Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 5/28/2019 + 1181 more book reviews

I've read and enjoyed Sarah Waters' novels Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet and finally got around to reading this one after it has sat on my shelves for several years. This novel was quite unlike the previous two novels I read but it was just as enjoyable. It takes place in England just after WWII in the county of Warwickshire where an old family house, Hundreds Hall, has fallen into neglect because the family no longer has the means to support it. The narrator of the story, Dr. Faraday, was called to see to a patient at the Hall and then becomes enmeshed in the struggles of the family who own the house, the Ayreses. The family is trying to keep pace with a changing society but the house is in decline with crumbling masonry and overgrown gardens. But there seems to be other troubles within the family and the house itself. The older son, Roderick, who suffered wounding during the war, seems to be afflicted with a mental illness involving strange apparitions haunting his room. The housekeeper, Betty, also feels the house is haunted and Mrs. Ayres seems to seek the companionship of her long dead first daughter. As Faraday gets more involved with the family, things get stranger and stranger. But is the house haunted or is it only the strains of trying to keep up with the house and society that is affecting the family?

I really quite enjoyed this rather long novel (over 500 pages). Waters kept the story flowing even though throughout most of the novel not a whole lot seemed to happen. Overall, it provided some chills and kept my interest piqued.

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