I first became aware of Sarah Waters when the BBC released their controversial series based on her novel Tipping The Velvet a few years ago but neither watched the full series or read any of her novels. It wasn’t that the lesbian theme bothered me, I just wasn’t particularly interested in it but I was curious about the author herself. However, to label Waters as a lesbian writer does her a great disservice because her books are rich with so many other themes and her characters intriguing. In fact, her latest novel The Little Stranger is a gothic type ghost story without a lesbian in sight. Before anyone accuses me of only reading the book because of that, let me assure you I have every intention of reading all her novels because I think she is a very talented writer.

The Little Stranger is set in 1947 and begins with Dr Farraday attending a house call at Hundreds Hall, the once stately home of the Ayres family. Farraday last visited the estate as a ten year old boy and he is shocked to see how far the house has fallen into decline during the intervening years. The current master of Hundreds Hall is Roderick Ayres, a frail young man with grave injuries received during his service with the Air Force. Along with his sister Caroline and his aging mother, Rod fight to keep the estate from drowning in debt but it appears to be a losing battle.

Farraday soon finds himself drawing closer to the family despite his initial dislike and becomes increasingly disturbed by events plaguing them. The normally placid family dog suddenly attacks a little girl for no apparent reason and Rod’s mental state begins to decline to the point where he is convinced the house is evil. Farraday finally has him committed after a near fatal fire.

Unfortunately, the disturbances continue until the remaining family members fear the house is indeed cursed and they are in real danger. Caroline begins to believe her brother may have been right all along and there is something sinister haunting the house much to Farraday’s dismay, however tragedy is never far away.

Waters is effective at evoking the atmosphere of a great house falling into decline and the sinister elements are subtle, building slowly throughout the novel. Farraday, the main narrator of the novel, is never there to witness any of the disturbances himself, with the exception of the dog incident, and this helps throw some doubt into the mix. Farraday is after all a man of science and he refuses to see anything supernatural. So are the occupants of the house victims of mass hysteria or is the house really evil?

The ending is very ambiguous and I love that Waters doesn’t bother to explain everything into a neat little package tied with a bow. As well as the supernatural aspects, Waters also introduces wider social themes such as the significant changes sweeping through the British class system and the impending birth of the NHS.