The Little Stranger

By: Sarah Waters

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Exclusive to download: includes an interview with Sarah Waters giving an insight into the story behind The Little Stranger.

A ghost story from one of Britain's finest and best loved writers. After her award-winning trilogy of Victorian novels, Sarah Waters turned to the 1940s and wrote The Night Watch, a tender and tragic novel set against the backdrop of wartime Britain. Short-listed for both the Orange and the Man Booker, it went straight to number one in the best-seller chart.

In a dusty postwar summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at 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, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. 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.

Prepare yourself. From this wonderful writer who continues to astonish us, now comes a chilling ghost story.

2010, Orange Prize, Long-listed

2009, Man Booker Prize, Short-listed

2011, IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Long-listed

2007, James Tait Black – Fiction, Short-listed

©2009 Sarah Waters (P)2009 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Waters has determined to scare the pants off her righly devoted audience. She succeeds unequivocally. You'll want to sleep with the light on (Erica Wagner)

The Little Stranger is a proper muscle-flexing story - I was in awe and just did not want it to end (Julie Myerson)

Displaying her remarkable flair for period evocation, Waters recreates backwater Britain just after the Second World War with atmospheric immediacy . . . Acute and absorbing (Peter Kemp)

Waters is often described as a brilliant storyteller, and so she is. But she is also an artist compelled to experiment . . . Waters gives herself a sort of handicap with the dull doctor's narration. This indirectness, which in cruder hands might have led to yawning insurrection in the reader, becomes essential to the novel's unsettling power (Claudia Fitzherbert)

Truly frightening . . . As I lay in bed after finishing reading it, running the various elements through my mind, a fox screamed outside my window and I nearly had a heart attack (Suzi Feay)

A spine-tingler . . . Waters skilfully ratchets up the suspense as events at Hundreds grow ever more highly charged - even downright chilling (Amber Pearson)

Catching story and twisted plot

The atmosphere of the story is vividly described, with many twists and turns, although the mistery is unresolved and keeps you wondering…

A Compelling Listen

The Little Stranger, a Booker shortlist, is told by one Dr. Faraday, a medical doctor of limited success -- for which he blames his humble background and lack of connections -- and anxious about his prospects in post-war England. Throughout the story we encounter his class resentment. Faraday is both reverent and envious of the Ayers, a grand family now in decline, whom he befriends. Midway through the novel we begin to suspect that he could unreliable, and his narration could be self-serving.

The novel is marketed as a ghost story, but I think one may also read it as a mystery novel, as I did. The story lacks the tricks and plot twists that so captivated me in Sarah Water's earlier novel, Fingersmith; nonetheless, I was hooked almost from the word go.

Simon Vance's narration was almost perfect, and makes this a five star listen instead of four.

Well worth it

I loved this story, and while it is a little slow to start, it's beautiful narration and detail makes it worth it.

I highly recommend it.

I loved it!

The Little Stranger is perfect for audio. Set in the coutryside of post war Britain, a country doctor grapples with the problems of a poverty stricken gentry family and the mysteries lurking within their crumbling family home.The book is engaging, entertaining and beautifully narrated.

Great novel, less satisfied with the performance

I liked the story as a fan of Gothic novels, although Simon Vance’s character voices were usually distracting.

Not unless you are a haunted-house-story-maniac

The author does well to capture the image of a post-war English countryside. Simon Vance's narration is more than decent. I found the plot a bit dull and predictible however. The one thing that surprised me was... the anticlimactic ending. Not being an enthusiast of the genre I can think of only one more reason to recommend this book; it is an easy listen, ideal for when driving a car.

so boring!!!

seriously??? why do I keep picking boring books? this was a snooze fest! i was so bored.