Other editions of book The Turn of the Screw and Owen Wingrave: and Owen Wingrave

One of the world's most famous ghost stories, this spine-chilling tale is told through the journal of a governess, depicting her struggle to save her two young charges from the demonic influence of two former household servants. Only the governess can see the ghosts; only she suspects that the previous governess and her lover are controlling the two orphaned children for some evil purpose. But are the children being deceptive, or is the governess being paranoid? The author called the tale a "fable," noting that he did not specify details of the ghosts' evil deeds because he wanted readers to supply their own vision of terror. This little tale is an exquisite gem of sexual and psychological ambiguity, a story that stays long in the mind.

The Turn of the Screw is a classic ghost story by Henry James, first published in 1898. The story centers on a young governess, who is given charge over two beautiful, seemingly perfect orphan children. Isolated on a country estate, the governess begins to see two figures, a man and a woman, at odd times and places. None of the other staff or the children acknowledges or even appear to see them. Describing their appearance to the housekeeper, however, the governess learns that they resemble the former governess and her lover, who died under mysterious circumstances. Could they be ghosts, returning to take the souls of the children? Subtle, ambiguous, and genuinely spooky, The Turn of the Screw is a must-read for those who like their frights with a touch of class.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.‘The place, with its grey sky and withered garlands, its bared spaces and scattered dead leaves, was like a theatre after the performance-all strewn with crumpled playbills.’Revered as one of the greatest ghost stories ever told, James’s The Turn of the Screw is an eerie Victorian masterpiece.When an inexperienced governess goes to work at Bly, a country house in Essex to look after a young boy Miles and his sister Flora, all manner of strange events begin to occur. The governess spots a ghostly man and woman around the grounds and is told by the housekeeper that the valet and previous governess haunt the house. It soon becomes clear that the children are inexplicably connected to these ghosts in some way and the young governess struggles to protect the children, although from exactly what, she is not sure.Exploring the psychological and sexual fears of an era, this ambiguous, suspenseful and anxiety-inspiring novella remains one of Henry James’s most well-known tales.

The story's anonymous narrator is a young woman, a parson’s daughter, who is engaged as governess to two seemingly innocent children at a remote English country house. What initially seems a idyllic soon turns nightmarish, as she becomes convinced that the children are consorting with a pair of malevolent spirits. These are the ghosts of former employees at Bly: a valet and a previous governess. In life, scandalously, the two of them had been discharged as illicit lovers, and their spectral visitations with the children hint at Satanism and possible sexual abuse.

The Turn of the Screw is a fireside tale of evil and mystery. Filled with extraordinary drama, Henry James’ story has been widely popular ever since its publication in 1898. It also inspired a film, a play, and an opera. A governess has been hired to care for two orphaned young children in their uncle’s English country home. But soon after she meets the boy and his sister, the governess begins to see fearful apparitions. With growing alarm, she must wonder about the target of the ghostly presences. Are they haunting her, or the sweet, innocent children? Henry James gives no answers to this question. Instead, he leaves the listener to ponder the relationships between evil and horror, imagination and reality. Through Flo Gibson’s eloquent narration, the suspense grows to a horrifying finale.

The Turn of the Screw Henry James (1843 - 1916) The Turn of the Screw, originally published in 1898, is a gothic ghost story novel written by Henry James. Due to its original content, the novel became a favourite text of academics who subscribe to New Criticism. The novel has had differing interpretations, often mutually exclusive. Many critics have tried to determine the exact nature of the evil hinted at by the story. However, others have argued that the true brilliance of the novel comes with its ability to create an intimate confusion and suspense for the reader.

On one spooky Christmas eve, a man named Douglas promises a strange tale to his listeners and pulls out a manuscript written by a governess. The account describes the governess' time at an English estate, where she looked over two children: the sweet, young Flora, and the elder Miles, just as sweet, but returned home from boarding school after a mysterious expulsion.With the master of the estate absent, and very vocal in his directions to the governess to disturb him for no possible reason, the governess undertakes the education of both children. Unable to comprehend how a boy as kind as Miles could be forbidden from returning to school, the governess seeks to take care of both of her charges as best as she can. But though the master is gone, the small group is not alone: besides the servants at the estate, two mysterious figures keep appearing to the governess, figures who seem intent on making contact with the children. As the figures become bolder, and the governess grows more afraid, she begins to ask herself: do the children know? Are they somehow complicit? And what's more, the reader begins to ask the question that has been debated since the publication of THE TURN OF THE SCREW: Are the figures supernatural ghosts?Or is the governess mad?THE TURN OF THE SCREW is the second gothic novel in the Green Collection, Greenleaf & Plympton's inaugural collection of five classic gothics. The novels in this collection include: JANE EYRE by Charlotte Brontë THE TURN OF THE SCREW by Henry James THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas NORTHANGER ABBEY by Jane Austen THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle