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Henry James

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The Turn of the Screw Kindle Edition

by Henry James (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The basis for Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor: One of the most disturbing ghost stories ever written, a tale of imagined danger and real dread.

A young governess arrives at a secluded country estate, hired by the manor’s often-absent master to look after his orphaned niece and nephew. The young woman, a parson’s daughter, is immediately charmed by eight-year-old Flora—and Miles, two years older, seems like a perfect little gentleman when he is unexpectedly sent home from his boarding school.

But Miles’s steadfast refusal to reveal the cause of his expulsion is troubling, as are the staff’s whispered stories about the previous governess, Miss Jessel, and her lover, the mysterious valet, Peter Quint, both of whom are now dead. Most disturbing of all are the spectral figures wandering the grounds of Bly that only the new governess can see: a woman and a dark man who seem to take a special interest in Miles and Flora. No longer sure of what is real and whom she can trust, the governess desperately tries to hold on to her sanity and protect the innocent children from forces too sinister to name.

A literary masterpiece whose mysteries are open to endless interpretation, The Turn of the Screw has been haunting readers for more than a century.

This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Print length

138 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller
Publication date

August 26, 2014
File size

3148 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The story starts conventionally enough with friends sharing ghost stories 'round the fire on Christmas Eve. One of the guests tells about a governess at a country house plagued by supernatural visitors. But in the hands of Henry James, the master of nuance, this little tale of terror is an exquisite gem of sexual and psychological ambiguity. Only the young governess can see the ghosts; only she suspects that the previous governess and her lover are controlling the two orphaned children (a girl and a boy) for some evil purpose. The household staff don't know what she's talking about, the children are evasive when questioned, and the master of the house (the children's uncle) is absent. Why does the young girl claim not to see a perfectly visible woman standing on the far side of the lake? Are the children being deceptive, or is the governess being paranoid? By leaving the questions unanswered, The Turn of Screw generates spine-tingling anxiety in its mesmerized readers.

Review

“No collection of spooky stories would be complete without this novella. It has it all: a big house, scary children, almost unbearable suspense and the horrible realization that something is wrong.” —The Independent

“The darkest, richest ghost story I’ve ever read . . . [The] story grows ever grimmer, ever scarier.” —The New Yorker

“A diabolical little work . . . I found it terrifying, and in the years since I finished it, the short text has continued to haunt me, sometimes returning without warning to my thoughts.” —Siri Hustvedt

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00MF0ZVNE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller (August 26, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 26, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3148 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 138 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #51,187 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #87 in Psychological Literary Fiction
- #118 in Ghost Fiction
- #403 in Historical Literary Fiction

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Henry James

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Henry James (1843-1916), the son of the religious philosopher Henry James Sr. and brother of the psychologist and philosopher William James, published many important novels including Daisy Miller, The Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl, and The Ambassadors.

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3.8 out of 5

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Rachael Pratt

A Classic

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2024

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I had read this story many years ago for school and remembered loving it then but I couldn't remember much about it. I read it again as an adult and I am still as affected by it as I was then. This is a wonderfully creepy story. The language is hard to follow sometimes but you get the gist of the story even if you don't get all the nuances. This is such a classic ghost story and I loved it so much. It is a short read but it keeps you very interested throughout the story.

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jenlynn

Terrifying, read with all the lights on!

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2015

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Great ghost story which I was inspired to read from growing up watching the innocents with Deborah Kerr, there is something so eerie and terrifying about a classic black and white film that makes you want to hide behind your pillow before special effects existed. I looked it up and found out it was based on a Henry James novel, so out of complete curiosity and the fact being my favorite genre is classic novels I was excited to read this story. Some of my favorite authors happen to include Oscar Wilde and Thomas Hardy I thought this book would suite me perfectly. I'll start off with the positives and that being it is gripping and absolutely terrifying! I found myself resorting to shutting the closet door so I wouldn't feel like something was watching me as I read. This novel is narrated from the perspective of a governess hired to move to the country at an estate called Bly and look after the two children residing there. The children are brother and sister Flora and Miles who are the niece and nephew of the man who hires the governess,after their parents died and the estranged uncle can't be bothered to raise them. The governess soon falls in love with Flora the young girl and later falls equally in love with Miles after she meets him later when he is kicked out of an all boys boarding school, for reasons he won't share or discuss. Mrs. Grose is the housekeeper at Bly and has worked there for years, she soon becomes fast friends with the governess and they share and very strong relationship throughout the story. Soon we find out that our governess wasn't the first hired by the children's uncle and there was a terrible accident involving the last governess Miss. Jessel who was found dead in the pond that Flora loves to play by and that Flora was very fond of Miss. Jessel. As James governess begins to settle she starts to see strange things that begin surprisingly with her seeing a strange man among the grounds who is later revealed to be Peter Quint a man hired around the time of Miss. Jessel, who also turns out to have passed away shortly before Miss. Jessel. As the governess begins to have sightings of both these ghosts now roaming Bly she slowly learns the story behind their deaths she learns the dark history they share, fearing what these ghosts want and whether or not the children know of their presence makes this story gripping until the end. The reason I gave this book only 4 stars even though I really enjoyed the story is I'm not a huge fan of Henry James writing style. I found it somewhat hard to follow and maybe even a little bit scattered at times, the narrative was a little easier as I settled into the story but I had to reread certain parts to stay on point and going the direction I knew James wanted me to go. All in all it is a gripping and compelling read and I believe most people would not be able start this book without finishing it, you may just feel yourself sorting through details and lovely words to understand what James is trying to say. Another fun bonus is watching The Innocents after reading it, it's always fun reading a story and then seeing it brought to life after.

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Constantine

Chilling and ambiguous

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2024

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ½
Genre: Classic + Horror

This is a horror classic that I had to read because its movie adaptation, starring Nicole Kidman, is one of my favorite horror films of all time. The Others was based on this horror novella, so I had high expectations.

The story is told through the journal of a young governess who is employed to look after two orphaned children in a remote manor. Pretty soon, she starts to believe that the estate is actually haunted by the spirits of long-gone workers who are out to corrupt the poor kids. The governess's sanity is tested as her disturbing visions intensify, prompting the reader to wonder if these are actually evil spirits or the product of her troubled mind.

The story is intriguing for sure, as it depends a lot on its ambiguity. The narration sometimes feels unreliable because, as a reader, it will be hard to understand or be sure of the sanity of the governess. There are differences between the book and the movie. The main character in the movie is the children’s mother, and there is a huge plot twist at the end, which is not in the book. Regardless of that, this novella was still creepy and entertaining.

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2012

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Over the years I have read this short novella, "The Turn of the Screw," three times. My first reading was when I was very, very young and in college. This was one of the works assigned in the class I was taking; a literature class, and it was one of several works as I remember. I also remember that I approached this work with what I would call absolute pragmatic ambivalence. It had to be read, so I read it. After reading it I had to write a semi-short paper, so I did. I pretty well knew what the professor wanted to hear, so that is what I regurgitated because I wanted a good grade in that particular class. I got a good grade. I did not dislike the novel, nor did I particularly like it...It was simply a job I had to do.

My second reading took place in a place I did not want to be. It was a horrible place and I simply needed something to allow me to mentally detach myself from the situation I was in. A friend of mine had a copy of this work which he gave to me. James' work did the job I wanted it to do at that time. I somewhat appreciated it at the time more than the first reading.

And now we come to this current, and of course most recent reading; different time, different place, different motivations and to top it off...I am now old. Since the first human scratched the first story onto a piece of papyrus there has been literary snobbery. The epicenter of this snobbery centers on `literary' and `genre' fiction. On one had we are told, by those that do the telling, that genre fiction is easy to read, easy to digest, but holds no nutritional value what so ever. On the other side of the coin we have those people who tell us what we are suppose to think praising the popular novel and thumbing their noses at "literature,' claiming that `good literature' is in reality only a cultural artifact and the only reason we have it around is for the same reason we value a well carved hunk of rock that no one can really interpret or really anymore cares about. This battle, if you will, has been heating up of late and is of great interest to me. I love it when people do battle over books.

Anyway, I was once again motivated to pull this small work by Henry James out and give it another go. Of all the works I know, this one has been analyzed, picked apart, speculated upon, and force fed to more people since it was written than any other. I thought it was a good place to start. As I write this, this book most certainly cannot be considered "popular fiction," although it was considered just that when it was first written.

I can tell you right now, before I go on, that this third reading absolutely mesmerized me and I loved the thing from the first page to the last. Am I smarter now? Probably not. As a person quickly approaching the status of "old geezer" has my outlook on life and my perceptions changed? Probably so. What ever the case, this book, over the years, has changed for me...I have changed; the book has not.

This work was first published in 1898. It is a relatively short work and is considered by many to be the classic ghost story of that era. The premise of the plot is at first glance rather simple. A Governess is put in charge of two young children in or at an isolated mansion. The Governess sees ghosts - others do not, and she spends most of the book speculating as to how she will protect the children. Ah, but simple? No, that just ain't so! By the use of what I consider brilliant ambiguity, purposefully crafted by the author, we have so very, very much more than a simple ghost story. The arguments and discussion over this work has been raging for years and years; indeed, since it was first published.

First, did the governess actually see ghosts - were they real? Or, as the other side would ask, is this a young lady with an overly active imagination touched with a bit of paranoia? Is the governess actually insane?

Second we ask ourselves what about the children? The author has given strong hints that not all was well between the two children and the two people who were their former caretakers - who are by the way now dead and are indeed the two ghosts our young governess keeps seeing...or thinks she sees. There is a very, very strong hint of sexual impropriety here at best; molestation at worse. The author never tells us. Why was the young lad in the story thrown out of school? The author never tells us. Vague shadowy hints only.

Third is linked with the first and deals with the governess's emotions and state of mind. There have been strong theories over the years that we are dealing with a very sexually frustrated young lady...frustrated to the point of tipping her over the edge. Again, we are forced to anticipate the mind of James and consider the time frame in which this tale takes place. (I personally view the sexually frustration theory just slightly lame. Most of these theories popped up during a time when the public was obsessed with such matters and just about every aspect of life was linked to sexuality in one way or another.) Fiction and biography tell us strongly that young ladies who became governesses at that time were, as a whole, a very, very frustrated group of people. They were almost invariably "spinsters" with little hope of marriage usually due to reduced circumstances. These young women were well educated and indeed were in possession of a fare degree of sophistication. No prospect of marriage, little to no social life, little to no income, living under the roof of strangers, facing and endless number of rules, rules and more rules...well, quite often these women had major issues which manifested themselves in various ways; often at the expense of the children. Whether or not that was the case here...well, the reader is left to decide.

So ghost or imagination, sane or insane, sexual issues on different level or not....crafty writer, James.

And then we have the writing style. Long, long sentences; many having multiple subjects, inserted clauses and words, words and more words. The author, at first glance, uses a very confusing style with convoluted sentences being the norm. This is not an easy read by any means. The first time I read it was the worse, but I have to tell you that even this last reading required my reading and rereading some of the sentences in order to fully understand what the author was saying. Ah, but that was the essence of the book for me. Navigating through James's prose, once I got the rhythm, was actually fun! Each sentence was a journey leading to another journey. I personally love this stuff! If you are put off by the style, put the book aside for a couple or three years and give it another shot. You may find your wait well worth it.

I have read that some feel that this is James' greatest work. I personally would not even speculate on that since I have not read all of his work. I doubt it though. As to the answer to the questions brought up; those that have been discussed for years and years...well, to be honest with you, I just don't know. And truth be told, I don't think anyone else does either. The author wrote this the way he wrote it for just that reason. He has allowed each reader to come to his or her own conclusions - right or wrong and the author has done it well! That is the true marvel of this little book as far as I am concerned.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

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Maria

Assustador!!!

Reviewed in Brazil on January 3, 2024

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Eu n conseguia parar de olhar para as janelas da casa depois q li esse livro!!! Passei muito medo! Foi demais!

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Mitali Sahoo

This is my favourite book by Henry James, perfect for horror fans.

Reviewed in India on February 14, 2022

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This is my favourite book by Henry James, perfect for horror fans. The book was delivered in perfect condition and the cover is stunning!

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Tim Dumble

Cleverly constructed thriller

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2021

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This is a fascinating exploration of reality and sanity redolent of Dostoyevsky’s ‘The Double’.
James writes in a deliberately florid style which contributes to the ambiguity necessary to the plot.

As much psychological mystery thriller as ghost story, James’s best known work deserves its place in the pantheon of greats. As the accompanying essay details, it is part of a collection of similar short stories exploring the ambivalence of perception and human experience which relate as much to brother William’s field.

It is also a cleverly constructed narrative in which use of person and perspective create doubt and the space within which the reader’s imagination can race and attempt to construct the truth from the uncertainty.

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rjs

Excellent but needs a very close read or you will ...

Reviewed in Canada on January 28, 2018

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Excellent but needs a very close read or you will miss the story and its complexity. The narrator inserts prepositional phrases in the main verb phrase which can make following the story difficult at times; also, antecedents of personal pronouns can be confusing in the dialogues. Make the effort and be amazed.

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