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Original poster

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters - should I keep going?

28 replies

HollyGoHeavily · 19/01/2010 10:07

I have loved all of Sarah Waters books so I bought The Little Stranger without reading anything about it. I am now slightly horrified to find out that it seems to be a ghost story. I am quite a wimp when it comes to the supernatural (annoyingly!) and I've got to Chapter 6 when the first spooky occurence is described and I found it really unsettling. Embarrassingly, for a 30+ year old woman, I found myself bolting up the stairs in the dark faster than I have done in about 10 years...

I have really enjoyed the book up to this part and I want to know what happens. So, is the book so good that I should keep reading and consider all the therapy I will need afterwards as a good investment? Or should I just read a précis off the internet and save myself the trauma????

OP posts:
Original poster
HollyGoHeavily · 19/01/2010 10:24

I'll keep going then - will you come and hold me hand if it all gets too much???

I love her writing - I thought The Night Watch was excellent and Tipping the Velvet is also very good. I wasn't that keen on Fingersmith but I see to be in a minority with that view....

OP posts:
GetOrfMoiLand · 19/01/2010 10:18

I read this in one sitting on Sunday. I thought it was bloody fantastic albeit very unsettling.

I have never read a ghost story in my life, to be honest the brilliant thjing about the book, imo, is the ambiguity, whether it is in fact a ghost or in fact psychological.

I would keep on going if I were you - yes it is a chiller but excellent.

Have never read any of her other stuff but certainly will now.

greenday · 19/01/2010 10:15

Here's an abstract from a review I recently read :

The book was praised for combining spookiness with sharp social observation and impeccable period detail.

'One of the best ghost stories of the decade, let alone 2009, which plays upon, and bends (and electrocutes) the reader's expectations' - David Mitchell, The Guardian

'.. proper, muscle-flexing storytelling - I was in awe and did not want it to end.' - Julie Myerson, The Observer

'A writer who can really stand your hair on end.' - Sam Leith, Daily Mail

Hope that helps you to make your decision. I am definitely planning to read her book one of these days!