The haunting novel upon which the play and movie was based.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
This is the ideal ghost story and the author writes with such conviction as to make the story quite credible; above all, she writes with a curious understanding of and pity for the ghosts who are, quite obviously, as real to her as the flesh and blood people in her tale. --Times (London) Literary Supplement
A beautiful old English house, situated on the Devon cliffs, is reputed to be haunted. Roderick Fitzgerald, a London journalist, and his sister, buy the house, and convert it into a thing of beauty. Almost immediately psychic manifestations occur which grow stronger after every visit of the lovely Stella, who was born in the house, and whose mother has died there. Roderick's growing love for Stella nerves him to a terrible ordeal, and the hauntings cease. ----Book Review Digest
A beautiful old English house, situated on the Devon cliffs, is reputed to be haunted. Roderick Fitzgerald, a London journalist, and his sister, buy the house, and convert it into a thing of beauty. Almost immediately psychic manifestations occur which grow stronger after every visit of the lovely Stella, who was born in the house, and whose mother has died there. Roderick's growing love for Stella nerves him to a terrible ordeal, and the hauntings cease. ----Book Review Digest
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A CLASSY ENGLISH GHOST STORY.,
This review is from: The Uninvited (Hardcover)
I first read this book at about the age of ten, after watching the 1944 film on late night on television (I was enthralled). There are sub-plots and characters which weren't included in the movie version, but Macardle's fluid writing style keeps one's interest until the last page. The story is about strange ghostly disturbances at "Cliff End" (in the movie, the Georgian house was re-named "Windward"). There are wonderful characters: the Fitzgeralds (Pamela and Roderick) who are siblings, Stella Merideth, the young moonstruck girl who's enchanted by the dangers which lure her into her mother's past. Commander Beech is gruff and Miss Holloway is cold and rather heartless (especially towards Stella; her supposed mother was an "intimate friend" of Holloway's). The Spanish Gypsy - Carmel Casada - whom Llewellyn used as a model for his paintings holds the key to the puzzle....Macardle uses plenty of exclaimation marks throughout the book and her writing style is a wee bit dated - but this story has an ingeniously unique twist in which readers of the ghost genre should appreciate. The Irish Ms. Macardle also wrote THE UNFORESEEN, (about a woman with "second sight") DARK ENCHANTMENT (about witchcraft in France) and a non-fiction book entitled THE IRISH REPUBLIC.
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the handful of great ghost novels.,
This review is from: The Uninvited (Hardcover)
For some reason, exceptional ghost stories are almost always found in short story form. Neither M.R. James, F. Marion Crawford, nor Sheridan Le Fanu-all contenders for all-time best writer of ghost stories-ever wrote a satisfactory book-length ghost story. Perhaps the strict form of this genre is too difficult to maintain beyond a certain length. Examples of ghost novels that do not disappoint are few, and they include such masterpieces as Richard Matheson's "Hell House," Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House," and Stephen King's "The Shining." Dorothy MacArdle's "The Uninvited" is on a level with these books, and it predated them all. With its classic English setting, generational mystery, and engaging characters, it is the perfect book for curling up by the fireside on a winter's night. And don't miss the terrific 1940s movie version starring Ray Milland.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Original title: Uneasy Freehold,
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This review is from: The Uninvited (Hardcover)
Good luck in finding the original titled novel anywhere. Copies are hard to come by in any condition. Mine is "The Literary Guild of America," 1942. Hard Cover. The dust jacket has a picture of a house and a tree over looking a cliff to the see. At first I thought it was taken from the scene in the movie by the same name. However that is the description in the book. There is even an edition that was made for the troops during the war. And not any cheaper is the Bantam Books, 1947 Paperback.
Unless you collect screen plays, be careful as the play is also out in book form. I first saw the movie (1944) that is good in its own right. Staring Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey. You know it will be different but which one is better. In this case they are quite different and both just as good in different ways. Roderick Fitzgerald and his sister Pamela are in search of a house and find one with some beach front. After negotiation the price they move in and may have found more then the bargain. The story is refreshing. However the real worth of the book is the writing style of Dorothy Macardle. I was not prepared with my English to English conversion books. She also writes in the time of the time and uses terms local to the England of the 40's If you like this story then she also wrote "The Unforeseen" equally as good.
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