The Turn of the Screw

By Henry James.

I am reading it, slowly.

I am getting annoyed with the narrator. It is so obvious that these ghosts are all in her head. She is making them up because she is a bored governess in pre-television East Nowheresville, England. Every single thing that happens she twists around in her head to turn into a "proof" that there are ghosts in the house and the children are in danger of being . . . what? possessed? turned to evil? You can tell that even the cook is starting to worry about her and is just humoring her.

The only screws in this book are in the narrator's head, and they are loose. I don't know if I have the patience to finish this "ghost" story that is really just a "the governess needs to get out more" story.

Of course, kudos to Henry James for making the story work on two levels. Still, I've made up my mind and the governess definitely needs a day off.