Kulturka

The Turn Of The Screw And The Aspern Papers

Oscar Wilde called James?s chilling The Turn of the Screw ?a most wonderful, lurid poisonous little tale?. It tells of a young gover ness sent to a country house to take charge of two orphans, Miles and Flora. Unsettled by a sense of intense evil within the house, she soon becomes obsessed with the belief that something malevolent is stalking the children in her care. Obsession of a more worldl y variety lies at the heart of The Aspern Papers, the tale of a literary historian determined to get his hands on some letters writt en by a great poet ? and prepared to use trickery and deception to achieve his aims. Both show James?s mastery of the short story an d his genius for creating haunting atmosphere and unbearable tension.

• author: Henry James