Alix E. Harrow: Starling House

A fantasy book with more than a few shades of horror. Opal is a young woman who lives in a hotel room with her younger brother (the owner of the hotel has apparently made a deal with Opal’s mother that they can live there indefinitely). Their mother died in an accident years ago. The town is dirty, largely forgotten, and seems to be filled with bad luck. The “mystery” of the town is Starling House, a large, rotting, strange-looking house no one dares to approach. The sole heir of the Starling family lives there but has virtually no contact with anyone. The original Starling heiress had written a strange children's book, filled with fearsome creatures, that had become famous. The house has always fascinated Opal, and she has had dreams about it. One day, she finds herself behind the gates of Starling House. Surprisingly, the gates open for her. She meets the resident Starling (Arthur) who is a quiet, foreboding man, and she gets a job offer for a wage she really can’t refuse – she is supposed to clean the house which has been practically neglected for years. She desperately needs money for the schooling of her very talented brother. Slowly, she creates a bond with the house, which seems to be more than just a house – almost like a living thing. It starts to feel like a home. Another bond forms with Arthur, even if he is very distant and cold, although at the same time, he seems to really care for Opal. But there are some other forces at play – there seems to be a very powerful and rich company that wants to have access to the house at almost any cost. And inside or under the house, there might be something very evil that is trying to escape...

I selected this book as I thought it might very well be nominated for the Hugo Award. I was wrong – there was no nomination, but that didn’t matter as the book was very well written and interesting nevertheless. The characters were well-described and interestingly flawed and multifaceted. The middle part of the book was a bit slow and by contrast, the end resolution felt even slightly hurried. In a similar vein, the supernatural things were largely unexplained, but as in most of the horror literature, there was a pretty good internal explanation. However, where the evil actually comes from did not really make sense from an outside point of view. If you are exploited and you dig mines too deep and there are evil acts, you might awaken some very dark forces, but the nature or origin of those dark forces is not explained. The book works well despite that.

308 pp.