The Turn of the Screw

Henry James was asked by the editors of Collier’s, an American weekly, to write a ghost story for their 1898 Christmas issue, and the result (The Turn of the Screw) is one of his most intricate and entertaining works. The novella is an old-fashioned gothic ghost story set on a rural estate, and involves a hired caretaker who begins to see apparitions. The story is told in the first-person by the governess; and similar to What Maisie Knew, James creates real suspense and confusion from the unreliability of her perspective.