For all its Jamesian influence, Florence & Giles is one of the most original and inventive books I’ve ever read. Yes, there are distinct echoes of The Turn of the Screw throughout the story but I felt them fading, becoming less conspicuous as the novel assumed a life of its own. John Harding has some tongue-in-cheek fun with names Florence and Giles instead of Flora and Miles, Blithe House for Bly, Mrs Grose the housekeeper becomes Mrs Grouse, etc. The initial premise is the same, of two orphaned siblings (although significantly, Florence and Giles shared only a father) living in a large, remote house, wards of an unknown uncle but under the daily care of domestic staff and a governess…or two. It is in fact very difficult to define the exact nature of John Harding’s debt to Henry James. I soon realised that Florence & Giles was, for want of a better phrase, based on The Turn of the Screw, and as an admirer of Henry James I said to myself, this had better be good. I may have been attracted by the title Florence & Giles – titles made up of two first names are rare and bold, and the novel itself is both. I came to this book with no preconceptions, having bought it on Kindle because someone on Twitter had recommended it as a Victorian ghost story.
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