I have read a few chapters of this novel, and it is definitely outside my comfort zone.
A woman is taken to Ensor House, where she has been hired as a governess. Her new employers are Mr and Mrs Pounds. From the first moment we understand that the woman and narrator, Winifred Notty is a devious character. Her descriptions are quite dark and makes comparisons with blood or body parts. She mentions that the house will burn down easily too, and then she ponders that in a month everybody will be dead.
We understand that Winifred is a killer, and she has killed before, probably other children she has looked after. The children in this house are Andrew, who is eight, and Drusilla, who is thirteen. Before meeting them, their parents tell Winifred that their children are difficult to control, and there have been several governesses who have left. When she meets them, she realises that Andrew is cheeky and lazy, and Drusilla can be pretentious. It seems that on the first day Winifred manages to have the upper hand, and the children seem to accept her.
I have to say that even though this is not the kind of book I would choose, the language and how the narrator expresses herself is done with great skill and beauty despite the horror that we start to feel.
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