Little Stranger. This book is not a variant on The Shining that just happens to be set in post-WWII Britain: it is essentially historical fiction that happens to have a touch of the supernatural about it. And as historical fiction it is excellent. Sarah Waters evokes the atmosphere not only of another time (1947) but, for Americans at least, another place as well because in many ways The Little Stranger is a very "Britis...more If you are looking for a traditional horror novel, you won't find it in
The Little Stranger. This book is not a variant on The Shining that just happens to be set in post-WWII Britain: it is essentially historical fiction that happens to have a touch of the supernatural about it. And as historical fiction it is excellent. Sarah Waters evokes the atmosphere not only of another time (1947) but, for Americans at least, another place as well because in many ways The Little Stranger is a very "British" novel. In her depictions of the Ayres family and Hundreds Hall, the author shows us the final death throes of an entire British way of life that had lasted for centuries in one form or another. Whatever our modern feelings of distate for a formal class system may be, the author makes us feel how devastating the loss of it was for those at the top, and how it left them adrift, not only physically due to lack of servants, but ethically as well: for if they are not, as Mrs. Ayres describes, "an example" of all that is good for those below them, what purpose do they serve?

Another lingering remnant of that way of life that plays an important role in the story is the idea that what you can achieve is - at least partially - determined by who your parents were in local society. Dr. Faraday, the son of a shop-keeper and a mother who had been "in-service", still feels the awkwardness of being the first in his family to "rise above their place". The resistance of what is left of "county society" to the new ideas of equality and independence is very obvious when they gather at Hundreds Hall for a small evening party and find Dr. Faraday in attendance, drink in hand. Regardless of his evening dress, they immediately assume he is there only because someone is ill. It has to be explained to them that he is there as a guest and even then there is some awkwardness, not because of who Dr. Faraday is, but because of who his parents were. Dr. Faraday may be a perfectly nice man and a skilled doctor, but he's still not quite "their sort".

If immersion in the atmosphere of a historical period does not interest you, you will not like The Little Stranger. A great deal of what is horrifying in the novel - and it is horrifying - is intimately tied to that cultural period of British history. If the supernatural "incidents" are pulled out of the story and examined strictly for their shock value a la modern horror novels, they will be disappointing. This book is the result of many different threads, interwoven so skillfully that they cannot be separated and still make any sense. The supernatural aspects of the story are also of the more ambigous variety. If you enjoyed The Haunting of Hill House, The Turn of the Screw or even the more modern A Good and Happy Child you will enjoy the frightening elements of The Little Stranger. If you prefer your supernatural forces to come with complete explanations, this book may feel incomplete to you.

Link to an interesting review of this book by NPR.
(less)

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Mar 27, 2011 Manussawee rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: constant-reader

I was really hoping to like this book more, but I was left a little unsatisfied and disappointed.

The book told a story of a country doctor, Dr Faraday, who became involved in affairs of an old English family, the Ayres. Faraday had known the family since he was a boy through his mother who used to work for the family. The house, Hundreds Hall, had made a strong impression with Faraday even as a young boy. His feelings were rekindled when he was given the opportunity to visit the Hall as a doctor...more I was really hoping to like this book more, but I was left a little unsatisfied and disappointed.

The book told a story of a country doctor, Dr Faraday, who became involved in affairs of an old English family, the Ayres. Faraday had known the family since he was a boy through his mother who used to work for the family. The house, Hundreds Hall, had made a strong impression with Faraday even as a young boy. His feelings were rekindled when he was given the opportunity to visit the Hall as a doctor answering a house call. After a while, series of strange incidents started happening in the house with its members--the mother, Mrs Ayres, the son, Roderick, and the daughter, Caroline. Roderick was the first to have strange events happening to. He was later committed to a mental institution after unexplainable fires broke out in his bedroom. A while later Mrs Ayres began to show strange behaviors. She said that she could feel the presence of her dead daughter, Susan, and that she had been hurt physically by her. She ended up hanging herself, though it was unclear how it could had happened considering she was heavily sedated. Caroline was the last of the family members. She was found dead on the floor of the house and was presumed to have committed suicide by leaping from the second floor, even though she had never exhibited any troubled signs.

At the center of it all stood Dr Faraday. He was the narrator of the story, but was a biased observer. He insisted that all the strange events could not be supernatural, but were explainable with scientific reasonings. Faraday concluded that everyone was suffering from some degree of mental illnesses, even though there were times when he was conflicted and thought that supernatural phenomenon was possible. He went seeking advice from another colleague, Dr Seeley, on what was happening at the Hall. Seeley planted ideas in Faraday's head that strange force might be possible:

'Is that so surprising, with things for that family so bleak? The subliminal mind has many dark, unhappy corners, after all. Imagine something loosening itself from one of those corners. Let's call it a--a germ. And lets say conditions prove right for that germ to develop--to grow, like a child in the womb. What would this little stranger grow into? A sort of shadow-self, perhaps: a Caliban, a Mr Hyde. A creature motivated by all the nasty impulses and hangers the conscious mind had hoped to keep hidden away: things like envy, and malice, and frustration...

This statement turned out to be very significant to the story. At the end, when things were falling apart at the seam for Faraday and Caroline, she called him out that he was the one who wanted to save Hundreds and that was his only goal. She said that he didn't really love her, but actually the house was what he loved. I think this is when the story really unfolded. Faraday was exposed as somewhat a fraud. After Caroline's death, I was left to wonder if Faraday was actually the "little stranger." The family members all experienced different things, but as Mrs Ayres put it: "the house knows all our weaknesses and is testing them." Different family members had different weakness. I think that was why Caroline was the least affected until the very end. At the inquest of Caroline's death, it was revealed by Betty that Caroline yelled out "You!" before she leapt to her death. That implied she saw someone she knew... Could that someone be Faraday? Nothing was happening to the family until Faraday's arrival. The author certainly left that for the reader to wonder.

The story was entertaining, and some of the passages were definitely spooky, but it also dragged on in some parts. The story also left a lot to the imagination. Unfortunately, something was lacking in the book for me.(less)

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May 23, 2010 Mike Staten rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: period-contemporary, author-britain, genre-narrative-fiction, with-a-goodreads-group, 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The novel succeeded in communicating an image of the post-war decline of the landed class. This would be a great book for a reader that wants to get a sense for that setting.

The language was fluid, easy to read, and pulled me forward. I read the ~500 pages in very little time.

The story is intentionally ambiguous. There are several possible explanations for the events in the book. This of course prompts a lot of speculation in some readers or groups. If you like speculating on how things might ha...more The novel succeeded in communicating an image of the post-war decline of the landed class. This would be a great book for a reader that wants to get a sense for that setting.

The language was fluid, easy to read, and pulled me forward. I read the ~500 pages in very little time.

The story is intentionally ambiguous. There are several possible explanations for the events in the book. This of course prompts a lot of speculation in some readers or groups. If you like speculating on how things might have actually played out, this is a good book for you.

One of the problems I have with the novel is that it failed to make me feel invested in the possible interpretations of events. I don't care if "the little stranger" actually existed and if so which character was responsible for its existence. I would have felt more invested if the novel had done a better job evoking the Uncanny. I think it tries to do it but it falls short of the great stories that do so successfully, e.g. The Turn of the Screw or for Spanish readers the stories written by QUIROGA HORACIO or Maria Luisa Bombal. Or, instead of going for the Uncanny, it could have aligned the reader with a character that actively struggled with the conflicting possibilities. The character Caroline did struggle with the question of what was actually happening in the house but the story wasn't focalized through her. Instead we saw things through the perspective of a character (Dr. Faraday) that nearly always opted for the rational explanation and was not personally experiencing the strange/ambiguous phenomena. Because Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 focuses its story through a character that is heavily invested in the correct interpretation of events, I also found meself trying to figure out what was really going on.

I consider Dr. Faraday's first person narrative to be a weakness as well. A lot of the story depends on the experiences of other characters. Having those events told by Dr. Faraday was distracting. I think three alternatives could have been better in these situations: a switch to a third person narrator, multiple first person narrators, or some clue or reason to believe that Faraday might have had first had knowledge of the events (through supernatural means).(less)

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Apr 21, 2010 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2010

I love ghost stories and this was a luscious one. Set in the 1940’s right after the war a young WREN comes back to the family manor house after her RAF brother gets badly burned and her mother needs help with his care and care of the quickly dilapidating house. They’ve even had to sell some of the vast land to stay solvent. Things for the gentry are changing quickly. They only have two servants left and the youngest one, a girl just into her teens, gets ill they call a doctor who has just arrive...more

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Oct 22, 2009 Bettie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: published-2009, boo-scary, conflagration, britain-england, historical-fiction, dodgy-narrator

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 01, 2010 Melinda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you're not afraid of things that go bump in the night this psychological thriller is for you. Taking place just after WWW2, The Little Stranger tells the story of Hundreds Hall, a once grand estate and its owners the Ayers family. Dr. Farrady, whose mother once served as a maid at the manor, is called to look in on a sick servant. He is shocked by the condition of the house and its occupants. Soon their lives intertwine ...

Waters takes her time developing the rich storyline and complex charac...more

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Jan 28, 2010 Laurel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, suspense

I have been wanting to read something by Sarah Waters for awhile now, and chose this book primarily because it was one of only 2 available by her on Audible.com. I love stories where the house becomes a character in and of itself. What I don't tend to like, though, is when said house appears to be haunted. Creepy stories ... well... they totally creep me out. :) But this book is not your average ghost story. In fact, we are not even sure IF it is a ghost story, all the way to the end. The eerine...more

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May 22, 2010 Jen Knox rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read other reviews that praised the depth of the characters, but I never felt engaged enough to agree. The premise was good, the details were lovely, but the story itself didn't seem fully realized and I didn't miss the characters when I closed the book. A decent read.

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Nov 02, 2009 Diana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was quite torn about how to rate this book and went between 2 and 3 stars. I love most of Waters' books. I loved Tipping the Velvet and Affinity was a great ghost story, but this book was like her other book Night Watch-long, drawn-out and left me wondering what the point was. Faraday, the main character is not really likeable-but that being said, neither are any of the other characters. The book ends with no real wrapping up of any details-though you are left with this feeling that the author...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

The Little Stranger was a riveting good read; I couldn't put it down. Sarah Waters has a way with words and is a gifted storyteller. The pacing was perfect with an at first pleasant story eerily descending into horror.

The novel is narrated by Dr. Faraday, a village doctor in England in the late 1940s. Dr. Faraday's mother was a maid at Hundreds Hall, the local manor and home to the local squire. In Faraday's childhood memories the house was a grand place. But when he's called out to Hundreds to...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, booker-prize-finalist

I have finished The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. I considered giving it a wide variety of ratings(2,3 or 4),but in the end I will give it 4 stars. It was incredibly well written. The subtlety of her writing and the depth of the characters were wonderful. Makes me think how different it is to read this kind of book, rather than a fluffy romance novel. I am struggling to deside if I would rate it higher than Wolf Hall(for a book group). I'm affaid if I don't, it's just because I didn't like th...more I have finished The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. I considered giving it a wide variety of ratings(2,3 or 4),but in the end I will give it 4 stars. It was incredibly well written. The subtlety of her writing and the depth of the characters were wonderful. Makes me think how different it is to read this kind of book, rather than a fluffy romance novel. I am struggling to deside if I would rate it higher than Wolf Hall(for a book group). I'm affaid if I don't, it's just because I didn't like the story as much as I liked the story of Wolf Hall. I can't say more without the warning.

Spoilers ahead!

I don't really have any critiques of the style or quality of writing. It was wonderful. It was just such a depressing ending that I can't deside what I think of this book.

It reminds me of the movie Premonition. Movie spoiler in this paragraph. The most depressing movie I ever saw. The ability of the wife to experience days out of order, causes her husbands death in the end. Incredibly well done as well, but in the end I'm not sure I was happy to have seen it and that's how I feel about The Little Stranger.

An evaluation of the story; I eventually grew tired of Faraday's need to make everything logical and disregard all supernatural posibilities. I think Waters wanted the readers to feel this way and start rooting for Caroline to break free. During the trial at the end I so badly wanted him to say, "no, there was something going on in that house that science cannot explain, so I can not say with any certainty that her death was either a suicide or the result of an unsound mind." But alas, he said yes to a suicide whilst of unsound mind. If Faraday would have demonstrated enough growth to at least consider the unexplainble I might have given this book 5 stars. I believe books are much better when the writer creates characters that demonstrate growth and those in this book do not. I guess I do have that one critique of the writing. I further would have liked Faraday to say goodbye to Hundreds and taken that job in the hospital of the bigger town, rather than continuing his deadend job. And what's with wandering through Hundreds at the end as if daring the Little Stranger to appear and shatter his tired assumptions of how things are. I would have liked that ending better too. The only one to demonstrate any growth was Caroline, when she told Faraday the wedding was off. She finally threw off Faraday's scientifically limited explinations, but then she was killed before she could leave. Her death was the most disapointing event in the book. I guess Betty was the only one to escape and perhaps grow up a little bit.

One theory I found interesting was put forward by Doctor Seeley. That a severely disturbed mind might have the ability to create something like a spirit, unintentionally coming out of the subconscious mind. A theory I have not heard before and found quite intriguing.

I find the idea of ghost, spirits and supernatural stuff to be quite interesting and would have found this book much more enjoyable if just one of the people had escaped the influence of The Little Stranger.

Additional thoughts on who the little stranger could be.

My first inclination would be to go with the ghost of the dead child, but if I agreed with the disturbed mind theory(and the more i think about it I might) Faraday would be the third choice on my list at best. He's too set in his logical ways to be involved in such a thing, even unconsciously. The obvious choice is Rod, already being damaged goods from his war injuries and failure to live up to family expectations. He's certainly disturbed enough to cause it, but I like a less obvious choice. The one person who was never hurt by any of this(just scared herself), showed her deviousness in her first meeting with Doctor Faraday faking that illness and got her dream job in the end. She was the only one in the whole book to show the cleverness this ploy would take. Betty! The dumb country bumpkin thing is just a cover. You can't help where or who raised you. She could be a mensa candidate that was just never in a position to show the depth of her mind. Her unconscious self dreamed up a way to get out of a place and job she didn't like. Doctor Faraday showed himself to be playable going along with her "illness." Betty was always there seeing who was struggling and therefore susceptible to being scared by the Little Stranger. The most desturbing possibility is that Betty could have knowingly been involved in helping the Little Stranger, just finishing them off with her conscious and unconscious minds coming together in the end or maybe it was all unconscious. Being there to hang the mother and push Caroline over the railing. Setting the fire in Rod's room is really a compelling case. She was there when everything happened. The perfect psychopath. She just wanted a factory job and everybody that got in her way died. Doctor Faraday wasn't in her way since he wasn't in line to own Hundreds so she didn't waist her time killing him. Then at the end scaring Caroline into leaving and therefore leaving the shakey engagement was much easier than killing the doctor. The last pages of the book indict her the most. If I had experienced half of what she experienced at Hundreds I'd be in a mental ward. That's what happened to Rod. He lived through the horrors of war, but not this? It was that bad to deal with. This explains why Betty stayed long past when any other servant would. Their long time servant fled, but not Betty who is new and doesn't like the job anyway? And Betty comes out of it so well adjusted she gets within view of the house without breaking a sweat? And with no counciling?That only makes sense if she's behind it all. Freaky!
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Aug 29, 2010 Mari Biella rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, supernatural, psychological

The psychological ghost story ... No blood, no guts, no rattling chains or subterranean torture chambers. Just careful, controlled, cumulative shivers that, at their best, force you to question what the nature of reality is, and where exactly the border between the thing perceived and the subject perceiving it lies. Do we trust our senses in trying to evaluate the nature of the world? If not, what other measures do we have recourse to; and, if so, do we have to take everything perceived, however...more The psychological ghost story ... No blood, no guts, no rattling chains or subterranean torture chambers. Just careful, controlled, cumulative shivers that, at their best, force you to question what the nature of reality is, and where exactly the border between the thing perceived and the subject perceiving it lies. Do we trust our senses in trying to evaluate the nature of the world? If not, what other measures do we have recourse to; and, if so, do we have to take everything perceived, however seemingly absurd, as an indication of reality? Henry James explored this unnerving territory; so too did Shirley Jackson. Now Sarah Waters has launched another expedition, in a novel that both pays tribute to her esteemed predecessors and breaks new ground.

Post WWII, austerity Britain: a Labour government is in power; the National Health Service is on its way in, and the old social structure is on its way out. Rural physician Dr Faraday is in many ways representative of the changing times - of humble origins, he's a self-made man whose rise coincides with his social betters' fall. Yet he too seems in many ways uneasy about this quiet evolution, or revolution: in particular, he's worried about the impact of the NHS on his livelihood, while in more general terms he seems to yearn for the more settled and orderly world he remembers from his childhood. He's lived all his life in the shadow of the local manor house, Hundreds Hall, and the Ayres family, its owners. He remembers it, and them, as grand, impressive, enchanting; yet when he's called in to treat a supposedly sick maid, he finds dearth, decay and a kind of controlled desperation. The much-depleted Ayres family - tortured war veteran Rod, plain, hearty spinster Caroline, and their frail, embittered mother, Mrs Ayres - have property, but no money, no prospects and, seemingly, no place in a society that is leaving them behind. In time Dr Faraday becomes their confidante and friend and, briefly, Caroline's suitor; and in time, too, some very odd things start happening at the hall. Is there a ghost? Or are the family just haunted by their glorious past and uncertain future, by their own losses and pains and fear? Who is the "little stranger" of the title? You're left to ponder these questions for yourself, and it says something for Waters that, in an age impatient with subtlety, she trusts her readers enough to leave them unanswered.

This is a beautiful book: suggestive, poetic, dark and, yes, haunting. The one thing it isn't, in truth, is frightening, which may disappoint anyone looking for a good scare. Dr Faraday, the narrator, experiences very little personally, so most of the ghostly happenings are recounted second-hand by a sceptical rationalist who's quick to provide answers and accounts. In fact, it sometimes seems that Waters is as keen as anyone to explain everything away, and she's actually rather too successful at it: the chill factor quickly diminishes under Dr Faraday's cool scientific gaze.

Still, it would be churlish to complain too vociferously about it: this was never meant to be blood-curdling horror. It's a meditation on flux and decay, and the consequences of being on the losing side when the tide of history changes. If you like your supernatural served with brains, you'll love this.(less)

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Apr 30, 2009 William rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-ghost-stories, first-reads, england

One of the more enjoyable aspects of Sarah Waters' slow paced (occasionally excruciatingly so) ghost novel, "The Little Stranger," is how subtle and contemplative its frights are, rather than being necessarily immediate or shocking. The ending is cleverly done – and softly done – so much so that to hint at it might ruin the question Waters finally poses; a frustrating notion since the slower tone and pace of the novel, combined with readers' preexisting expectations for what makes a good "ghost...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Sephie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sorry, but this was like a second-rate Susan Hill. The tale itself was engaging enough but the ending was without substance. I was waiting for the protagonist himself to be sectioned as the perpetrator, due to his long-held and growing obsession with the house, his acquisition of access to it, and the trust of its owners, whilst having them 'committed'. Perhaps this is what the author intended, that the good doc was some kind of deluded stalker, but got fed up with writing this book and left it...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, england

I'm rather torn between a 3 and a 4, would like a 3 1/2 choice. I liked the book, but I felt that the potential was there for more than I got. I enjoy gothic novels, but this gothic-like one inspired more hopelessness than ghoulishness. I think in the end I just felt let down. Dr. Faraday, the narrator of the story and one of its main characters, seemed a little flat, underdeveloped, always leaving too much guessing about his essence. The characters seemed caught in a paralysis of inaction most...more

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Jan 14, 2010 Blair rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, ghostly-and-magical, favourites, booker-prize

I don't know why I didn't write a review of this when I read it, presumably because I didn't have time - I'll have to rectify this at some point, but would have to read the book in full again in order to do it justice. I can say that I thought it was absolutely wonderful - an automatic addition to my all-time favourites list; I'd give it six stars if I could. It seems to have divided opinion amongst other readers, and I'd love to say I understand why, but actually I don't. In my eyes The Little...more

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Aug 30, 2010 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f

A local doctor makes a house-call to the estate where his mother used to work as a maid. The mansion has fallen on hard times, its owners become eccentric under the strain of poor finances and past tragedy. Oh, and maybe they're being haunted.

If someone had told me the end of this book ahead of time, I might never have read it because it is the kind of finish I normally detest. But Waters has such a deft hand that, like fellow Brits Ishiguro and McEwan, she makes what might easily be shallow an...more

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May 30, 2009 Lori rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2009, mystery-crime-favorites

The ending of this book is so subtle and so...open to interpretation, that I feel as though I might be getting it wrong. I hope I'm not. There's a sort of _Turning of the Screw_ element to this ghost story (Is there a ghost or isn't there? Whose point of view can you trust?) that might not be pleasing to some readers. The whole novel is a rather slow build. But if you can hang on by finding the characters interesting, you'll be rewarded with a startling sort of gothic tale. My heart was pounding...more

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Mar 21, 2010 Maggie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery-suspense, gothic, ghost-spooky

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

May 25, 2010 Hannah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-reads, spookies, houses-as-characters

The Little Stranger is a hard book to peg down. Part ghost story, part psychological study, part post-WWII British history lesson, it incompasses all of these attributes, yet can't fully be classified as any of them.

Slow moving at times, chilling in small snippets, I never quite felt the story got off the ground. It felt as though the potential was there for a tremendous novel, but all the parts didn't "click", IMO.

Not a waste of reading time (hence the 3 stars), but disappointing since I had he...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Really enjoyed it. This reading is whatever you want it to be, I kept looking at whether it was a romance, a horror story with demented spirits, a good old fashioned mystery, or a family attacked and victims of the passing of time. The narrator kept you off balance to, not intentionally because he was trying to do good but his roots caused him problems and his wants and needs are woven throughout the writing. This is one of those can't put down books. One is left with lots of thoughts, I still h...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
The Book Vipers: The Little Stranger	29	41	Jun 12, 2013 10:18am
Slow but creepy	5	43	Apr 13, 2013 09:52am
what was it?	16	227	Feb 27, 2013 12:02pm
What's The Name o...: Mystery book about a modern family living in an English Manor in Financial Ruin [s]	4	22	Jan 22, 2013 06:07pm
Horror Aficionados : The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters/October-November 2012	15	46	Nov 04, 2012 08:36am
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About Sarah Waters

Sarah Waters is a British novelist. She is best known for her first novel, Tipping the Velvet, as well the novels that followed, including Affinity, Fingersmith, and The Night Watch.
Waters attended university, and earned degrees in English literature. Before writing novels, Waters worked as an academic, earning a doctorate and teaching. Waters went directly from her doctoral thesis to her first no...more

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“And perhaps there is a limit to the grieving that the human heart can do. As when one adds salt to a tumbler of water, there comes a point where simply no more will be absorbed.” — 224 people liked it

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