THE LITTLE STRANGER by Sarah Waters, 2009.
I stayed up past midnight the other night reading this, as I just had to know how it ended. Set in post-World War II English countryside, the story involves a crumbling estate and its owners, the Ayers family. The narrator of the story is Dr. Faraday, a middle aged local GP who has been fascinated with Hundreds Hall since he was a young boy and visited there. The current family consists of the lovely and delicate Angela, her spinster daughter Caroline, and her war scarred son Roderick, and they are struggling with changes in society, have sold off most of their land, have only one full time servant to wait on them, and are strapped for cash. Dr. Faraday becomes involved with the family when he is called to Hundreds to treat their servant, Betty, who is having some trouble adjusting to life at Hundreds. After a disastrous dinner party in which a young guest is seriously injured by the family dog, Faraday finds himself drawn to Hundreds and becomes a frequent visitor. Over time, he comes to realize, as the Ayers do as well, that something isn't quite right in the old Georgian mansion, that the strange creaks and tappings and the series of "accidents" are being caused by something that is dark and menacing. As their lives intertwine, each of them experiences genuine fear and horror over the sinister events at Hundreds Hall. A wonderfully compelling gothic story, full of quiet, unnerving incidents, interesting characters, and a great eerie atmosphere. Waters is a good storyteller and manages to pull the reader in fairly easily and keep those pages turning. If you have enjoyed novels like The Turn of the Screw or Rebecca or The Haunting of Hill House, that are full of creepiness and give you goosebumps, this has a lot of the same elements. I found it quite enthralling, and I am still thinking about it...