A young governess is sent to a great country house to care for two orphaned children. To begin with Flora and Miles seem to be model pupils but gradually the governess starts to suspect that something is very wrong with them. As she sets out to uncover the corrupt secrets of the house she becomes more and more convinced that something evil is watching her. First published in 1898, Henry James's ghost story still retains its power to fascinate and appal. It is accompanied in this edition by three other haunting tales, 'The Romance of Certain Old Clothes', 'The Friends of the Friends' and 'The Jolly Corner'. Step back to the time of Queen Victoria and open a 'yellowback'. Yellowbacks were low-priced, entertaining books sold through WHSmith bookstalls in railway stations during the nineteenth century. To celebrate their 225th anniversary, WHSmith has recreated these special editions of popular classics in association with Vintage Classics.
Peter G. Beidler Livres
The story starts conventionally enough with friends sharing ghost stories 'round the fire on Christmas Eve. One of the guests tells about a governess at a country house plagued by supernatural visitors. But in the hands of Henry James, the master of nuance, this little tale of terror is an exquisite gem of sexual and psychological ambiguity. Only the young governess can see the ghosts; only she suspects that the previous governess and her lover are controlling the two orphaned children (a girl and a boy) for some evil purpose. The household staff don't know what she's talking about, the children are evasive when questioned, and the master of the house (the children's uncle) is absent. Why does the young girl claim not to see a perfectly visible woman standing on the far side of the lake? Are the children being deceptive, or is the governess being paranoid? By leaving the questions unanswered, <i>The Turn of Screw</i> generates spine-tingling anxiety in its mesmerized readers.