Ghost Stories and Grief

On a homestead in Vermont, the land is barren, and when its plowed and dug up, strange artifacts are discovered. Looming over Sara Harrison Shea and her husband’s house is a rock formation called the devil’s hand. This is a place of mystery and superstition where odd things happen and locals are told to stay away. But it is Sara’s home and where she raises her daughter, Gertie. But one day Gertie is found dead, and not long after, Sara herself is found dead in the field behind the house. Her hysterical husband shoots himself after claiming that Gertie killed her. In present day Vermont, Ruthie and Fawn live with their mother in the same house. They have always been told about the monsters living in the woods and have taken the information to heart, but when Ruthie’s mother goes missing, they discover Sara’s tragic past in her diary pages and the fact that it may have a link to their mother.

The novel, The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon, is fraught with simmering dread. McMahon creates a world of the paranormal alongside human suffering. How far would you go to bring a loved one back from the dead? Would it be worth the consequences?

This is a creepy novel that keeps you engaged. The book goes mostly between Sara and Ruthie’s perspectives, but there are other chapters from different character’s viewpoint. Although I’m often wary of multi-perspective novels, McMahon created a novel that flowed together, filling in gaps with other characters’ testimony. It also kept the book suspenseful with cliff hangers at the end of one character’s chapter and then jumped to a different character.

The novel presented a frightening, yet alluring idea. Sara finds a way to bring Gertie, her daughter, back from the dead, but she’s not the same little girl she once was. Gertie is creepy. She becomes the frightening thing that lurks behind you, but she brings a grieving mother the comfort she desires. Years later, it’s the ability to bring people back from the dead that drives more than one person to seek the Harrison household and the missing pages of Sara’s diary. Ruthie and Fern, her sister, get embroiled in the search and the consequences of seeking the forbidden. The girls find that what is assumed to be local legend and folklore is something much more sinister.

The novel was compelling and kept my attention. The ending was a little strange and didn’t exactly fulfill my expectations. Sometimes, however, not knowing exactly what happened is the scariest part. This novel suffered a little at the end from some reveals that just seemed smashed together. Overall, it was very enjoyable and a fun novel to make you shiver. Also it has my favorite cover of the year thus far!

If you enjoy this book and are looking for others like it, try Pet Sematary by Stephen King and This House is Haunted by John Boyne.

Deathly Fascination

Cover art is muy importante. There are billions of books out there. Why choose one in particular? Publishing companies have gotten really good at marketing their materials and an amazing way to do that is to have an eye catching cover. Why pick up the boring blank covered book, when you can get the pretty one instead! Well Holly Black’s The Coldest Girl in Coldtown got me with the rocking cover. So simple, yet so intriguing. Then I read the summary and decided I needed to delve into this book.

In Tana’s world, vampires recently entered the main stream, but in order to contain them and the infection they spread, Coldtowns were created. Coldtowns are places that look glamorous, with their all night parties and fancy dress, over the online videos that are put out. In reality, vampires rule and humans are merely worshipers, a food source, or unwillingly stuck. See once you go into a Coldtown it’s nearly impossible to get out.

Tana finds herself in a horrifying predicament when she wakes to a house filled with corpses and her ex-boyfriend chained to a bed with a vampire shackled at the end of the bed. Tana decides to save Aidan, her ex, and the vampire, Gavriel. With the infected Aidan, who was bitten, and the mysterious and insane Gavriel, Tana makes her way to Coldtown. During her journey, Tana feels a strange pull to the monstrous Gavriel, but once she enters the city, he disappears with a mission to get revenge. Coldtown is a dark and foreboding place and Tana’s time spent there is fraught with problems. Whether or not Tana is infected, will become a monstrous being, or will be able to leave this place remains unknown.

Vampire books are getting cliché. How many more variations can there be? Black, however, brings back the old horror mingled with fascination. Throughout the book, Tana refers to vampires as monsters and inhuman. Black often hits on the idea of whether a vampire is a completely different species, a monstrous predator, or if they retain their humanity. There are always going to be those obsessed with the undead and this book also takes a look at the fascination and what it takes to actually become a member of this “elite” race. I appreciated Black’s ability to show the dark and hopeless side of vampire groupies. These are people who want to be immortal and think their lives will be transformed to something godlike by their new found power, but not all the vampire wannabes become vampires. At one point in the book, Black is able to turn the tables and show just how sad and hopeless a lot of these wannabes are. Black both illuminates the glamorous side of vampire life, while also showing how hopeless and disturbing the fascination with this lifestyle can be.

Chapters jumped from Tana’s journey to either her past, her sister’s perspective, or someone else’s point of view. The audience is always kept on edge waiting to read about how the cliff hanger from the previous chapter continues, but also intrigued by the new perspective. This is a very engaging read and I flew through it. Turns out the cover art did not lead me astray.

Matilda: my new best friend

Let’s talk about childhood, that innocent time when the world was your oyster. You could be a pirate, an anthropologist, a super hero, and a teacher all in the same afternoon. There were no limits to your possibilities. All it took was a blanket fort, a friend, and a lot of imagination. Then when your imagination started to wane, you opened a book and a whole new world of magic presented itself to you. As a child, I loved books. I wanted to consume each one and become a part of the setting and plot. So when my coworker balked at the fact that I've never read her favorite childhood novel, Matilda by Roald Dahl, I accepted the call to read it as an adult. And oh my goodness what a read it was. My poor childhood self missed out on a beautiful book and a main character who should have been a best friend.

Matilda is a little girl with an astonishing ability to learn. She consumes books like no one’s business. But poor Matilda must teach herself to read because her parents could care less about her. The Wormwoods are a selfish and materialistic couple. Mr. Wormwood cheats people into buying faulty used cars, and Mrs. Wormwood thinks that a woman should only look good to attract a man. Luckily, Matilda has the library and soon, she goes to school. At school she meets the loving and caring Miss Honey who recognizes that Matilda is a child prodigy and works to hone her abilities. At this academy, however, the evil Ms Trunchbull reigns supreme and any child who so much as thinks of upsetting her will be punished severely. Against all odds, Matilda must find a way to help her classmates and Miss Honey and defeat the ever so ugly and self-centered adults.

Dahl has a way of painting adults in his story that feels so true to a child’s outlook. They are either mean and nasty beings, or fair and lovely. In a world where grownups rule and often have tyrannical sway over children, Dahl presents a child’s perspective and a way to achieve justice even if one is small. Matilda is such a lovely character that I wanted nothing more than to scoop her up in my arms and read all day with her. She makes me want to be a better person. Her life is difficult, yet she does not complain or give up, she finds ways to better herself and the life she’s been handed. She teaches the adults around her and helps those she cares for. On top of that she’s a bibliophile and she loves the library! She’s every librarian and book lover’s perfect child.

It really is astounding that I never read this book. Once I started, I couldn't put it down and wanted so badly for Matilda to have a better life, for her to help Miss Honey, and for the evil Trunchbull to get her comeuppance. Luckily, the wonderful thing about children’s novels is they usually wrap up nicely and have a happy ending. Dahl does not disappoint. 

Aging in Australia

The best way I heard the book The Night Guest described to me was as a frog in a pot of water. You know the old anecdote about a frog dying in a pot of water that starts at room temperature and slowly heats to boiling. The frog is not receptive to the temperature change thus never jumps out. Here is an excellent way of describing Fiona McFarlane’s The Night Guest.

Ruth is an aging woman who lives alone by the sea in Australia. She doesn't do much with her days and lives a somewhat lonely existence. One day a mysterious woman, Frida, shows up and becomes Ruth’s carer. The woman reminds Ruth of her childhood in Fiji. Soon Ruth is calling on her old love and her life is starting to become a bit of a blur. The once perceptive woman begins a slow spiral into forgetfulness and insecurity.

Here is a book that makes you feel unsure of what is happening. At the beginning of the book, you know Ruth has some troubles, but it doesn't seem harmful and she seems to be content if not a little bored. Frida shows up and starts taking over small tasks, then larger tasks, until she becomes an absolute essential to Ruth’s life. It seems as Frida does more for Ruth that Ruth’s ability to function mentally and physically deteriorates. On top of Ruth’s health and mental state, the reader questions Frida’s intentions. She comes in out of nowhere, offers assistance, and starts becoming quite a force in Ruth’s life. It’s a strange relationship.

The main reason I picked up this book was a) the cover was pretty awesome, and b) the description talked about Ruth’s history in Fiji and a tiger, which sounded very intriguing. The book, however, was much different than I anticipated; a little more sinister and not as exotic. In the end, I’m glad I read it. Here is a book that gave a striking picture of aging and the deteriorating mind. It takes the mundane and lonely tasks in one woman’s small world and puts a microscope to them. McFarlane does a fine job of describing the ordinary and the sad little nothings. You felt for Ruth and the frustration she had when she forgot something or had to be reminded of little things. At the same time, you hope this stranger, Frida, is who she says she is, but you question.