The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
First published 1898 · English · 134 pages
- Novels
- Adventure
- Mystery and crime
- Thriller and suspense
A short novella of the supernatural, told as a story read aloud at a Christmas gathering. A young governess takes charge of two orphaned children, Miles and Flora, at a quiet country house in England. Soon she becomes convinced that the place is haunted and that the children are in danger from unseen presences. As her fears grow, the reader must judge whether she is truthful or whether her mind is playing tricks. The tale is famous for its deliberate ambiguity, and it has fed argument and adaptation for over a century. It remains a model of suspense built from hints, silence and unease.
Quotes
The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless.
There are depths, depths! The more I go over it, the more I see in it, and the more I see in it, the more I fear.
No, no—there are depths, depths! The more I go over it, the more I see in it.
I seemed to float not into clearness, but into a darker obscure.