The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
🏛️🌲 Earlier this March, after getting back from Las Vegas, my family and I decided to visit Pittock Mansion for a little family reset — and honestly it was such a beautiful experience.
The mansion itself feels frozen in time. Gorgeous chandeliers, marble staircases, endless rooms, fully furnished spaces all the way down to the basement, and breathtaking landscaping overlooking Portland from nearly every corner of the property.
I also convinced everyone to do the two-hour hike behind the mansion. 😅 My daughter was definitely not thrilled by the end of it, but we made it through all the switchbacks winding through the lush Pacific Northwest forest behind the estate alongside the old highway before eventually looping back up to the parking lot.
The entire atmosphere immediately reminded me of The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters — a book I had started previously and decided to finally pick back up after visiting. The mansion carried that same feeling of faded grandeur, old family legacy, mystery, and quiet tragedy.
Stories about families once admired and celebrated who slowly fall from grace always leave me with this heavy sense of wonder. Whether it’s caused by money, illness, grief, or secrets buried within the walls themselves, there’s always the feeling that history only leaves us fragments of the truth.
That’s exactly why The Little Stranger ended up being a 5 star read for me. Even at the end, I still found myself questioning what really happened. Was the house haunted? Was it black mold slowly affecting everyone? Was the doctor more involved than he admitted? Or was the family simply doomed by circumstances beyond their control?
The book leaves you with uncertainty in the best possible way — much like real history itself. We only ever inherit paper trails, stories, and whispers. We never fully know the truth. And visiting Pittock Mansion while reading it made the experience even more unforgettable. 🖤📚
As an added bonus, we recently found out that Wildwood is being adapted by @laikastudios, the incredible Pacific Northwest animation studio behind films like:
🖤 Coraline
https://amzn.to/42NGooI
🐺 ParaNorman
https://amzn.to/4nKE6jJ
🧵 Kubo and the Two Strings
https://amzn.to/49erLyr
🧀 The Boxtrolls
https://amzn.to/43rw6e0
🦧 Missing Link
https://amzn.to/4dY69c8
Their movies always feel darker, stranger, and more magical than traditional animated films, and they often weave real Pacific Northwest inspiration into their storytelling and worlds.
My kids already know the Wildwood story because we previously read the books together, but now they’ll also recognize some of the real-world inspiration behind the movie when they watch it on screen. 🌲✨
📚 The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters:
https://amzn.to/4dIhnjL
🌲 Wildwood:
https://amzn.to/4dXpslT
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