This is the most I have enjoyed a Simone St. James novel in a while. She is always a dependable author and storyteller but some of her novels go beyond that. For me those have been The Broken Girls and The Sun Down Motel. We can now add this one to the list for me.
It’s also dedicated to Stephen King, and it feels especially fitting for this novel to be the ones dedicated to King. Not only does she return to the setting of The Sun Down Motel and strongly hint that this city, Fell, in Upstafe New York is St. James’ Derry but she also includes several short lines that can be read as easter eggs or references to several of her other works, creating an extended and interconnected St James universe, much like King and his extended work. Additionally, while The Haunting of Hill House isn’t a King novel, the show runner for the Netflix series has famously adapted several King works, and the beginning of this novel felt like a nod or homage to that series: three adult siblings return to their haunted childhood home to resolve unfinished business. The brother is even an investigator like Steven in the show though his focus is on aliens.
Violet, Vail and Dodie aren’t exactly estranged as adult siblings but they have the type of complicated relationship that comes from a childhood of neglect and trauma. Their parents didn’t pay attention, there was a darkness in the home and town they grew up in, but the one good memory they share is their baby brother Ben who unfortunately disappeared when he was 5 or 6 during a game of hide and seek. He was never found but a ghost sighting draws his siblings back home.
While all the siblings are damaged in their own ways, Violet has the added burden of being able to see ghosts which led to some substance abuse and partying early in life to drown out the noise, and has led to a difficult relationship with her teenage daughter. The novel has POV chapters from each of the three siblings as they explore what truly happened to them, what is wrong with Fell, and slowly lets them deal with their own trauma and maybe get some closure or healing. The way St James builds tension, atmosphere and sets the scene in this one is absolutely great, definitely recommend picking this one up!
