This House is Haunted (by John Boyne)
I will read books about ghosts and haunted houses that are filled with horror and terror anytime of year. During Halloween season (my favorite), I seem to scour the library to absorb as many spooky books as I can. I’m grateful I found John Boyne’s, This House is Haunted.
1867, Eliza Caine has experienced a life changing event and is searching for a new direction. She is hired to be the governess at Gaudlin Hall. Her arrival to the mansion is only the beginning of strange occurrences. She is immediately met by the two children she will be caring for: Isabella and Eustace. No parents or adults are present to greet her and the children present as this is normal.
As the occurrences typical of a haunted house begin, Eliza is unnerved, but she is not frightened away. In fact, she is determined to find out what is going on with this unusual arrangement. She embarks on a mission to learn the whereabouts of the parents and to meet the other employees of Gaudlin Hall. While accomplishing her goal, she learns more than she bargained for.
I enjoyed my time with this story and its characters. Eliza Caine is a young, determined woman with a huge heart. She was faced with ghosts, a family with a sordid past, and very unusual living conditions while navigating her own life changes. It was a pleasure to see Eliza grow and brilliantly take on new challenges. The ending of the book was perfect. Exactly what I would have expected!
I adore haunted house stories that are set in Victorian times. The simplicity of this era that lacks our modern conveniences, offered an additional layer of spookiness to the mansion where this story takes place. While listening to this story, the works of Shirley Jackson and Susan Hill’s, The Woman in Black, kept coming to mind. I would arrange This House is Haunted with those books as a recommendation for perfect Victorian era Halloween reads.
I borrowed this audiobook from my local library with the Hoopla App. Listening to the narration by Alison Larkin was an absolute delight.
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