4 h 50 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 50 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if protecting two children means trusting a mind you can no longer trust?
On Christmas Eve, Douglas brings a governess’s manuscript to a gathering of friends telling ghost stories. Her account leads to Bly, a lonely country house where she takes charge of two orphans, Miles and Flora. The children seem charming, the grounds welcoming. Then a stranger appears on the tower and stares down at her.
In Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, each strange sight deepens a young woman’s certainty that the children need protection. Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper, becomes her only confidante. But certainty is not proof. As the governess watches more closely, you must weigh what she sees against what she fears—and wonder where the danger truly lies.
What you’ll discover
- A house full of silence Walk through Bly’s grounds, where a tower, a window, and a lake become sources of dread.
- Two children under watch Meet Miles and Flora, whose apparent innocence makes the governess’s fears all the more unsettling.
- A mind under pressure Follow a young guardian whose sense of responsibility grows tangled with fear and doubt.
- Ghosts or something else Weigh the signs yourself as James leaves room for sharply different readings.
- Fear without easy answers Feel suspense gather through strange sights, unanswered questions, and the things no one says.
Who will love it
Readers who love ghost stories told by firelight, elusive narrators, and puzzles that linger for years will enjoy this book. It also suits lovers of Gothic houses and unsettling questions.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A promise of silence shapes everything
- Affection buries an unanswered warning
- The stranger has a dead man's name
- Each sighting becomes a fearful interpretation
- Miles breaks the household's uneasy silence
- The ghosts allow two competing readings
- Care begins to resemble control
- Every layer leads into one mind
- Certainty can leave the truth unclear
Who’s who
- The governessA clergyman's twenty-year-old daughter who takes charge of two orphans at Bly and resolves to protect them from what she sees.
- MilesA beautiful ten-year-old boy, home from a school that will not take him back, who is charming and hard to read.
- FloraMiles's younger sister, a golden-haired child who shows the governess around Bly and keeps her own counsel.
- Mrs. GroseThe kind, plain housekeeper at Bly who cannot read, adores Flora and becomes the governess's only confidante.
- Peter QuintThe dead valet of the children's uncle, seen on the tower and at the window, once too free with everyone at Bly.
- Miss JesselThe previous governess, now dead, seen in black by the lake, on the stairs and at the schoolroom table.
- DouglasA guest at a Christmas Eve gathering who reads aloud the manuscript given to him long ago by the governess.
- The uncleA rich, charming bachelor in Harley Street who hires the governess and forbids her ever to trouble him.
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The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James · 1898
A young governess sees a stranger on the tower at Bly and tells no one, not even the housekeeper.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEnglish
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In short
Picture a Christmas Eve in an old country house. A group sits around the fire, trading ghost stories, until a man named Douglas says he knows one more horrible than all the rest.
The Turn of the Screw at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 45 min2 h 10 min fast, 3 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 39,700 words24 chapters
- Pages
- 119 pages179 in large print
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1898by Henry James
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Christmas Eve manuscript sets the story going
The book begins before the ghosts do. Guests have gathered on Christmas Eve, and the talk turns to strange tales. One describes a little boy who wakes in terror. Then Douglas speaks up. He has a story that outdoes it, and it involves two children.
He says nobody but him has ever heard the tale. It is far too horrible. He will not begin until he has sent to London for the written account. It lies in a locked drawer, in the handwriting of a woman who was his sister's governess. She gave him the pages before she died. The company waits two nights for the packet.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1898
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-turn-of-the-screw.
James, H. (2026). The turn of the screw. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-turn-of-the-screw (Original work published 1898)
James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-turn-of-the-screw.
@book{james2026turn,
author = {James, Henry},
title = {The Turn of the Screw},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-turn-of-the-screw},
note = {First published 1898}
}
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What is The Turn of the Screw about?
A young governess takes charge of two orphaned children, Miles and Flora, at a country house called Bly. She begins to see two figures she believes are dead servants, and she fears they mean harm to the children.
Are the ghosts in The Turn of the Screw real?
The book leaves it open. The governess sees the figures and names them, but nobody else confirms what she sees. Readers have argued for generations over whether they are real or products of her fear.
What does the title The Turn of the Screw mean?
It comes from a line in the opening scene. A guest says that if one child gives a ghost story an extra turn of the screw, two children give it two turns. It means added pressure.
The author
Henry James
1843–1916 · American British novelist
Henry James was born in New York City in 1843. He settled in England in 1876 and became a British citizen in 1915. He wrote novels, stories, plays, and travel books. His works include Daisy Miller (1878), The Turn of the Screw (1898), and The Ambassadors (1903). He died in London in 1916.
More by Henry James
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