UK Book Club discussion

Tell us what you think about Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger here.....

Fantastic! I've read about a third already and really enjoying it so far...

The title is enticing and it's on my list to read. The Skye in June

Going to start this as soon as I can!

The library just sent me an email to say my reserved copy is in - I'll pick it up tomorrow....excellent!

I loved The Little Stranger. It's completely different from Waters' other books- you won't recognize it as one of hers (I like all her books) but I loved this one.

I've just finished it and I meant to write comments as I went along, BUT I was so engrossed I just didn't want to put it down. My son was lying on one end of the sofa, with a temperature of 39.9, while I was at the other, with my head buried in the book! (Bad mother/good book!)

Is it me or is Sarah Waters channeling Daphne Du Maurier here? Her writing is so perfect, you really feel you're reading a novel from the late 40's/early 50's. I also had images of 'Brief Encounter' running through my head especially while reading the scenes between the doctor & Caroline. It's all that English reserve, the stiff upper lip etc.

I loved the way the story slowly pulled you in, the strangeness creeping gradually... I also really enjoyed the way she wove the demise of the British upper classes and the changing political climate in with the ghost story. It's clever, but never shows off its cleverness.

I really want to talk about the ending, but don't want to spoil it for anyone. What was really going on at 'Hundreds'....?

I think this book is well worthy of reading - I am already an admirer of Sarah Waters, I think she is very skilled as a writer, I find it so easy to be transported away by her.

I felt that she set the scene of post war Britain and the crumbling aristocracy in a vivid and believable way. The reality of post war life for the previously priviledged mirrored in the decaying dilapitaded house of "Hundreds".

I love the way that tension and mystery is gradually built and then subsides a little before again increasing - the novel is well paced and I even liked the ending!

I can't wait to start this now but really want to finish Delver Magic 1 first!

I wasn’t impressed. I liked it at the start, the characters were interesting and it had a great atmosphere (Liz has it spot on with the Du Maurier feel). The sense of mystery and intrigue was there. But it seemed to loose its way and not fulfil its initial promise. I thought the ending was poor, neither one thing nor the other.

Andy wrote: "I wasn’t impressed. I liked it at the start, the characters were interesting and it had a great atmosphere (Liz has it spot on with the Du Maurier feel). The sense of mystery and intrigue was the..."

*SPOILERS* Interesting you say that, Andy. I'm still trying to work out why I held back from giving it 5 stars - it's to do with the fact that I really wasn't surprised by what happens to Caroline. The conclusion was certainly ambiguous: It's clear that Faraday loves the house more than its owners - why would he want to go back & spend time in a place that held such bad memories? Unless...

This one is on my TBR pile. I have heard mixed things but I am looking forward to reading it.

Just read the first chapter, so far, so good. I've been meaning to read this for ages!

I'm so dense at predicting how a book might end (not to mention a little to lazy to spend much time puzzling over it) so the ending was a surprise to me! I really wasn't sure what was afoot at Hundreds.

*SPOILERS - DON'T READ IF YOU'VE NOT FINISHED BOOK*
I thought the treatment of the the leg injury might have been a factor - is that the conclusion you came to as well?

Em wrote: "I'm so dense at predicting how a book might end (not to mention a little to lazy to spend much time puzzling over it) so the ending was a surprise to me! I really wasn't sure what was afoot at Hund..."

*SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS*
Well Em, My first theory made perfect sense for quite a while: I was thinking it was the dead daughter begrudging Rod & Caroline and wanting her mother's full attention, but if so, why didn't she stop once she 'had' Mrs Ayres???? (And you just knew there was more to come, too many pages still to read....)

Then theory number 2: I do wonder whether Dr Faraday may have had more to do with things than he realized - not sure about Rod's treatment, but what was all that business when Faraday was 'sleeping' in the car by the pond? Especially when at the inquest he pictures what happened to Caroline, as if he were looking into her eyes... 'You?' Perhaps it was his own murky subconcious at work??? (He didn't like the Ayres's when he first met them, resents the way the family treated the servants i.e. his mother, loves the house more than the people)...

Then again, I could be reading far too much into it.

BTW.How many people was Dr Faraday prepared to certify, before he'd be convinced there might have been a ghost?!! Yes, yes I know he was arguing for mass hysteria, especially with all those women about! ;)

I guess if we knew the answers, it would feel too neatly tied up (and back in the realms of Scooby Doo!)

***SPOILERS AGAIN*** ***A LOT OF SPOILERS IN FACT***

Well, during the reading of this book I worked my way through virtually every character... Roddy, Betty, the dead daughter, Mrs Ayres, Caroline and then my eventual conclusion is the Doctor.

For me it begins with the Doctors obsession about the house and the family and then he treats Rod's war injury with some kind of electrical therapy in his room and I wondered if that treatment had somehow created the energy for the Dr to project this polterguist or whatever "it" was. It began in Rod's room after all. He knew enough of the families history to target their weaknesses - Rod's desire to take on the burden of the finances and running of the estate, Carolines love for her pet dog, Mrs Ayres loss of her child. Then when Caroline rejects him.... the pond scene, as you've said. Furthermore, he has sympathy for the staff, the servants walk out of this unscathed.

Also, I agree - talk about a closed mind! Everyone else thinks there's a haunting but no, no, clearly mass hysteria! I wanted to shake him! Oh, and another thing... couldn't he tell Caroline wasn't very attracted to him? He must've been the only one surprised by that.

*** SPOILERS ***
What really got me was the copout ending. It was neither one thing (an actual haunted house) nor the other (the Dr doing it).

I thought the actual ending was leaning more towards the Dr doing it, however there was an awful lot of actual evidence supporting a haunting (physical damage in Son's room, injuries to mother etc.).

I also suspected just about everyone throughout the course of the story, but i felt very let down by the 'wrong' ending.

****SPOILERS****
Are you sure you're all not American? Does everything have to have a "Hollywood" ending? :-) I wasn't bothered by the ambiguity, and didnae think it was a cop out per se as Waters can certainly write well enough to think of an alternative ending. I can understand not feeling satisfied when something is left open like that but I think in some instances it makes for a more interesting book (this is certainly a long thread on it anyway, so it has us taking about it). (by the way I am American so am allowed to play on stereotypes about us.....)

Andy wrote: "*** SPOILERS ***
What really got me was the copout ending. It was neither one thing (an actual haunted house) nor the other (the Dr doing it).

I thought the actual ending was leaning more towar..."

SPOILERS< SPOILERS< SPOILERS

Well the conclusion I've settled for is this; the house was haunted - the immense stress of each character was 'feeding' the poltergeist or whatever it was. This stress included the Dr's own neuroses, and his presence at Hundreds finally tipped the scales, escalating events. He himself was completely oblivious of the fact (although he had glimpses of his involvement - like during the inquest) and was not the rational bystander he liked to think...

The thing is, if the ending hadn't been ambiguous, there would be nothing for us to discuss ;) And no matter what the plot points - it's beautifully written!

And Em, yes I agree, Dr Faraday was almost arrogant in his assumption that 'poor plain' Caroline would be interested in him...

That's interesting! I liked the ending - a complete explanation would have been too "easy" - I prefer drawing some of my own conclusions from what I've read and inferred from the book. (Also, makes for a much more interesting discussion!)

I have finally started! Managed Chapter one! It's not bad really I like the atmosphere of the house 'Hundreds' and I love the era it is written in.

BookRambler wrote: "I went to the Waters event at the Edinburgh Book Festival in the summer and she spoke about ending it ambiguously - anything else would have been an easy let down, she explained. She also explained..."

That sounded interesting. (Have never read The Rape of the Lock - I always think of it as an Eng Lit text - anyone read it? Am I wrong? Should I give it a go sometime?)

I was also trying to remember why the name Josephine Tey is familiar; just looked her up and recognised Brat Farrar - I read it years ago (one of my mum's books) - great mystery...

Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time would fit the Historical Fiction theme for January- and a great read. It reminds us that history is written by the victors. She died relatively young, a shame because I have really loved what little I have read by her.

*** SPOILERS ***

I have just finished The Little Stranger, and I can't say whether I liked it or not. I certainly prefered the end to the beginning and middle, which dragged on for ages!
The characters were unlikable and because of that, I struggled to care about what happened to them. Well, initially anyway, but then I slowly became curious as to how it would play out. I'm glad I kept going and reached my conclusion that it was all Dr Faraday!

*********SPOILER ALERT ****************



I found the middle was dragging, I am at the point of just after the funeral of Mrs Eyre and Doctor Faraday is pestering for a date for the wedding and Caroline is trying to put him off. I still haven't made up my mind about the doc yet. I am actually listening to this while I paint my spare room. The book may be slow but my painting is going well!

I've just watched the film version of the Little Stranger. I enjoyed it - it's a good adaptation (same director as 'Room') although I think it's less ambiguous than the book.

Makes me want to reread...