A sinister ancestral hoe in an advanced state of decay, a family
terrorized by its own history, and a narrator drawn into these
orbits dominate this creepy novel from Waters (The Night Watch,
2006, etc.).Shortly after the end of World War II, and nearly 30
years after first seeing magnificent Hundreds Hall as an awestruck
ten-year-old, hardworking Doctor Faraday is summoned to the
now-shabby Warwickshire estate to treat a young housemaid's
illness. Widowed Mrs. Ayres, her son Roderick, crippled and
traumatized by injuries sustained during his wartime tenure as a
RAF pilot, and bluff, pleasant daughter Caroline quickly accept
Faraday as a friend, and he is initially enchanted by the family's
stoical perseverance as Hundreds Hall falls into ruin and farmlands
are sold to pay off mounting debts. But worse awaits: The family's
gentle dog Gyp unaccountably and severely bites a visiting young
girl, and neither Faraday's continuing professional ministrations
nor his growing love for plucky Caroline can save these reclusive
prewar relics from the supernatural presences seemingly arisen from
their past. Waters' scrupulously engineered plot builds efficiently
to a truly scary highpoint halfway through her long narrative. But
tensions relax perilously, as the doctor's repeated emergency
visits to Hundreds Hall become almost risibly indistinguishable,
and even crucial dramatic moments are muffled by fervent
conversations among the four major characters. Furthermore, too
many crucial pieces of information are relayed secondhand, as
Faraday summarizes accounts of other people's experiences. Still,
Waters has extended her range agreeably, working in traditions
established by Edgar Allan Poe, Sheridan le Fanu and Wilkie
Collins, expertly teasing us with suggestive allusions to the
classics of supernatural fiction. A subtle clue planted in one
character's given name neatly foreshadows, then explains, the Ayres
family's self-destructive insularity.Flawed but nevertheless often
gripping thriller from one of the most interesting novelists at
work today. (Kirkus Reviews)
Now a major motion picture starring Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson,
Will Poulter and Charlotte Rampling, and directed by Lenny
Abrahamson. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 'Sarah Waters's
masterly novel is . . . gripping, confident, unnerving and
supremely entertaining' Hilary Mantel In a dusty post-war summer in
rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely
Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the
Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its
masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, its owners -
mother, son and daughter - struggling to keep pace. But are the
Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of
life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how
terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his.
General
Imprint: |
Virago Press Ltd
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
December 2009 |
First published: |
2009 |
Authors: |
Sarah Waters
|
Dimensions: |
198 x 126 x 34mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
501 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-84408-606-1 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
1-84408-606-2 |
Barcode: |
9781844086061 |
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