Posted at 11:47 AM on Sunday 11 April 2010
Anyone else out there enjoy Sarah Waters writing? or if you don't know her work but like 'ghost stories' this might be one for you:

This story provides an interesting insight into what strain owning an old manor house and its estate places on a family facing financial hardship and wartime rationing. The story revolves around a cause and effect theme without ever completely clarifying which is which.

The story is told from the perspective of the family doctor and is a mix of the view from the outside and then increasingly inside the family life as he gets to know them. His account of the romance with Caroline is not compelling.

I thought the book a little long but the inconclusive ending was well created ... was he right and the family were unhinged one by one or was there something supernatural at work ... or more chillingly ... did the Doctor get what he wanted all along; an abandoned Hundreds where he could come and go as he pleased?