The Turn of the Key - A Book Review
By: Mallory Johnson
I recently read the adult thriller book The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware and enjoyed it a lot! The book is based on The Turn of the Screw, a classic book that one of my favorite Netflix shows The Haunting of Bly Manor is based on. I bought The Turn of the Key with this in mind and was so happy that I did - it was basically “Bly Manor the book!” Before I go any further, SPOILER ALERT! Also, trigger warnings for: death, child death, murder, gaslighting, cheating, incest, sexual assault, abandonment, drinking, poison, suicide, grief, forced institutionalization, sexual content, and homophobia. The book follows a woman, Rowen, who is applying for a nanny position in Scotland. She gets the job, and then learns that their previous nannies left under mysterious circumstances...and once she starts working, she starts to understand why: the house might be haunted.
My critique for this book is the very British language, which resulted in the author using the homophobic F slur instead of saying “cigarette.” I was not given a warning about this before I read the book and was surprised. I understand that this is something that I may come across while reading from British authors, but I would appreciate the authors to recognize that a diverse group of people will read their books and to handle the language with care.
The story is told in an interesting way: through letters to Rowan’s lawyer...while she is in prison for murder awaiting trial. She is begging her lawyer to believe that she did not kill one of the kids that she oversaw while on her nanny job. I found myself making lots of Bly Manor connections even though The Turn of the Key came out months before the show did. Three major differences were: the book takes place in current time (while the show takes place in the eighties), the book contains a “smart” house with all sorts of cool tech, and the book does not include a lesbian romance. There are so many twists and turns that I did not expect at all, and I fully did NOT see the massive twist at the ending at all. I love books with a huge plot twist, for example: The Silent Patient by Alex Michealides. I love the quote “People do go mad, you know, if you stop them from sleeping for long enough…” This quote is a good example of the spooky, Halloween vibe that I got from the book!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for October. It is a great spooky book filled with a creepy house, suspicious children, a poison garden, red herrings, and murder! I give it a 10/10 and cannot wait to read more of Ruth Ware’s books!