Gillian Flynn on Emma Thompson Reading ‘The Turn of the Screw’
THE TURN OF THE SCREW By Henry James Read by Emma Thompson 4¾ hours. Audible Studios.
“The Turn of the Screw” is one of the most chilling ghost stories ever, largely because it is so deliciously elusive. Its author, Henry James, refuses to single out the good and the bad, the mad and the sane. Are there malevolent spirits haunting this Essex country home, or is there simply an isolated and nervous young woman whose sanity slowly erodes?
It’s an amusing but not essential argument. Either way, something nasty is afoot at Bly, and the discomfort is doled out precisely and relentlessly by James. The spareness of the writing gives the story its power and eerie credibility: There are no great, startling, gotcha scares. Instead it’s a queasy terror built on unsettling pieces of information; curious reactions; small, pointed lies. As an audiobook reader, the British actress Emma Thompson (she of such distinct sense and sensibility) pairs perfectly for this effect.
