Day: September 30, 2014

The Hundred-Year House: A Novel, by Rebecca Makkai, (Viking Adult), 352 pages

The Hundred-Year House is a novel in reverse. Its four sections move back in time: from 1999 to 1955 to 1929, and finally ending in 1900. This makes reading it a bit of a game. Each step backwards offers new pieces of the puzzle to snap into place, assuming the reader is alert enough to catch them all.

The house of the title is Laurelfield, which began as a private home, became an artists’ retreat, then became a private home once more. Laurelfield may or may not have ghosts. The house has seen tragedy aplenty, but the rapping may be spirit communication or falling acorns.

My primary complaint about The Hundred-Year House is that as the novel progresses, the sections grow shorter and less filled-out. The 1999 characters are developed in detail, surprising readers as new aspects of their personalities are revealed. By time the novel reaches 1900 the characters are essentially stick figures: we’re told things about them, but aren’t given enough to feel as if we’re entering their inner world.

That said, The Hundred-Year House is an engaging read. When I reached the end of the 1999 section exactly halfway through the story, I was uncertain where the writer was headed; I felt as if I’d read a complete novel by the time I got there. Even though I found the later sections less well-developed, I enjoyed the backward journey Makkai took me on. There most certainly was more to say—and 1999 was truly more of a beginning than an ending.

Pick this book up when you’re looking for a mix of entertainment and riddle. It always offers enough of at least one of these (and often both) to keep the reading pleasurable.

The Swallow: A Ghost Story, by Charis Cotter, (Tundra Books), 320 pages

I’ve just finished Charis Cotter’s The Swallow and am in that good-novel afterglow—smiling and a bit teary and wishing I could read this book again for the first time.

On the surface, The Swallow‘s plot is fairly simple: two isolated girls who spend time in connecting attics meet and befriend each other. One can see ghosts; the other is fascinated by them. Cotter deftly manages to maintain an otherworldly uncertainty throughout the book. Is Rose, who can see ghosts, a ghost herself? Who is the malevolent spirit residing in Rose’s attic who seems determined to kill Rose’s new friend Polly? What is the story of the aunt Rose never met, the one who no one speaks about?

The above questions give you a taste of the sort of book The Swallow is. It’s an unsettling read that leads readers first one way, then another. But throughout the twists it has an inherent sweetness that draws readers to the central characters. There’s nothing maudlin: just two girls the reader grows closer and closer to as she tries to understand who they are and what the relationship between them is.

If you need to buy birthday or holiday gifts in the next few months for your favorite ‘tween, The Swallow is a sure winner. And I’d like to suggest you read it yourself before wrapping it up for gift-giving. You don’t want to miss the pleasure of this read.