The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

It's a novel set in the post-war years in England, specifically the England of the formerly powerful Big House gentry.

Sarah Waters tells the story of the Ayreses, Mrs Ayres and two of her grown children, brother Rod and sister Caroline. Into their lives walks Dr Faraday to attend to the sick maid. It's a mystery story about the difficulties of working out whether people have really seen ghosts in the old house, or is it just that they are all going mad?

Look at the differences with the covers .... One is a lovely cover with the Big House namely 'Hundreds' and the other one which I have is the awful one with the big writing and red background. It looks like it is a throwback from the 70's .... Come on people you know which one I would buy off the shelf if I had the choice ....

Firstly I would say that I really like the way Sarah Waters writes ... It is an easy book to read and she describes the surroundings beautifully ..... You honestly do feel that you are there in the house .... I did feel sad reading about the house and its decline ... With living next to a stately home for years and visiting it often it is very sad to see something of great beauty crumble away ..... Although the name of this book is 'The Little Stranger' I felt that it was more based on the house namely 'Hundreds' ...

I was abit disappointed with the ending of the book and felt that it really didn't resolve what was actually happening in the home ... But it will make a good book club discussion to see what other people think was going on ...

I would be interested in reading some more of Sarah Waters books and watching some of the BBC productions ... and I feel that this novel would make a good movie ... I am rating this 3 1/2 stars mainly because I quite enjoyed it and the writing was lovely but there was nothing in the story line that really grapped me ...

I rate this book 3 1/2 ***