Suspense | 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.

After Her
By Joyce Maynard
(William Morrow & Company, Hardcover, 9780062257390, August 2013, 320pp.)

The Short of It:

Touching, poignant and moving. A beautifully written novel by one of my favorite authors.

The Rest of It:

In the late 1970’s, Marin County, California was rocked by the murders of several young women in the area. The killer, known as the “Trailside Killer”, preyed on women hiking Mount Tamalpais. The detective working on the case at the time, Detective Gaddini, had two young daughters of his own, so the continued loss of life hit him hard knowing that these young women would never return home. After Her is loosely based on the details of this real-life case.

Maynard’s book, follows sisters Rachel and Patty Torricelli as their father, Detective Anthony Torricelli investigates the murders of female hikers in the area. The area in question just happens to be the mountain behind their home but even with the added danger and their father’s orders to stay off the mountain, the girls continue to spend their days there.

When the killings continue without any significant leads, the community becomes restless over the investigation’s lack of progress. Rachel. fiercely loyal to her father, takes matters into her own hands.

Oh, what a gem of a book!

I’ve only read one other book by Maynard (Labor Day, soon to be a movie!) but what impressed me so much with that one is what impresses me here. Her sense of place and her knack for creating honest, likable but flawed characters is what immediately attracted me to the story. I loved these girls! Rachel and Patty are what you and I envision sisterhood to be. Rachel, the older of the two, adores Patty. Patty, is often the more sensible of the two, yet Rachel’s imagination is what makes living on the mountain what it is. After their parent’s divorce and the obvious withdrawal of their mother, they are left to fend for themselves. What could be a depressing, dire situation becomes opportunities for adventure.

I loved the simple love and admiration displayed by these sisters. Without a TV in the house, they spend their evenings camped out in backyards, hoping to catch something good on their neighbor’s TV. They play games, shoot baskets and talk about boys. But when the mountain becomes the center of the investigation, staying off of it is close to impossible. Their innocence, given their proximity to the case is endearing. If you long for simpler times, as I do, this book will leave you with a heavy sense of nostalgia.

When the killer makes himself known, I could not help but be angry. As much as they struggle to keep the mountain pure and untouched, there’s no denying that it’s changed for them. And seeing the changes in their father, as he struggles to put the pieces together is enough to almost break them.

Oh, and their father! Anthony Torricelli’s love for his daughters literally leaps off the page. I ADORED him, which is how most women in the story feel about him even with his tendency to be a bit too friendly with the ladies. His tireless efforts to catch the killer, and his remorse over how things ended with his ex-wife lend a sympathetic air to the situation.

Another blogger noted that at page 150, not much was going on but now that I’ve finished the book, I understand what she meant. This book is about many things, but most of all, I found it to be a book about family and what it means to be a family and Maynard’s decision to spend so much time on the girls and the relationship with their father is what makes this story so endearing and heartbreaking. Against the backdrop of the serial killings, the backstory of these characters is like a gentle reminder of all things good.

Lately, readers have been asking me if a book I’ve reviewed is too dark or violent so I do want to mention that although there is mention of rape, the details of the murders themselves are largely left up to your imagination. And given the subject matter, I did not find this book to be dark or depressing.

It’s a mystery, a love story, a coming of age novel and a scrapbook (of sorts) of what it was like to be a kid in that decade. It’s charming, heartbreaking and at times funny. I loved it and highly recommend it.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher via Edelweiss

Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.