Summary

Part I is subtitled “Three Months Until Christmas”. The novel is set in Britain during the late 1800s. Chapter I introduces the protagonist, Winifred Notty. She arrives at the Ensor House, a country house in the fictional Yorkshire of Grim Wolds owned by the wealthy Pounds family, to work as a governess. She arrives in an open top horse drawn carriage driven by one of the servants who is taciturn in response to her questions about the family. In the narration, Winifred reflects that in three months’ time everyone in the house will be dead. At the house, Winifred is greeted by the housekeeper, Mrs. Able, who shows her to her room. In the narration, Winifred reflects that it would be harder to set this room on fire than her previous lodgings.

In Chapter II, Winifred is introduced to her employers...