Fifty-ish Marion Zetland lives in a formerly fine house, now
falling apart and filthy. Brought up by parents who considered her below
contempt, her childhood was friendless and she was bullied both because of her
weight and her slowness at learning things. Her brother was the shining light
of the family, and she has spent her life deferring to him and being his
servant. To say she’s mentally unhealthy would be putting it mildly. Brother
John is no better; he never lived up to his childhood promise and spends most
of his time in the basement, which is forbidden to Marion.
Marion has no hobbies or real interests; she soothes herself
by eating, watching TV, and sleeping with her many stuffed animals. No one
speaks to her (except on the rare occasion when someone wants something from her);
it’s like she has been erased- or never existed at all. Meanwhile she knows
something is going on in the basement- there is extra laundry for her to do,
and she makes (horrible) meals for extra people. And there are a few trips to ferry landing or
bus station.. Then one day her brother has a heart attack, and is taken to the
hospital. Now she must face what’s in the basement.
How Marion deals with her new freedom from John and her
responsibility to the Visitors is both heartening and shocking. In the end I
loathed Marion as much as I did John,
although I wondered how much responsibility could be laid at
her door versus her parent’s.
The writing is very atmospheric. I could feel the
claustrophobia in the falling down house, and the claustrophobic state of
Marion’s own mind, always trying to efface herself and make people like her- or
at least not denigrate her. It’s a very creepy book, although not what I
thought it would be when I requested it. I expected supernatural horror; this
was far more horrifying.
The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents.
I received this book free from the Library Thing Early Reviewers program in return for an unbiased review.
Neither of these things influenced my review.
Eeeeee! I pass Eeeeee!
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