''Sarah Waters'' masterly novel is gripping, confident, unnerving and supremely entertaining'' Hilary MantelIn a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, its owners - mother, son and daughter - struggling to keep pace with a changing society. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his. ''The #1 book of the year... several sleepless nights are guaranteed'' Stephen King''Chilling... a meditation on the nature of the British and class, and how things are rarely what they seem'' Kate Mosse''Waters has determined to scare the pants off her rightly devoted audience. She succeeds unquivocally'' Erica Wagner, The Times''A brilliantly observed story, verging on the comedy, about Britain on the cusp of modern age'' Independent on Sunday