The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters

Waters' fifth novel is unlike any of her others. Set in crumbling Hundreds Hall, it chronicles the slow descent into a sort of madness of the Ayres family, as told by their doctor, Faraday. He remembers the house's former glory from his childhood and is saddened by it's disintegration, when called one day to treat the housemaid. Slowly he becomes drawn into the lives of the remaining family, and the strange things that happen there. He's not the most reliable narrator, and sometimes it feels as if it would be nice to have another perspective on the curious events at the Hall. Like Waters' other books there is a definite sense of 'the other', of the things people believe and rationalise away most of the time. It's quite creepy at times, and it's never entirely clear whether it's all in the minds of the Ayres' as Faraday believes or if something sinister really is going on. I don't really like ghost stories, but this was nicely done. Waters is one of my favourite writers, her previous books are memorable and worth devouring, as is this.