Synopses & Reviews
Widely recognized as one of literature's most gripping ghost stories, this classic tale of moral degradation concerns the sinister transformation of two innocent children into flagrant liars and hypocrites. The story begins when a governess arrives at an English country estate to look after Miles, aged ten, and Flora, eight. At first, everything appears normal but then events gradually begin to weave a spell of psychological terror.
One night a ghost appears before the governess. It is the dead lover of Miss Jessel, the former governess. Later, the ghost of Miss Jessel herself appears before the governess and the little girl. Moreover, both the governess and the housekeeper suspect that the two spirits have appeared to the boy in private. The children, however, adamantly refuse to acknowledge the presence of the two spirits, in spite of indications that there is some sort of evil communication going on between the children and the ghosts.
Without resorting to clattering chains, demonic noises, and other melodramatic techniques, this elegantly told tale succeeds in creating an atmosphere of tingling suspense and unspoken horror matched by few other books in the genre. Known for his probing psychological novels dealing with the upper classes, James in this story tried his hand at the occult — and created a masterpiece of the supernatural that has frightened and delighted readers for nearly a century.
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"The Turn Of The Screw seems to have proved more fascinating to the general reading public than anything else of James's except Daisy Miller." Edmund Wilson
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"[James] is the most intelligent man of his generation." T. S. Eliot
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"Henry James is as solitary in the history of the novel as Shakespeare is in the history of poetry." Graham Greene
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"The Turn of the Screw is the most hopelessly evil story that we have ever read in any literature, ancient or modern." Independent
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"We are afraid of something unnamed, of something, perhaps, in ourselves....Henry James...can still make us afraid of the dark." Virginia Woolf<.em>
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"It really does turn your blood cold." Colm Tóibín
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"A most wonderful, lurid, poisonous little tale." Oscar Wilde
About the Author
American author Henry James (1843-1916) spent most of his career in Europe and ultimately adopted British citizenship. A prolific writer of criticism, biography, and travel-related books and articles, James is known above all for his highly influential novels, which frequently explore the clash of Old and New World cultures.