Name: Florence a Giles
ISBN: 9788025901243

John Harding

Florence a Giles

In an old New England mansion, 12-year-old orphan Florence is neglected by her guardian uncle. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors like one of the old house's many ghosts & is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman threatens her younger brother. When a new teacher arrives, strange phenomena begin to occur.

In a remote and crumbling New England mansion, 12-year-old orphan Florence is neglected by her guardian uncle and banned from reading. Left to her own devices she devours books in secret and talks to herself - and narrates this, her story - in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors like one of the old house's many ghosts and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles.

Florence & Giles

Briar's Reviews

Florence and Giles by John Harding is a unique take on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

Do you like intertexts? Books that re-tell a story you already know (or maybe don't...)? Then this book is for you!

Florence and Giles takes The Turn of the Screw and turns it into an angsty YA novel. It's a very interesting read! I don't think it stands up to the original, but it makes you question what happened so there are many redeeming qualities.

The angsty YA angle is what left me not enjoying it at much. The potential romance for Florence made the story a little odd for me. I was looking for a crazy, fantastical maybe supernatural take but it just felt more YA than anything else. It was still a really cool way to re-tell the story though! I'm really impressed that he retold this story and put something new into it. It can be a little slow and boring plot wise though. I just wanted to know what happened and nothing really happened until the last couple chapters of the book.

Overall, this is a cool take. Definitely a must read for those seeking some intertexts. 

Three out of five stars.

edgar allan poe

Ofelia

Emmett

Kathy Rodger 

Morgana

Moray Lyle McIntosh

Diogo Vianna

Bárbara Deoti

A sinister Gothic tale in the tradition of The Woman in Black and The Fall of the House of Usher