The Turn of the Screw is a book found in The Swan. It was written by Henry James and originally published in 1898. The book tells the story of a young governess at a remote estate, who slowly comes to realize her young charges are being haunted by the ghosts of their former governess and the valet with whom she was romantically involved.
The heroine becomes more and more convinced that these two ghosts mean harm to the children, and her efforts to protect them end in tragedy. However, the reader is left with the strong impression that the two ghosts were figments of the governess' imagination.
A dramatization of the book was filmed in 1957, under the title The Others, for the US television series Matinee Theatre.
In Lost[]
- Desmond told Locke and Jack to look behind this book on a bookshelf in the Swan to find the Swan Orientation Film. The copy of the book in the Swan is from the Dover Thrift Editions series, and was published in 1991.("Orientation")
- Kelvin told Desmond to put the film behind this book when he was done watching it. ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1")
- One of the two children in The Turn of the Screw is named Miles. (See Miles Straume.)
In Bad Twin[]
Manny Weissman mentions The Turn of the Screw to Paul Artisan in the context of one of the greatest mysteries ever written.
In Jigsaw puzzles[]
The book was the key to decoding various encrypted messages located on the puzzles.