The Turn of the Screw - (Penguin Classics) by Henry James (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A chilling ghost story, wrought with tantalising ambiguity, the basis for the new Netflix series The Haunting of Bly Manor

A Penguin Classic

In what Henry James called a 'trap for the unwary', The Turn of the Screw tells of a nameless young governess sent to a country house to take charge of two orphans, Miles and Flora. Unsettled by a dark foreboding of menace within the house, she soon comes to believe that something malevolent is stalking the children in her care. But is the threat to her young charges really a malign and ghostly presence or something else entirely? The Turn of the Screw is James's great masterpiece of haunting atmosphere and unbearable tension and has influenced subsequent ghost stories and films such as The Innocents, starring Deborah Kerr, and The Others, starring Nicole Kidman.

This Penguin Classics edition contains a chronology, further reading, notes and an introduction by David Bromwich examining the dark ambiguity of James's work and the inseparability of narrative from point-of-view.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Review Quotes

"Remarkably vivid and disquieting . . . Whether this beloved 19th-century novella retains the power to frighten you depends on the degree to which you've ever questioned your own senses or doubted your sanity. . . . A classic of Gothic literature, prized for its ambiguity and sophistication." --The New York Times

About the Author

Henry James (1843-1916) is the author of such classic novels as Daisy Miller, The Golden Bowl, and Washington Square.

David Bromwich is a Sterling Professor of English at Yale University.