oh, my, i was SO disappointed in "the little stranger." i loved waters' "fingersmith" and couldn't wait to read "stranger." it is very well written with a great sense of place and characterizations, but the ghost story is pretty much non-existent. waters spends about 3/4 of the novel leading up to a whole lot of not much. there are one or two very chilly scenes (one character is mysteriously locked in a room and peering through the keyhole, sees a child-like shadow passing by and back again...running its hand along the wall, scratching fingernails...yet there are no children in the house), and i kept thinking/hoping it was going to blow wide open, but sadly, it never quite did.