Genre: Mystery / Suspense / Paranormal
Book Type: Physical
Author: Jennifer McMahon
Pages: 368
Publisher: Doubleday (April 30, 2019)
Book Description: A chilling ghost story with a twist: the New York Times bestselling author of The Winter People returns to the woods of Vermont to tell the story of a husband and wife who don’t simply move into a haunted house–they build one . . .
In a quest for a simpler life, Helen and Nate have abandoned the comforts of suburbia to take up residence on forty-four acres of rural land where they will begin the ultimate, aspirational do-it-yourself project: building the house of their dreams. When they discover that this beautiful property has a dark and violent past, Helen, a former history teacher, becomes consumed by the local legend of Hattie Breckenridge, a woman who lived and died there a century ago. With her passion for artifacts, Helen finds special materials to incorporate into the house–a beam from an old schoolroom, bricks from a mill, a mantel from a farmhouse–objects that draw her deeper into the story of Hattie and her descendants, three generations of Breckenridge women, each of whom died suspiciously. As the building project progresses, the house will become a place of menace and unfinished business: a new home, now haunted, that beckons its owners and their neighbors toward unimaginable danger.
Thoughts:
Ghosts, Spirits, Witches… I LOVE a good creepy book! This book was more mysterious than super spooky to me, but any time there’s a haunted house, I’m intrigued. 🏠 👻 🧙♀️
This story follows the troubled life Hattie led, and the unfortunate events those related to her suffered due others not understanding their way of life. What I enjoyed the most was that Helen and Nate had differing approaches to Life (Helen believing in the unknown, being open to witches, ghosts, and mystery, while her husband Nate looks for scientific explanations). Riley and Olive are searching for Hattie’s treasure that wasn’t found after her death. Helen is trying to find out what the house she is building is trying to say to her. Nate is chasing a white deer. Everyone in this story is chasing something, and I found many parallels to how (in general), we are all chasing something in Life. While we are all chasing different things, what we don’t know or understand is often brushed aside or viewed negatively (at times – and I thought this book did a great job of showing why those biases are harmful).
While this book was spooky and full of mystery, there were many provoking lines that had me thinking about bigger pictures and messages the author may have been trying to say (or not – I could totally be making this up). 🤷🏼♀️
“Everyone’s looking for something. Ghosts. Scientific explanations of the world around us. A new and different life somewhere else,” pg 98.
“What if objects didn’t just hold memories but held traces of the people who’d touched them, threads that connected them still?” (Pg 129)
My question is: Do you take the author’s sentences above at face value, or believe she may be speaking about bigger ideas?
The thing I love the most about this is that there was some thing for every belief. If you believe in buried treasure, you’ll love Riley and Olive. If you believe that objects can hold on to the past, witches, the dead, you’ll love Helen and Olive. I think all of that is crazy and you have a scientific explanation, then you’ll love Nate. If you believe in being in touch with your feelings, observations and maybe even predicting the future, then you’ll love Hattie. This wasn’t your stereo typical haunted house book, which made me love it all the more!
I loved this book! It was the perfect combination of scary ghost fall read, while also making me think.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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