The Little Stranger in Retro Chapter Chicks

Nov 10, 2017 Candi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, book-i-own, horror-creepy

"I first saw Hundreds Hall when I was ten years old. It was the summer after the war, and the Ayreses still had most of their money then, were still big people in the district… I recall most vividly the house itself, which struck me as an absolute mansion. I remember its lovely ageing details: the worn red brick, the cockled window glass, the weathered sandstone edgings. They made it look blurred and slightly uncertain – like an ice, I thought, just beginning to melt in the sun."

What I liked mos "I first saw Hundreds Hall when I was ten years old. It was the summer after the war, and the Ayreses still had most of their money then, were still big people in the district… I recall most vividly the house itself, which struck me as an absolute mansion. I remember its lovely ageing details: the worn red brick, the cockled window glass, the weathered sandstone edgings. They made it look blurred and slightly uncertain – like an ice, I thought, just beginning to melt in the sun."

What I liked most about this, my first Sarah Waters' book, were the striking descriptions of the magnificent Georgian mansion. Once a splendid home that was renowned throughout the district of Warwickshire, Hundreds Hall now stands in a state of ruination, due to the effects of World War II and the Ayres’s declining family fortune. The characters are well-drawn, including the dignified Mrs. Ayres, her surly son Roderick who returned from the war with his share of battle wounds, her slightly awkward yet intelligent daughter Caroline, and the ingratiating family doctor, Faraday. From the time he first set eyes on Hundreds Hall as a child, Dr. Faraday has had a peculiar fascination with both the house as well as its inhabitants. When summoned to the estate to tend to the so-called illness of Betty, the newest family maid, Dr. Faraday rapidly becomes immersed in the Ayres’s lives and their attendant troubles.

The novel is constructed skillfully from the outset to be an eerie Gothic ghost story, with the rambling and decaying manor and a series of baffling and disturbing happenings. The story is written as a first-person narrative, from Dr. Faraday’s point of view. Now, I generally don’t find fault with books written in the first-person, as long as done so effectively. In this case, Dr. Faraday is not directly involved in many of the menacing goings-on at the house. Rather, he recounts the events told to him by the occupants of Hundreds Hall. He tells us what he heard from Caroline, or Mrs. Ayres, or Roderick, or in some cases the maid, Betty. The suspense was subsequently watered down for me as a result. Dr. Faraday is a famously unreliable narrator as well – which is not a complaint in and of itself; however, his removal from the events as well as his questionable credibility took me out of the plot a bit. There was no single character I liked, nor one sufficiently detestable for me to revel in my distaste – not even the purported ghost! Perhaps I unfairly kept making comparisons to one of my all-time favorite novels, Rebecca. I was searching for my Mrs. Danvers, trying to sympathize with the narrator, and looking for a climax that would electrify me. It just didn’t quite happen. I was left with too many questions and felt a shred of dissatisfaction as a result. Since finishing the book, I have drawn my own conclusion that I would like to put to Ms. Waters. I suspect she didn’t mean for me to truly know her intent, however, so I will have to be content with my own interpretation.

Despite my slightly lukewarm review, there were enough redeeming qualities to this novel that I will certainly read another title in this author’s repertoire at some point in time.

"The subliminal mind has many dark, unhappy corners, after all." ...more

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Dec 16, 2010 Tasha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, gothic-ghost, historical-fiction

My second reading of this is a definite 5 star experience. Loved it better this time around.

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Jan 01, 2023 Flo rated it liked it

Shelves: horror, mystery-thriller, 3-star, literary-fiction

3.5 stars!

This is listed as horror, but imo, it's less about ~hauntings (although it does mention the possibility of one) and more about psychological breakdowns. We never find out if there's an actual ghost behind all the shit that goes down, but that wasn't really what drew me into the plot. For me, it was about the breakdown of a family post-war, a changing society, and the need to hang onto a past that no longer exists. The characters are frustrating, the setting is bleak, and the house felt 3.5 stars!

This is listed as horror, but imo, it's less about ~hauntings (although it does mention the possibility of one) and more about psychological breakdowns. We never find out if there's an actual ghost behind all the shit that goes down, but that wasn't really what drew me into the plot. For me, it was about the breakdown of a family post-war, a changing society, and the need to hang onto a past that no longer exists. The characters are frustrating, the setting is bleak, and the house felt alive to me. It very much read in the gothic tradition, which is the sort of thing I've been super into lately (that and dark academia, which is similar anyway!)

I thought the characters and the way that the story was framed was very interesting. It was told from the POV of an outsider who really wants to be part of the family. He's obsessed with the house and its history, and it's implied that it's because he remembers the house with its former glory as well and wants to hang onto that. He's from a different social class than the family, but suffers from the same issues. I also really liked the inclusion of the maid, which remains the most clear-headed (although she believes there's something haunting the family). She is another character looking in on the family because she belongs in lower social class and getting tangled with their shit.

The main character/narrator did super annoy me though. There were parts where he was such an asshole and acted like a typical man, especially when he refused to accept (view spoiler) and just kept being like "You're not in your right mind." For someone who claims that he knows about mental breakdowns/psychology, he couldn't see that coming like an idiot LOL. He also spent so much time dismissing the idea that there was something supernatural at work. Not that I necessarily think that there was - and even the supernatural was more described as the unhappiness of the family sort of taking a form and haunting the family - but he refused to listen to it at all and was super condescending. He didn't care what Caroline wanted and was mad when she wanted to sell off the house. After everything that had happened, that is totally understandable, dude.

I was torn on how I felt about the family. They were very frustrating, but also I felt bad for them in a lot of ways. Mostly Caroline, but also the other family members. They clearly tried to carry on, but weren't able to, and the weight of that "responsibility" was what ultimately brought them down.

ALSO, I had to take off half a star because (view spoiler), which is extremely unacceptable.

Anyway, I enjoyed this book not because of the supernatural aspect (potentially supernatural), but because of the psychological exploration of the characters and the effects their psychology has on their lives. ...more

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