This House Is Haunted

Recensie van audioboek (via Storytel)
Het ideale nostalgische spookverhaal, met tal van knipogen naar klassiekers (denk aan Dickens en Jane Eyre) en een serieuze snuif aan zelfspot.

''Where are you?'‘ ‘‘But answer came there none.''

Eliza Caine may have found the answer to her question at some point, but unfortunately, I never found mine as to why I was expecting so much from this ‘'ghost'' story...A story that tried too hard to include many Gothic tropes, to appear scary and intellectual at the same time, but eventually fell flat on all levels, in my opinion. But for the sympathetic protagonist, the intriguing children and some scarce glimpses of a remotely creepy atmosphere, I would have rated it with 1 sad little star...

Eliza wants to start a new life away from London after the death of her father. She abandons her occupation as a teacher for small girls (as we were told so many times because we readers are practically stupid and we forget too easily...) and replies to a dubious advert for the position of the governess in an old estate. When she reaches her destination, she realises that there are certain strange forces at work and the previous women's work ended under peculiar (to put it mildly) circumstances.

The basis of the story, while not original by any means, is very interesting and has a lot of potential. When one is an avid lover of ghost stories, two things happen. One, we can't keep away from every single read about the subject and two, there is very little that can impress us and truly catch our attention. I expected and I wanted an old-fashioned ghost story with an English foreboding estate, a troubled governess and secrets of the past haunting everyone, but not in a childish, naive manner of writing. Because, in my opinion, that is what I found here. A kind of writing that was flat, uninspiring, pretentious and predictable. Although the first 30% of the book was somewhat satisfying, the rest went downhill all too quickly. There was not a single thing that made me feel scared, although Boyne tried too hard to force it out. Excuse me, but this wouldn't scare a child. So I treated it as a mystery rather than a ghost story and I still found it severely lacking. Boyne's notion of ‘'scary'' is Eliza being thrown around on walls, floors and grounds like a sack of potatoes with numerous parts of asphyxiation thrown for good measure. Overdone, unrealistic, ridiculous. There have been ghost stories I could actually believe in. Stories that made me shiver, stories that gave me nightmare. This one made me roll my eyes in frustration and I was lucky they weren't stuck on the back of my head...

The characters are better constructed. The children are a good combination of creepy and intriguing and I really liked Eliza. I found her to be a reliable narrator and I admired her deep sense of duty and commitment to the children. Her musings concerning her work as a teacher touched me deeply, perhaps because I recognised many of her thoughts and feelings. Now, did I find her naive? No. Some of us put our priorities on children, come ghosts or vampires or bad parents, and we stick to them. This is what she did, this is why she didn't run away and I don't think this was unrealistic.I mean, really. We have a wrestling battle between spirits and humans and some consider her decision unbelievable...I know this will sound absurd to many in our current, artificial world where being ‘'comfortable'' is all that matters, but anyway..Sorry for the rant, let us continue.

The end was somewhat satisfying and by ‘'end'', I actually mean the last page, because the last chapters were eerily bad, almost laughable. I don't know, many reviewers seemed to like it, so I'm clearly in the minority, but I cannot lie. For me, Boyne tried to combine The Turn of the Screw, Jane Eyre and The Woman In Black in a big ghost-tale feast. Even Rebecca, if I take the resolution into consideration. But he is not Henry James, or Charlotte Bronte. He is not Daphne Du Maurier or Susan Hill. Although he pretended to be a contemporary Dickens, he failed miserably in my books. So, pushing all the anachronisms and improbabilities aside, this was mediocre at best and one of the biggest disappointments of my current reading year. I don't doubt that he can write (I'm not qualified to judge...) but I won't seek any of his books anytime soon...

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.co

This book clearly wants to be The Turn of the Screw, but makes the mistake of imitating all the trappings without harnessing the ambiguity that is the essence of James's spooky atmosphere.

We have a naive governess in a creepy country manor, two children who evoke both protectiveness and uncertainty in her, and ghostly presences. Disturbing history is slowly revealed.

I'd say this book is at its best when it undermines convention - for instance, the exploration of a female figure that vanishes when pursued was a nice element. The motivation for the haunting is an interestingly novel, yet Gothic factor. The author clearly loves classic English weird fiction, giving a prominent shout-out to Dickens' “The Signalman” and obviously paying homage to Henry James, as noted. I felt kinship and affection for the author on this score.

What drags this story down is its impulse to explain, categorize, and tie up all plot points. After a fairly effective (if derivative) depiction of tight-lipped locals grudgingly revealing bits of background, the story eventually devolves into a tell-don't-show wrap up that dissolves any sense of mystery or dread, and results in a lackluster action-scene climax.

Challenge: Read a book set in a different country

This was my creepy/scary read for October and it was quite creepy at first.

I think it is very atmospheric and one could not help but feeling a bit creeped out by the setting and the surroundings. That could be said for the beginning of the story. After a few chapters, the same structure and the same events would repeat over and over, losing the effect it had created. The story was very predictable but the writing made it quite interesting.

I had a lot of problems with the characters and the way they were portrayed. The author made the same negative comments as regards Eliza's appearance every paragraph or so, which I found both annoying and repetitive.

I also could not buy Eliza's motivation for wanting to protect the children at any cost. I understand that they were little and alone but her appreciation for them began THE MOMENT she saw them. This could very well be the equivalent of instalove in chick lit novels.

This book looked as if it was going to be a great spooky, sort of thriller novel, only to fall quite short as the story progressed.

Pros: some chilling scenes

Cons: it takes Eliza a long time to figure out what's happening

After the sudden death of her father, Eliza Caine answers an ad to become governess at Gaudlin Hall. But something's not right in her new home and no one will answer her questions about the parents of her charges, the tragedies that have taken place at Gaudlin Hall, or the ghost that's trying to kill her.

I'd say this book is a cross between The Haunting of Hill House, for the atmospherics and period, and The Shining, for the constant anticipation of something bad happening. Boyne does an excellent job of putting you in Eliza's place, feeling her terror, and trying to survive what's to come.

While I really liked Eliza I did feel it took longer than it should have for her to figure out what was going on. Having said that, I enjoyed seeing regular life at the Hall interspersed with her learning more about the place's history.

If you like ghost stories, this is a winner.

I liked this atmospheric tale. Although not outright scary,and a bit predictable in places, there was enough suspense to keep me reading. I especially liked the cliff-hanger ending.