The Turn of the Screw

Henry James, Pocket Classic

Summary

The Turn of the Screw is a short novel or a novella written by American writer Henry James. Originally published in 1898, it is ostensibly a ghost story that has lent itself well to operatic and film adaptation. Due to its ambiguous content and narrative skill, The Turn of the Screw became a favorite text of New Criticism.
The account has lent itself to dozens of different interpretations, often mutually exclusive, including those of a Freudian nature. Many critics have tried to determine what exactly is the nature of evil within the story.

Available since: 10/17/2022.

Print length: 114 pages.

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Bram Stoker

Abraham Stoker was born in Dublin, Ireland on the 8th of November 1847, the third of seven children.

His early years were plagued with such ill-health that he was unable to start school until the age of seven. He turned the long periods of recovery into an opportunity for thinking and said “I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years”.

Strikingly at Trinity College, Dublin his health had returned with such vigour that he was named their University Athlete whilst also achieving a BA in Mathematics with honours.

At this time his interest in theatre became a job offer to be the Dublin Evening Mail’s theatre critic, co-owned by Sheridan Le Fanu. He now began to also write short stories and in 1872 ‘The Crystal Cup’ was published. An interest in art developed and he co-founded the Dublin Sketching Club.

In 1878 came marriage to Florence Balcombe. She had formerly been courted by Stoker’s acquaintance, Oscar Wilde. The marriage produced one child.

Stoker had some years before reviewed Henry Irving’s Hamlet and had dined with him. That friendship now resulted in a proposal from Irving to move to London and to manage his Lyceum Theatre. His numerous commercial innovations ensured both he and the theatre thrived. Irving would also often take Stoker with him when he toured abroad.

Despite this busy life Stoker continued to write and these works paved the way for his most famous creation, published in 1897, ‘Dracula’. It is rightly recognised as one of the greatest horror novels of all time and although not the first with a theme of Vampires, it is undoubtedly the most well-known.

Stoker also wrote poetry and many excellent short stories and continued to write novels and other works throughout his career.

Politically Stoker supported Home Rule, though only by peaceful means. He was also keen on following scientific trends particularly in medicine.

In 1902 his tenure at the Lyceum Theatre ended and although he continued to write his health was deteriorating, mainly due to a series of debilitating strokes.

Bram Stoker died on the 20th April 1912, in Pimlico, London. He was 64.

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A tormented woman awakens each night to the echo of a scream that no living soul can hear—until she follows its ghostly reverberations to a hidden attic door where tortured memories lurk. With every silent cry, the walls bleed fragments of a tragedy that nearly destroyed her family, and she must confront the voiceless horror trapped in her own bloodline before it steals her sanity forever. A chilling psychological thriller that will haunt you long after the final gasp.

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