Review: A very accomplished novel that racks up the tension and suspense expertly
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 12, 2013
The key to supernatural stories of all varieties is atmosphere and The House has it in abundance. The sense of Southern place and Gothic location is perfectly evoked by the author, who has a knack for stunningly poetic turns of phrase when it comes to description and the thought processes of her characters.The characters are well crafted and balanced between those of the contemporary world and its haunted past - with particular mention going to Patricia Helmsworth who adds an excellent touch of the grotesque and flamboyant to the tale. Also, the large family who form the dynamic core of The House's cast could easily have been thinly-sketched and cliched but they all come alive here. You are left with a sense that you met them all as people after you put the book down. You didn't just read about them, no.The main character, Suzy, is the voice of The House as it is written from her perspective and it is an involving voice that draws you along as tension and suspense are steadily, rather than speedily, built up throughout the narrative. If there were to be another novel told to us by Suzy one day, I'd love to read it.Now, the ghosts of The House are its crux and I found them to be very skilful inversions of cliche. Clanking chains and moaning voices in an Olde Englishe house have been done to the point of ridicule. But in a house near to a plantation with all of its connotations, and some of its accoutrements, of slavery close by - in time and space. These sounds and suggestive touches manage to add to, rather than detract from, the unease that is carefully being conjured here.As I have already mentioned a few times, this is a novel written with a steady and assured pace to it so don't expect cheap and easy jump scares from Heather Adkins. Instead you get a much more rewarding novel by an author who knows both how to unsettle you and keep you turning the pages.