The Turn of the Screw
A young governess takes charge of two orphaned children at the isolated country house of Bly and becomes convinced that the grounds are haunted by the ghosts of two former servants intent on corrupting her young charges. Henry James's 1898 novella never resolves whether the hauntings are real or the governess's own delusion, making it one of the most debated ghost stories in English literature.
A former valet at Bly, now dead, whom the governess believes she sees as an apparition threatening the children.
The governess's predecessor at Bly, now dead, whom the governess believes she sees as an apparition alongside Peter Quint.
One of the two orphaned children in the governess's care at Bly; his behavior increasingly convinces her that he is under the influence of a malevolent presence.
The younger of the two orphaned children the governess is hired to look after at Bly.
The housekeeper at Bly, who confides what she knows of the estate's past to the governess and remains a skeptical, grounding presence.
Henry James's novella was serialized in Collier's Weekly from January to April 1898, then published in book form later that year.
Henry James deliberately leaves it unresolved. The entire story is filtered through the governess's own written account, and James never confirms whether the ghosts she sees are real or a product of her own delusion. This ambiguity is the reason the novella is still debated by critics and readers today.
Bly is a fictional country house in Essex, England, where the governess is sent to care for Miles and Flora.