The little stranger is set in post-war England. The protagonist, Dr Faraday, is a GP and confirmed bachelor. The centre of his life used to be a grand stately home, Hundreds Hall, where his mother worked as a servant. This estate has now fallen on hard times and the once wealthy family now lives in near poverty, grubbing a living through their farm. The sharp contrast between the family's straitened circumstances and their semi-opulent surroundings (albeit now very much in disrepair) is played out through much of the novel and the reader even manages to feel sorry for them.

Faraday enters their lives again unexpectedly when he's called to attend to a medical call-out there. What he finds is upsetting for him when he bears in mind his rather more glamorous memories of the place. Mrs Ayres, the widowed lady of the house, is well groomed yet deluded, Roddy (the heir to the crumbling estate) suffers from 'nerves' and his sister Caroline is frumpy, sensible and plain with no chance of marrying a catch.

As he inveigles his way into their lives, becoming increasingly indispensable, a ghost story soon emerges. A phantom 'something' is plaguing Roddy, literally driving him mad. Hundreds house is haunted and the family are keen to find an explanation. The ultra-rational Faraday soon becomes an annoyance to the reader as his refusal to accept what's staring him in the face has you screaming in frustration at the pages. The atmosphere is spooky, yet understated. You soon come to understand you can't trust Faraday's narration of events, his assumptions (that you initially accept) are cleverly turned on their head later into the novel when you realise just what a twit he really is.

For fans of Sarah Waters, this book is a treat. It's also an insightful look into a period of social upheaval in Britain.

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