History Literature / TheLittleStranger

* AmbiguouslyGay: Sarah Waters is known for focusing on lesbian themes in her novels, and ''The Little Stranger'' is her first work to feature no explicitly queer characters. However, at one point in the story, the perennially single Caroline excitedly dances with a female friend from the fire watch (who she then claims not to care for) — in direct contrast to her earlier stiff, lifeless dancing with Faraday.

* IllGirl: Suki, the eldest Ayres child, who died before the events of the novel.

* YouDeclaration: [[spoiler:Caroline's last words before falling to her death or being murdered by Faraday. She may have been referring to the ghost of Hundreds Hall or Faraday himself.]]

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In the film the "unhandsome", balding Faraday of the book is played by Creator/DomhnallGleeson (who's several years younger than the character, too).

** Roderick (Ayres) shares the name with [[Literature/TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher another man who falls victim to a decaying ancestral home]].

''The Little Stranger'' is a 2009 gothic novel by British author Sarah Waters. A ghost story set in a dilapidated mansion in post-[=WWII=] England, it centers on a country doctor named Faraday who makes friends with an aristocratic family of declining fortunes; as he ingratiates himself into their lives, unsettling and possibly supernatural events begin to occur at the mansion.

* WhiteShirtOfDeath: [[spoiler:both Mrs. Ayres and Caroline]].

* BeneathTheMask: Faraday's narration is peppered with discrepancies between what he's saying/showing and thinking/feeling.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: The "unhandsome", balding Faraday of the book is played by Creator/DomhnallGleeson in the film (he's several years younger than the character, too).
* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: The book has NoEnding, but the movie adds a scene to the end that features TheReveal to the story's central mystery.

* AmbiguousEnding / NoEnding: In the book, it is merely hinted as to who or what was responsible for all the odd happenings at Hundreds.

* AdaptationAlternateEnding: The book has NoEnding, but the movie adds a scene to the end that features TheReveal to the story's central mystery.

* AmbiguousEnding: In the book, it is merely hinted as to who or what was responsible for all the odd happenings at Hundreds.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Sarah Waters is known for focusing on lesbian themes in her novels, and ''The Little Stranger'' is her first work to feature no explicitly queer characters. However, in the film, the perennially single Caroline excitedly dances with a female friend from the fire watch (who she then claims not to care for) — in direct contrast to her earlier stiff, lifeless dancing with Faraday.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: inverted. Faraday's colleague argues that children have very strong, powerful wants and needs, which can then morph into something dark, [[spoiler:which is what happened to boy Faraday during his first visit at Hundreds Hall]].
* CreatorThumbprint: the themes of class relations and British history are heavily featured in the novel.

* CreepyChild: [[spoiler:the apparition of young Faraday]].

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler:all the misfortunes at Hundreds Hall are in response to Faraday getting slighted in some way, starting with Suki falling ill after seeing him slapped by his mother and culminating in Caroline dying after she rejects him.]]

* LastNameBasis: We never do learn Faraday's first name, [[spoiler:but, whatever it is, it starts with an S.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Faraday is responsible for all the deaths and troubles at Hundreds Hall]], although the book makes it more ambiguous.
* ScarsAreForever: Roderick is badly scarred after a plane crash in [=WWII=].

* SlidingScaleOfAdaptationModification: Type 4 (Near-Identical Adaptation); the three major differences are the number of maids at Hundreds (the book has several, but the movie just the one); the manner in which [[spoiler:Mrs. Ayres commits suicide]]; and the level of the ambiguity in the ending.

** When they were little, Caroline and Rod were inspired to stop all the clocks at Hundreds Hall after reading ''Literature/GreatExpectations''.

** Caroline jokes that killing a doctor is almost as bad as ''Literature/TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner killing an albatross]].

* Tomboy: In the book, Caroline is repeatedly described as being somewhat mannish in appearance, fond of the outdoors, blunt, and unafraid of hark work.

** Of his first visit to Hundreds Hall, [[spoiler:Faraday says "I was not a gentleman", referring both to his working-class origins and to the cruel, greedy personality that's barely contained by the veneer of politeness]].

* AmbiguouslyGay: Sarah Waters is known for focusing on lesbian themes in her novels, and ''The Little Stranger'' is her first work to feature no explicitly queer characters. However, in the film, the perennially single Caroline excitedly dances with a female friend from school (who she then claims not to care for) — in direct contrast to her earlier stiff, lifeless dancing with Faraday.