About this title: A chilling and vividly rendered ghost story set in postwar Britain, by the bestselling and award-winning author of "The Night Watch" and "Fingersmith." Sarah Waters's trilogy of Victorian novels "Tipping the Velvet," "Affinity," and "Fingersmith" earned her legions of fans around the world, a number of awards, and a reputation as one of today's ...
read more
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Date Published: 2009-04-30
ISBN-13:9781594488801ISBN:1594488800
Description: Like New in Very Good jacket. Hardcover with jacket. Very nice tight copy, no markings. A chilling and vividly rendered ghost story set in postwar Britain. In this book, the author returns to the fertile setting of Britain in the 1940s-and brings us a sinister tale of a haunted house that brims with the rich atmosphere and psychological complexity that have become hallmarks of her work. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Date Published: 2009-04-30
ISBN-13:9781594488801ISBN:1594488800
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781594488801. read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: LITTLE, BROWN BOOK GROUP Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781844086016ISBN:1844086011
Description: BRAND NEW HARDBACK. 512 pages. * a ghost story from one of britain's finest and best loved writers. the major literary event of 2009 (Hardback) read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Thorndike Pr
Date Published: 2009-10-16
ISBN-13:9781410419590ISBN:1410419592
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781410419590. read more
Binding: Spoken Word Compact Disc
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Date Published: 2009-04-30
ISBN-13:9780143144809ISBN:0143144804
Description: NEW. Spoken Word Compact Disc. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780143144809. read more
Edition: First edition. First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Books, New York
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781594488801ISBN:1594488800
Description: Fine in near fine jacket. 466 pp. Signed by author on a tipped-in sheet. Dust jacket has slight crinkling in a couple of spots. "Signed Copy" sticker on front of jacket. read more
Edition: First edition. First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking, London UK
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781844086016ISBN:1844086011
Description: New in new dust jacket. Signed by author. SIGNED BY AUTHOR on title page. First Edition/First Printing UK. New book, opened only for signing. Brodart protected, ships in a box. read more
"I didn't find this one as entertaining as the other books of Waters' that I've read. After several months of occasional consideration, I think it's because the ending is so ambiguous. Now, ambiguous hauntings are actually my favourite kind--see Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House for a perfect and horrifying example--but this book had such a lengthy amount of buildup that I felt rather cheated to be deprived of the definitive denouement, the gut-punch-twist ending, that I had come to expect based on Fingersmith and Affinity. Had I gone in without prior expectations I might have felt more fulfilled by the book. Or perhaps I read too quickly (it was an all-nighter) and missed out on important clues in one direction or another...
Dissatisfaction aside, this was an undoubtedly strong novel from a good writer. I really do love historical novels that play upon the conventions of their time period's literature, and Waters is always quite clever at working within the architecture of the gothic romance."
"I agree with many of the other reviewers who felt pulled in and involved in this story. I loved and enjoyed the supernatural elements, but they are not the main story, though they lurk beneath everything that happens, and certainly will raise goosebumps. There is a mystery here to be unraveled, but it ends up being somewhat ambiguous. I don't mind, since the narrator Faraday sees what he can see through the lens of "rational" thinking and his subjective experience; the reader can read in other things and take another point of view, and most likely will. Most interesting. The book really pulled me forward and kept me up late at night and reading fully engrossed in noisy situations where I normally would be distracted. A good sign! The characters are sympathetic in most every case, and the tragedy of the Ayers family imbues the entire tale with melancholy and longing. A great book which I highly recommend."
"I was quite torn about how to rate this book and went between 2 and 3 stars. I love most of Waters' books. I loved Tipping the Velvet and Affinity was a great ghost story, but this book was like her other book Night Watch-long, drawn-out and left me wondering what the point was. Faraday, the main character is not really likeable-but that being said, neither are any of the other characters. The book ends with no real wrapping up of any details-though you are left with this feeling that the author is trying to be clever and point the finger many different ways. By the last page, I stopped caring who the Little Stranger was. It took way to long to try and figure that out. I wish Waters would go back to writing about the Victorian time period. I give it three stars because some of her writing-especially with the mishaps in the house that were exciting and propelled me on through the mire of the rest of the writing. I just wish when I got to the end, it was an actual ending."
"I enjoyed Night Watch tremendously, so I was really looking forward to reading Waters' newest novel; once I started reading this book, I did not put it down except to eat and sleep. Though it is touted as a ghost story in some review I read, it really is just as much the story of a family being overwhelmed by tragedy. It has an additional layer of psychological twists that had me wondering about the characters for the entire book (and I still have a few questions). The narrator is a middle aged bachelor doctor who becomes friendly with a down-on-their-luck aristocratic family in small town Warwickshire immediately following the Second World War. Strange events occur at the manor house and though mental illness is a strong possibility, there are some unexplainable and possibly supernatural explanations. The plot builds with delicious slowness as Waters develops her characters and the romance between the doctor and the young lady of the manor. A riveting read rigorously recommended."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
