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dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Mrs. Davenport is a perfectly normal housewife, married to a religious professor named Pete, and with two children, one boy and one girl. One imagines a white picket fence must be somewhere on the property. One day, however, a dreadful sickness overcomes her, and when she comes through the other side, she learns she has the ability to see ghosts. As she begins to explore her gifts and bolster them, her husband grows more and more angry and controlling, until Mrs. Davenport finds herself at a crossroads between her new powers and freedom and the image of the perfect life she is leaving behind.
Overall, my response to this book was... meh. I try very hard not to anticipate plot twists, preferring to be surprised, but this one I saw coming a mile away, as would any reader, I think. There's a dead teenage girl in the story, but we find out pretty quickly that it was probably an accidental death than an intentional murder, which kind of dampens that avenue to horror. Most of the horror, in fact, is derived from the very real restrictions imposed on women in the 1950s; at one point, Mrs. Davenport goes to start a bank account and is told by an icy teller that she can't do so without her husband to sign off on it.
The writing itself, I think, somewhat dampened the story. The characters are almost entirely one-dimensional. Mrs. Davenport should be interesting, but she proceeds through the story meekly and accommodating to the narrative arc, not because it feels like her character is growing, but instead because the story demands it. The husband is controlling and abusive and nasty and similarly felt paint-by-numbers evil. Then there's the love interest, who is nauseatingly perfect and there is never a shred of an interesting thing about him. The recurring line, in fact, is that he "always says the right thing".
The one character who actually stood out was the female neighbor who joins with the husband to spy on his wife and report back to him. There's a fleeting line about it - does she hope he'll fall in love with her instead? - but then quickly that line of thought is abandoned and the character never actually receives her comeuppance, leading to a rather unsatisfying ending.
The dialogue also felt ... wooden. I can't quite put my finger on something specific, but it felt like the characters were often reciting their dialogue as a wooden actor would recite his lines. At one point, the main character pronounces their intentions - a major turning point for her character - but it feels oddly flat and we move quickly on from it. It felt rushed, somehow, as if, again, the characters were dutifully fulfilling their places in the narrative, rather than actual people responding to the situations they were placed in.
I am also not opposed to happy endings; on the contrary, I quite enjoy them. However, they need to be bounded by realism, otherwise they come across as very fairy tale-ish, and especially when the rest of the book is tackling very dark topics, like the forced lobotomization of women who didn't "behave" in the fiercely defined gender roles of the 1950s, an ending too saccharine can leave you with mood whiplash.
Also, <i>why was Joan there at the end when they finally caught Pete?</i> I read it twice thinking I missed something, but there is absolutely <i>no</i> reason why she needed to be there.
Overall, it was an interesting premise that never quite lived up to its promise.
Overall, my response to this book was... meh. I try very hard not to anticipate plot twists, preferring to be surprised, but this one I saw coming a mile away, as would any reader, I think. There's a dead teenage girl in the story, but we find out pretty quickly that it was probably an accidental death than an intentional murder, which kind of dampens that avenue to horror. Most of the horror, in fact, is derived from the very real restrictions imposed on women in the 1950s; at one point, Mrs. Davenport goes to start a bank account and is told by an icy teller that she can't do so without her husband to sign off on it.
The writing itself, I think, somewhat dampened the story. The characters are almost entirely one-dimensional. Mrs. Davenport should be interesting, but she proceeds through the story meekly and accommodating to the narrative arc, not because it feels like her character is growing, but instead because the story demands it. The husband is controlling and abusive and nasty and similarly felt paint-by-numbers evil. Then there's the love interest, who is nauseatingly perfect and there is never a shred of an interesting thing about him. The recurring line, in fact, is that he "always says the right thing".
The one character who actually stood out was the female neighbor who joins with the husband to spy on his wife and report back to him. There's a fleeting line about it - does she hope he'll fall in love with her instead? - but then quickly that line of thought is abandoned and the character never actually receives her comeuppance, leading to a rather unsatisfying ending.
The dialogue also felt ... wooden. I can't quite put my finger on something specific, but it felt like the characters were often reciting their dialogue as a wooden actor would recite his lines. At one point, the main character pronounces their intentions - a major turning point for her character - but it feels oddly flat and we move quickly on from it. It felt rushed, somehow, as if, again, the characters were dutifully fulfilling their places in the narrative, rather than actual people responding to the situations they were placed in.
Also, <i>why was Joan there at the end when they finally caught Pete?</i> I read it twice thinking I missed something, but there is absolutely <i>no</i> reason why she needed to be there.
Overall, it was an interesting premise that never quite lived up to its promise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape
Minor: Child abuse, Racism
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Devil and Mrs. Davenport is a haunting story about missing girls, the psychic homemaker trying to find them, and that thing which is the greatest threat to wives: her husband.
Kennedy's book has shades of Shirley Jackson and is set in a house that feels like Daphne du Maurier's Manderley, if it were scaled down to match middle-class budgets and midcentury American sensibilities.
The story follows Mrs. Loretta Davenport, wife of Mr. Peter Davenport, a Pentecostal minister and professor at a nearby Bible college. She is the doting mother to two charming children and, while she isn't a perfect June Cleaver housewife, she tries to be. She tries to WANT to be.
After a bout of illness, Loretta is struck by a dark vision that seems to be showing her glimpses of what happened to a local girl who recently went missing
She thinks her new abilities may be a gift from God. Peter thinks they're the work of the Devil
Loretta's growing commitment to exploring her gifts and learning what happened to the missing girl drives a wedge between her and Peter and brings her to the office of Dr. Curtis Hansen, parapsychologist, as she gets swept up in her search to find the truth about the dark secrets buried in her Missouri town
As is the case in a lot of historical horror, there are ghosts, but the ghosts aren't the thing that brings the terror
Instead, I was horrified by the state of 1950s mental healthcare, the patriarchal oppression in their religious community, and the prison that was midcentury American marriage
Loretta's legal personhood, and that of nearly every other female character in the book, is constrained by the whims of her husband, and a selfish or deceitful husband can be a truly cruel jailer
I loved every single thing about this book, but make no mistake: it was an emotional wrecking ball
It deals with some deeply sensitive subject matter, so proceed with caution if SA, DV, pregnancy/loss, misogyny, or institutionalization are sensitive subjects for you
I personally had to set the book aside a few times, when my own life stresses made the fictional abuses within the book feel too big. But it was so worth it to pick it back up. Loretta will stick with me for a long time, and this book has landed on my list of great works of modern American gothic.
Kennedy's book has shades of Shirley Jackson and is set in a house that feels like Daphne du Maurier's Manderley, if it were scaled down to match middle-class budgets and midcentury American sensibilities.
The story follows Mrs. Loretta Davenport, wife of Mr. Peter Davenport, a Pentecostal minister and professor at a nearby Bible college. She is the doting mother to two charming children and, while she isn't a perfect June Cleaver housewife, she tries to be. She tries to WANT to be.
After a bout of illness, Loretta is struck by a dark vision that seems to be showing her glimpses of what happened to a local girl who recently went missing
She thinks her new abilities may be a gift from God. Peter thinks they're the work of the Devil
Loretta's growing commitment to exploring her gifts and learning what happened to the missing girl drives a wedge between her and Peter and brings her to the office of Dr. Curtis Hansen, parapsychologist, as she gets swept up in her search to find the truth about the dark secrets buried in her Missouri town
As is the case in a lot of historical horror, there are ghosts, but the ghosts aren't the thing that brings the terror
Instead, I was horrified by the state of 1950s mental healthcare, the patriarchal oppression in their religious community, and the prison that was midcentury American marriage
Loretta's legal personhood, and that of nearly every other female character in the book, is constrained by the whims of her husband, and a selfish or deceitful husband can be a truly cruel jailer
I loved every single thing about this book, but make no mistake: it was an emotional wrecking ball
It deals with some deeply sensitive subject matter, so proceed with caution if SA, DV, pregnancy/loss, misogyny, or institutionalization are sensitive subjects for you
I personally had to set the book aside a few times, when my own life stresses made the fictional abuses within the book feel too big. But it was so worth it to pick it back up. Loretta will stick with me for a long time, and this book has landed on my list of great works of modern American gothic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Fatphobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Pregnancy
Minor: Blood
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Ex-evangelicals/deconstructed kids, gather around. This is religious horror done so right. This was a tense, mysterious, oddly beautiful story of becoming and knowing oneself in a world that isn't made for you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape
Minor: Misogyny, Racism
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Abortion
Minor: Racism
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma
Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Child death, Racism, Vomit, Stalking, Abortion, Pregnancy
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Murder
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism