The Little Stranger

Liked this book alot...but waited for more fearful things to happen...toward the end it picked up though...I felt it left us with some questions to be answered...but all in all I did like how it was wrapped up at the end...I do recomend as an interesting read.

The Kindle version is riddled with editorial mistakes. For instance, Location 793 reads: "The square red it, front of the Hall looked…." The print version (page 47) reads: "The square red front of the Hall looked…." I gave up on the Kindle version and purchased the hardcover.

Sarah Waters is one of my favorite writers. Her best book is Fingersmith which is as close to perfect as a book can get. Her previous books have always included lesbian characters. This one does not, though there are a few hints that Caroline might not be the straightest woman in the world. Nevertheless, this is by no means a lesbian novel.

It is a ghost story that includes some of Waters' best writing to date. She is a gifted stylist who writes great descriptive passages that are atmospheric, creepy, and realistic. Her dialogue has gotten much better as well.

Unfortunately, the ending feels like a cop-out. Did she not know how to end it and came up with *this*? It's almost as though a different writer took over the climax. Obviously one of the most difficult tasks a writer faces is how to write a satisfying ending. Waters failed this time.

I also strongly believe that dog lovers are going to find certain scenes disturbing. I know I did.

Still, her writing is a marvel. She is one of this generation's best writers, and I will eagerly await her next book.

I loved the slow, creepy build into full-out Gothic. I loved that Sarah Walters didn't crank up the volume fast. I think all the people on here who cried "Boring" should be consigned to a room and made to read Henry James, George Elliot, a round of the greats, till they've gotten over their ADD and learned how to read.

I have really enjoyed other books by this author (Fingersmith especially) but this one not so much. It is very atmospheric, the characters are well drawn, and the house wonderfully brought to life. However, ultimately not too much happens - the characters are so constrained by their own perceived limitations that I got frustrated with their inaction. The haunted house set pieces are related by the narrator, who does not believe in them, so matter of factly that they do not take on the air or mystery that I would have liked. Also, while the book could be viewed as ambiguous along the lines of the Turn of the Screw, it did not really pull me in as that story does. But I did finish the book, and was happy to do so.

When I first started The Little Stranger, I found the era in which the story takes place interesting and accurately portrayed according to what else I have read about the period. Something of a Downton Abbey on a smaller scale and without the constant gossip. But as the characters continued to be developed, not much was happening in the story line, and I almost put it down. Then, suddenly, there was a wallop of an incident that got my attention (which I will not reveal, as I don't want to ruin it for others) and made me feel that things were about to get exciting. However, from there it pretty much petered out again. Lots of ghost mischief, on great and minor scales, but nothing that made me dying to get back to the book to find out what happens next. I have plodded through 49% of it on my Kindle -- so I have no idea what page this is -- and have finally given up. Perhaps Waters saved the best for last and I am not being fair because I haven't finished it, but life is too short to spend it reading works that don't reach out and grab me.

I love ghost stories and novels which have some "odd" or "supernatural" thing in them. This novel started okay and my expectations grew higher. However the longer I read the more bored I became. The author really likes to describe every little detail...*yawn*. The problem with this book is that the main character - the doctor - isn't very likable. At first he seems that way, but he really isn't. So the reader actually doesn't really care what happens to him. The other main character - the house - is much more interesting and at least I was very excited to learn what is going on there. But the ending is a huge disappointment. It's like the author didn't have a clue herself what's happening and she decides to leave everything open. I felt so frustrated that I even wasted time for this book.

This novel satisfies two of my literary loves, it works both as a quality horror/haunted house story in the classic tradition and also as an English period drama suitable for anglophiles like me.
The story is set in the years immediately after the second world war, an old family are clinging on to their crumbling manor house despite money problems and sheer physical exhaustion. A local doctor becomes involved with the family and it's through his eyes we see the haunting and the ultimate destruction of the family.
The passages dealing with the supernatural events in the house are chilling and on a par with anything Stephen King has done while the emotional life if a dying family in a crumbling country are so well written and moving it's hard not to be moved.
An excellent book and i'm planning to read everything else this author has written.

Such a vivid portrayal of characters, a house, and a dying era. It wasn't scary throughout, but when it got scary, it was really scary. Mainly because Waters makes you feel like you're walking among these people.

If you like gothic atmospheric books, you'll dig this. I loved Tipping the Velvet so I always await her newest novel with much anticipation. So, check out the kind of stuff I like and see if we agree. If so, I'd bet that you'll like this.

The book was a bit slow, but intriguing. Unfortunately, I'm not a huge fan of horror novels and the book was a little too slow and vague for my taste so that's why I give it a 3. The end is I testing though, leaves the whole story largely to your own interpretation.

This story starts off slow. Almost to the point where I found myself wondering when I'd get to the "good stuff". I understand that the author was trying to build the characters and show the true relationship between them all. However, I think that she could have omitted a few of the beginning chapters without any deteriation of the story line.
Now, having said that.. it was about half way through the book when I finally became invested and interested in what was going to happen next. I choose this book for the suspence and I was finally getting it. I must say that ultimatly the book redeemed itself with the last half. Waters has a great ability to keep you on the edge of your seat without using obvious scare tactics. The ending was also a shocker and really left me thinking. It never clearly tells you who, what, or why but the fact that the author leaves it up to your own imagination makes it all the more compelling.
In the end I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a compelling, interesting and non-traditional "ghost" story.

This book is wordy, predicatable & long-winded. It meanders through dry & repetative descriptions. The characters have little depth & it's "spooky" elements are ho-hum. The author goes off on many tangents & says in five or six paragraphs what could be said artfully & completely in a couple of sentences. I wouldn't say it is worth the effort to schlog through this novel.

Poorly written, partially engaging period/mystery piece. Through the end, I kept waiting for the story to begin. Instead of a solid plot, the author got mired in continuous, confusing detail that detracted from the scene rather than add atmosphere to the book. Her writing style demands extra effort that also detracts from your reading pleasure, switching from the main character's personal thoughts to other characters' quotes embedded in paragraphs. Further, her attempts to infuse slang simply pass as a very poorly written story, by someone who lacks writing fundamentals, including syntax and grammar. Even the characters leave you for a loss. No character is fully developed and/or goes through such changes as to compel sincere interest. While the main character is not without his endearing qualities, the reader is resigned to accept him, rather than cheer for him, one way or another.

I've read Sarah Waters' other novels and thought I might like this one as well. I was sadly disappointed. It was the way I felt when I read Donna Tartt's follow-up novel to "The Secret History." Great characters and development, but no story. I kept thinking that Faraday or Caroline would do something interesting. I kept reading. Nothing. It was tedious. Interesting period detail, to be sure, but a pitiful (and long, I might add) story. I would recommend this to someone who likes a generous helping of details (good lord, I was a bit overwhelmed by it -- enough already-- got it), lots of panicked moments and silly dialog. Maybe Sarah should spend more time on the next novel. Maybe Sarah should revisit "Affinity." That was a ghost story with an entertaining twist. A joy to read and discuss with others.

I was hooked on this story immediately; would read for hours on end.
However, I HATED the ending! Was so disappointing. After investing so much time & energy into the story, why would it have such an unresolved, unsatisfying ending? And the crummy ending stayed with me for months!!!!! Like I almost felt angry or cheated by the ending, cuz up until that point it was such a good, intense story! Could anyone explain the ending, if I somehow missed something? Like WHO was the spirit after all?

Poorly written, partially engaging period/mystery piece. Through the end, I kept waiting for the story to begin. Instead of a solid plot, the author got mired in continuous, confusing detail that detracted from the scene rather than add atmosphere to the book. Her writing style demands extra effort that also detracts from your reading pleasure, switching from the main character's personal thoughts to other characters' quotes embedded in paragraphs. Further, her attempts to infuse slang simply pass as a very poorly written story, by someone who lacks writing fundamentals, including syntax and grammar. Even the characters leave you for a loss. No character is fully developed and/or goes through such changes as to compel sincere interest. While the main character is not without his endearing qualities, the reader is resigned to accept him, rather than cheer for him, one way or another.

I've read Sarah Waters' other novels and thought I might like this one as well. I was sadly disappointed. It was the way I felt when I read Donna Tartt's follow-up novel to "The Secret History." Great characters and development, but no story. I kept thinking that Faraday or Caroline would do something interesting. I kept reading. Nothing. It was tedious. Interesting period detail, to be sure, but a pitiful (and long, I might add) story. I would recommend this to someone who likes a generous helping of details (good lord, I was a bit overwhelmed by it -- enough already-- got it), lots of panicked moments and silly dialog. Maybe Sarah should spend more time on the next novel. Maybe Sarah should revisit "Affinity." That was a ghost story with an entertaining twist. A joy to read and discuss with others.

I was hooked on this story immediately; would read for hours on end.
However, I HATED the ending! Was so disappointing. After investing so much time & energy into the story, why would it have such an unresolved, unsatisfying ending? And the crummy ending stayed with me for months!!!!! Like I almost felt angry or cheated by the ending, cuz up until that point it was such a good, intense story! Could anyone explain the ending, if I somehow missed something? Like WHO was the spirit after all?

I was looking for something a little Stephen King-y, a little creepy. But I didn't pick well. The writing is good, but the story goes nowhere....very slowly. At the very least (spoiler alert) how about an ending? For me, and I may be alone here, but for me I like to know who-dun-it (or who-is-it) by the end of a who-dun-it.

This is a finely paced, sensual and beautifully realized novel, rich in detail and complex character studies. It is refreshingly subtle and understated, which makes the growing sense of dread it produces all the more effective and dimensional. It is a welcome depature from the blood drenched horror offerings that so enrapture public attention these days. The story could have functioned as a memorable mainstream novel, but with a few deft touches, it is transformed into a classic ghost story. John S. McFarland