Tony Grist (poliphilo) wrote,
Tony Grist
poliphilo

The Little Stranger: Sarah Waters

Ghost stories are usually about repression. In the 19th century the thing being repressed was sex; in Waters' version of the late 1940s it's something else, but I can't say what exactly for fear of giving the game away. The Little Stranger is not only a ghost story but a whodunnit- and Waters is as adept as Christie (whose territory she impinges on- mysterious happenings in an isolated great house) at hiding crucial information in plain sight. She writes with wonderful clarity, an eye for the telling image and a profound understanding of the vagaries- the overspilling messiness- of human nature.  Her characters draw you in and implicate you in their unpleasantness .It took me hours after turning the final page to shake off my feelings of guilt. 
Subscribe

  • A Side Trip To Aylesbury

    Before taking our side trip to Godstone we took a side trip to Aylesbury- a market town in Buckinghamshire famous for its ducks- which are pure white…

  • Showing Off

    I dream my grandfather is driving his car (IRL it was a Bentley- very nice) down a long straight road and going very fast. I am in the passenger…

  • A Pub, A Pirate And A Haunting

    There were holdups, so the SatNav found us a less obvious route home via Godstone in Surrey. Sitting in the passenger seat I googled places to eat…

  • Post a new comment

    Error

    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    When you submit the form an invisible reCAPTCHA check will be performed.
    You must follow the Privacy Policy and Google Terms of use.
    Help
  • 2 comments