Fiction | Book Chatter

This House is Haunted
By John Boyne
(Other Press, Paperback, 9781590516799, October 2013, 304pp.)

The Short of It:

Lots of spooks to be had with this one.

The Rest of It:

I read this in October and the timing could not have been more perfect. Everyone wants a ghost story to read when October arrives, right? I stumbled around and tried some other books first and they didn’t have enough of a ghostly element to them. This one, I joked about, saying that it had too many ghosts. Well, turns out there is only one main ghost but who’s counting?

London, 1867. Eliza Caine, aged 21, is hired to care for two children, Isabella and her brother, Eustace at their home which goes by the name of Gaudlin Hall. A tragedy took place, a few years before Eliza arrives and she quickly realizes that she is only a number in a very long line of governesses. Several of whom have either died on the property or left. Puzzled by their lack of stamina, Eliza seeks out the other inhabitants of the house as well as the man in charge of the estate in an attempt to find out what really happened to the previous governesses. Eliza’s time at the house is further complicated by the strange happenings and the precocious nature of Isabella herself. But no matter what happens, she feels responsible for the children and refuses to leave.

Now this, is a ghost story! The house is creepy and the children are creepy and everyone in it is touched by ‘creep’ in some way. The story is a tad predictable but I was okay with that. I liked that Eliza wasn’t yet another twit walking across the threshold. She had substance and staying power and her deductions were not the far-fetched kind that a panicky woman makes. If you are the type to believe in ghosts, the story is plausible too which makes it all the more enjoyable.

Now for the not so good. It was a little slow and the ending seemed to come up rather suddenly but as a ghost story and my need/want for ‘creep’ at the time I read it, it fit the bill beautifully. It’s dark and atmospheric and would be good to read by a roaring fire with all of the windows and doors locked.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher via Edelweiss
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Cartwheel
By Jennifer du Bois
(Random House, Hardcover, 9780812995862, September 2013, 384pp.)

The Short of It:

One of those stories that is ripped right out the headlines, and yet you still find yourself eagerly turning pages even though the story is not new to you.

The Rest of It:

There has been a lot of praise for Cartwheel and after finishing the book, I can certainly see why.

Largely inspired by the Amanda Knox trial, Cartwheel follows the events leading up to the murder of Katy Kellers, a young American living with a host family in Buenos Aires. Her American roommate, Lily Hayes is accused of the crime. With no alibi to speak of, and what the crime investigator sees as questionable behavior in the form of a cartwheel, perfectly executed by Lily in the interrogation room, Lily is looking quite guilty even by those who know her.

Lily Hayes makes a very interesting character study. She is slightly off kilter in her thinking and no matter how dire her situation seems to be, she fails to see the severity of the situation. You cannot believe anything that she says and because of that, it’s impossible to know what is going on in her head. As she sits in prison, awaiting her trial, she appears to be a victim, but is she? When her parents and sister fly out to see her, what they see is what she WANTS them to see. A victim. A disheveled, dirty, largely misunderstood victim. But what about that cartwheel? A cartwheel? In the middle of an interrogation? With absolutely no regard to how that might look to anyone watching?

As a reader, we learn a lot about Lily, but I have to say that I never felt as if I really knew her. She’s as complex as she is frustrating. The investigation, headed-up by the lead prosecutor in the case, Eduardo Campos, is not always on the up-and-up either. He’s pretty sure that what he has in front of him is cut and dry, and yet… he continues to wonder about her motive. I enjoyed his take on what was going on, but by the end, I have to admit that I was still a bit confused over whether or not she was guilty of the crime. I think I know, but I can’t be sure.

Cartwheel is a page-turner. No lie. But what I didn’t expect is just how similar this fictional tale is to what really happened with Amanda Knox. Lily employs the use of a cartwheel, whereas Amanda Knox did yoga. There is a bar owner in both Knox’s case as well as Lily’s and the whole thing with finding DNA on the bra clasp appears in both stories. I think as a fictional work, DuBois could have taken us somewhere else with all of that, but I can’t say that knowing the real-life facts took anything away from the story.

Overall, it was a gripping read but not because there is a lot going on. More so, because as you read, you can’t help but review the facts and come to your own conclusion on what happened or could have happened. For that reason, you pay attention to every word on the page. It’s a book that I could easily fall back into even after reading other books in between. That’s saying quite a bit given my attention span at the time I read it.

In a nutshell, it’s a keeper.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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