Hundreds Hall, a once-grand estate in rural Warwickshire, frames the setting of Sarah Waters' newest novel. Post WWII, the house is declining rapidly: the masonry is crumbling, the wallpaper is peeling and weeds have entirely choked out the garden. Roderick Ayers, who has returned wounded from the War, is desperate to hold his home together for the sake of his mother and his sister, Caroline. As Dr. Faraday, the narrator who treats Roderick's injured leg, becomes entwined with the Ayeres family, disturbing occurrences within Hundreds imply that the house has taken on a life of its own. Indeed, the Hall seems possessed by something sinister, something determined to upset the lives of all the Ayeres'.
I have now read all five of Sarah Waters' novels and I maintain that she's an ingenious storyteller who never allows the reader's attention to falter. She does an especially good job of developing her characters and brilliantly takes on the point of view of an (intentionally) irritating and unreliable narrator. However, this wasn't my favourite of her books (I'd place it somewhere in the middle) mostly because it has an uncharacteristically linear plot and because it lacks the shocking twists and turns for which Waters is famous.
