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robbiclaire's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Mental illness
Moderate: Child abuse and Abandonment
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