Publisher Summary:
A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.
“Mom seems off.”
Her brother’s words echo in Sam Montgomery’s ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.
She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam’s excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.
But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.
To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.
My Thoughts:
I loved this book! I knew I would, but I didn’t realize it was going to be so funny! The main character, Sam, cracked me up. I feel like if she were real we could hang. I also like bugs and wine and watching cozy British mysteries with rumpled detectives.
I don’t know if I would want to hang in that house though…. it sounded just a little bit creepy for me! On a scare scale, I would not put this way up there, but it did have this undercurrent of unease that made me well, uneasy.
There are vultures in this book y’all! And I was totally here for it. I didn’t realize vultures were so dang interesting! I see them circling in the sky, by the sides of the road, but they are not exactly my favorite birds. However, this book made me rethink vultures and my opinion of them. I am not sure I would want to run a vulture rescue/rehab like one of the characters in the book did, but I no longer think they are as yucky, and that is a win.
Sam has memories of living in the house as a child, growing up with her mom and brother, as her mom worked two jobs to support them after her father died. They lived with her grandmother in her childhood home while her mom tried to get the family back on their feet, and it does not exactly sound idyllic. Sam’s grandma was pretty frightening and darn right ghoulish at times. Sam’s mom is off too. Her normally laid back mom seems to have changed her entire personality, changing their home from how it had felt for the last twenty years, with funky art pieces, color, charm, into something cold and boring, lacking personality. More like something her grandma would like, in fact.
I absolutely devoured this book. It is a fast quick read, and a good one! Although, you may never look at a rose garden the same way again after reading it…
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 