The Turn of the Screw; The Lesson of the Master (The Modern Library of the World's Best Books, ML 169)

ix, 211 pp. Includes introduction by Heywood Broun. The Turn of the Screw has been described by many critics as the most sophisticated and terrifying ghost story in the English language. It is considered one of the great intellectual "spook tales" of all time. The story concerns a naive young governess who is hired to take care of two children in a large mansion in the English countryside. Everything is going fine, until she discovers that the children are not as innocent as they seem. The governess believes they have been communing with the ghosts of the former valet and governess. The problem is no one else on the staff can see the ghosts. She alone suspects that the ghosts are controlling the young boy and girl for some evil purpose. The children are evasive when questioned, and the governess begins to fear that the souls of the two children may be in danger. Henry James manages to generate spine-tingling suspense in this mesmerizing tale. The Lesson of the Master is a novella about a writer's struggle to find balance between the pursuit of his art and the enjoyment of his real life.