The Turn of the Screw
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3.3 • 7 Ratings
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Publisher Description
In this blood-curdling story, that imagination weaves the lives of two children, a governess in love with her employer, and a sprawling country house into a flawless story, still unsurpassed as the prototype of modern horror fiction.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This isn’t your father’s ghost story—it’s your great-grandfather’s ghost story. Published in 1898, this Gothic classic about a young governess who may or may not see dead people still packs a super-spooky punch. American novelist Henry James wrote extensively about the supernatural, but The Turn of the Screw is widely considered his creepy crowning achievement. We were caught up in the suspense from page one…and it will be a long time before we forget James’s masterfully conceived atmosphere of spine-tingling dread.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Prebble's strong, cultured voice pulls listeners directly into the deep suspense of James's famous Gothic tale. He plays the unnamed narrator who, at the start of the novel, prepares his audience for what is posed as a most sinister ghost story involving young children and their newly appointed governess. Then actor Landor takes over to relate the story as a first-person account from the governess. She reads with an accent that sounds a bit upper-class for a country governess, but no matter; her diction is extremely clear, which is essential to allowing the listener to traverse James's long, complex sentences. She is entirely convincing both as the emotional governess and as Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper, as the two try to extricate their young charges, eight- and 10-year-old Flora and Miles, from the grasp of the two ghosts who inhabit their gloomy country house. The story remains ambiguous to the end: Are the children manipulated by the ghosts? Are the ghosts real? Is the governess simply mad? With the help of both Prebble and Landor, listeners will be at the edge of their seats.
