#44 - The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters (Choice: Jen's)(Venue: Jen's Country Pile)

• Alex:
• Present: Jen, Alex, Mark, Eamonn (and Jen's more-than-welcome family)
  A thin on the ground, but beautifully catered book group...
  
  I tried to read as little about The Little Stranger as possible before starting it. I had heard it was a ghost story, which already freaked me out - being equally compelled and appalled by these things. I don't think we ever grow out of our childhood fears, and the possibilty of ghouls and spectres, and unexplained happenings, chills me as much now as it did then. And infact the book succeeded in keeping me awake a good couple of nights - watching the bedroom door, listening for unexplained creaks and knocks, as I flew through Waters's rollicking story of the doomed Ayres family desperately trying to maintain their disintigrating family home, their reputation and sanity.
  
  I do not believe in spirits, though, much like the 1st person narrator - the village doctor, Faraday (who we follow from boy to man, and who becomes indelibly intertwined in the family's misfortunes), erring more to the subconscional explanations of his colleague, Professor Selby, that we make our own ghosts, and indeed, to my mind, the mishaps that befall the various members of the Ayres family do seem to be manifestations of their own fears.
  
  The book conveys a changing post-war Britian effortlessly, making the history as much a character as any of the named protagonists. The book details the anxiety for change felt by the populace and the social-leveling that the war brought about. It weaves in the expectations of a new labour government, of social housing and the onset of the National Helath service. These things are vital to the story-telling, and makes the Ayres's plight as they cling on to their crumbling home and decaying class poignant and quite moving.
  
  The book never forgets about the reader, and up to the the final paragraph remains thought provoking and chilling.
Nic:

I found this beautifully and well written. The changes in British society and politics that Alex refers to above are subtly drawn and deftly woven into, indeed are a vital part of, the plot: they propel the action and decline of the house and family. In this respect, Waters has a delicacy of touch that is in stark contrast to Byatt's clumsy history lecturing. I'd definitely try more of Waters work. I was disappointed not to be able to attend this book group but we've discussed this book a sessions subsequently and everyone seems to have been in agreement with Alex about the haunting tone of the work - especially with regard to the intriguing, undefined role played by the doctor in the fall of the family through his deep, personal connection with the house.