Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Upstairs House: A Novel

Now and then, a book can be both an unsettling and satisfying read despite how contradictory that feels. The Upstairs House is exactly that for me. In this book, a woman who begins motherhood with some ambivalence finds herself in the earliest days of her daughter’s life, haunted by Margaret Wise Brown and her partner, Michael Strange. (Yes, you read that right.) The idea of a haunting here is both literal and metaphorical - so yes, this is a ghost story but in some ways it’s about being haunted by relationships that end without closure, by ambition that never really comes to fruition, by what it means to be a woman. This read actually made me feel a little upside down and I wouldn’t recommend it for readers who have unresolved or complicated experiences around parenthood. The writing is immersive and clever, the characters both lovable and utterly reprehensible, the tone somehow moving between humorous and devastating. I think this could almost be five stars but it felt like part of the plot was missing for me, something rushed through in the middle. Really clever, important, and engaging read.

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thefaultismine's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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booksareborrowed's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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alylentz's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was so weird and unique and I enjoyed every last bit of it. I also learned a lot about Margaret Wise Brown! Definitely not for everyone, but worth picking up if you're looking for something unusual and different with horror and psychological suspense vibes!

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katyisreading's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Rating: 4.5 stars
Recommend? For people who enjoy strange books. This reminded me both of The Need and of Bunny,

When Megan brings her newborn daughter Clara home, she's feeling overwhelmed by new motherhood, annoyed with her husband's busy work schedule, and overall uncertain about being a mother. One day, when Clara is a few days old, Megan finds a mysterious turquoise door in the wall. She opens it to find Margaret Wise Brown, author of beloved children's book Goodnight Moon and the subject of Megan's dissertation that she abandoned when she had Clara. Megan becomes convinced that Margaret (who died in 1952) and her lover (who died in 1950) are haunting the house.

This is an incredibly smart book. It is also at times funny, suspenseful, infuriating, and sad. I don't have children, but the language used to describe postpartum depression (and the metaphor of the hauntings) immediately connected me to the narrator. There were times in the middle when the book lagged a bit, but this one was definitely a stay-up-all-night-to-finish book by the end.

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