This actually was no stranger

  I had bought this book second hand thinking that I must read it as it had been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.  I bought it quite some time ago but have only just readi it now.  The reason I say it was no stranger is I feel I have read it before.  I must have borrowed it from the library and had forgotten that I had read it.

I enjoy Sarah Waters books and I have mentioned in previous blog posts Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith.  This one is completely different in that it involves the supernatural.  Not really my style.  The plot is slow moving but I think that is designed to build up the tension.  There is much to be said in this novel about the differences in class in England and it plays an important role throughout the book.

The style of writing is beautiful and well worth reading even though you may not be someone who enjoys books about the supernatural.

From the book cover:

In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall.  Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, its owners – mother, son and daughter – struggling to keep pace with a changing society.  But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely , and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his.

Well worth reading.