A House With Good Bones - T Kingfisher

 

About the Book

"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.

256 pages
Published March 28, 2023

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If you've read T Kingfisher's The Twisted Ones, then you know some of what you're in for when reading A House With Good Bones. We have the same familiar elements of the Southern US, which I summed up on Bluesky:

@tkingfisher.com novels have convinced me the American South has 3 things: 1) humidity 2) goth baristas 3) evil

In many ways, it felt like A House With Good Bones could have taken place only a few kilometres away from the setting of The Twisted Ones, as the vibe was exactly the same. Which is absolutely fine, and I appreciate that vibe because it reinforces that North Carolina really is like that (except possibly for the evil part; I wouldn't know, I've never been), and since I enjoyed The Twisted Ones so much, I was happy for another dive back into such an immersive and creepy presentation.

Sam temporarily moves back in with her mother, into the house that used to be owned by her overbearing and strict grandmother, only to find that her mother's personality is all but gone from the house. The walls have been repainted, artwork has been replaced, and it resembles nothing so much as the house when it was owned by Sam's grandmother, entirely unlike her mother. Moreover, her mother frequently acts as though someone else is in the house with her, listening, judging, creating an oppressive and confusing atmosphere right from the get-go. 

But it goes beyond Sam worrying that her mother is having mental health issues or is experiencing dementia. Mysterious things keep happening around the property, with everyone involved being reluctant to talk about it. Why are vultures watching the house so closely? Where did all the bugs from the garden disappear to? Who or what is touching Sam with scratchy bony fingers as she sleeps?

And yes, why is a jar of teeth buried under the rose garden?

Just as with The Twisted Ones, Kingfisher weaves real-world inspiration into her story, this time with connections to the strange alchemical attempts to create life from base elements, create magical creature like homunculi, and magic that is both healthy and something that borders LaVey-style Satanism. It made for a story that felt as grounded as it did fantastical. Though most of that element didn't come into obvious play until very near the end, I enjoyed seeing the set-up to the reveal.

Speaking of, though, that reveal really felt a long time in coming. Sam is a very logical character to follow, possibly a bit too much as she overlooked signs that pointed to the supernatural until it was shoved in her face to the point where she simply couldn't ignore it anymore, nor rationalise it away. I can appreciate that the character was trained in science, in analysing the minutiae of a situation before making judgment calls, and yes, also in being biased due to worry over her mother, but after a while it got a bit frustrating to see Sam once again ignore an obvious sign. It went back and forth sometimes, with her almost catching on, but then retreating into her own familiar logic once more. Realistic, perhaps, but still frustrating to read.

Now, I'm not the sort to review reviews, per se, but I've seen a number of reviews point out that Sam's weight shouldn't have been mentioned at all, as it wasn't relevant to the story. I wholeheartedly disagree. Sam lives in her own body, and if her body is larger than average, then she experiences that. She also experiences how society treats that. Her body has informed how she experiences the world and how the world experiences her, so while her weight isn't relevant to the plot, it's relevant to Sam as a character, and thus I have no problems with it being brought up multiple times.

Especially when Sam worries about how she would be treated by doctors. Unfortunately, women - and overweight women especially - do face pushback from doctors regarding medical treatment, with dismissing symptoms and blaming the problem on weight being far too common. I'm fat, I have experienced this myself, and so Sam's mental comments on her weight and how she's perceived by others felt very accurate, very real. I've had those thoughts myself. Her weight is as relevant as her love of British crime dramas, but I saw no reviews pointing out how her TV habits added nothing to the story. That alone told me plenty.

A House With Good Bones, ultimately, was a great story with awkward pacing. Most of the book was set-up for the reveal of how Sam's grandmother was involved in everything happening at the house, with Sam's stubborn refusal to connect the dots dragging things out. The last quarter of the book was almost non-stop action, filled with viscerally disturbing aspects that went a clear extension of things happening earlier in the story, but it wasn't a steady ramp-up so much as setup, setup, setup, ACTION. All the right elements were there, but it didn't quite work. Had I read this before The Twisted Ones, as they have many similar story elements, I might have been more impressed by A House With Good Bones, but if you're looking for a Southern Gothic horror novel with quirky humour and amazing characters, you're better off picking The Twisted Ones. A House With Good Bones wasn't bad, but it just wasn't comparatively as good.

Still, I enjoyed the hell out of it, and so far T Kingfisher is 3 for 3 when it comes to books of hers that I've enjoyed, so I consider that a win in my book.

And never forget: hurt people hurt people.

A Sorceress Comes to Call - T Kingfisher

 

About the book

Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms―there are no secrets in this house―and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him.

But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t evil sorcerers.

When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family.

352 pages
Published August 6, 2024

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It can't be easy to take the bones of a fairy tale and turn them into something that feels wholly original, but that does seem to be a particular skill of T Kingfisher's. While A Sorceress Comes to Call is apparently a retelling of Grimm's The Goose Girl (is it right to attribute that to the Brothers Grimm, when they were folklorists collecting the stories of the region?), having never read it before, I wouldn't have guessed it was based on anything other than the author's fantastic imagination. Not knowing part of the inspiration didn't detract from my experience or understanding of the story, though I'm now curious to see the narrative overlaps.

Cordelia's story, her slow progression of trying to survive her mother into trying to thrive despite her mother, was one that held deep resonance for me. My childhood wasn't as oppressive as hers was, but I still experienced a struggle to discover who I was and who I could become in spite of what my parents attempted to mold me into. I experienced a sheltered childhood where questions were frowned on and speaking my mind was treated more often as something to be punished than encouraged, so Cordelia's growth wasn't just one I could appreciate reading about, but it was read with so much hope for who she might be after the book ended, after she found a better place, and in turn what that could mean for my own experience.

It's amazing who we can become, when we're given what we need and encouraged to grow.

A Sorceress Comes to Call isn't just a coming-of-age story involving the daughter of a strict sorceress, however. The novel starts off with a moment of subtle horror, with Cordelia being "made obedient," where her mother essentially controls Cordelia's body, making her appear to be the model child who doesn't talk out of turn or fidget in church or do anything that her mother wouldn't want her doing. Being forced down in your own body, being made to sit so still for hours at a time, the muscles ache piling up and up and then cascading to the surface when you're graciously allowed to control yourself once again... There's absolutely horror in that, the lack of control, the pain, the fact that someone would do that to their child, sometimes to enforce good public behaviour but sometimes also as punishment, was terrifying in a way that's very down-to-earth, very real. There are parents out there who would do that to their children if they could, and that's stomach-churning in a way that carnage and gore just isn't.

A Sorceress Comes to Call absolutely does have gore, and some scenes that are quite disturbing in a classically horrific way. But some of what stuck with me the most was Cordelia's struggle against her mother's powers, and how horrifying it also is to be in such a situation.

That being said, there are wonderful beacons of hope and light in the darkness of Cordelia's life. Once Cordelia's mother gets her hooks into the Squire, aiming for a socially-advantageous marriage not only for herself but also eventually Cordelia, the two of them encounter a trio of friends who aspire to help Cordelia out of a very bad situation: Hester (the Squire's sister), and her friends Penelope and Imogene. While at first they don't believe in sorcery (more on that in a moment), they do see that Cordelia is in a predicament, and conspire to rescue her from her mother's clutches, or at least to give her some knowledge and security so that she can stand up for herself. Hester is a solid delight, with her sharp mind and intolerance for bullshit, and Penelope, well! Once you encounter Penelope in the story, she makes an amazing impression, and I love her attitude. Not that Imogene is bland or boring, but it's the other 2 who made the strongest impression on me.

Now, on to sorcery. Sorcery is a known element of the world the story takes place in, but only in small ways. Hiding skin blemishes, making an old horse look in better condition than it is, that sort of thing. Cordelia's mother has far more ability than that, and uses it both often and to her advantage, using the fact that people don't expect that kind of magic in order to hide in plain sight, at least for the most part. When something mysterious and horrendous happens, nobody believes magic could be involved, because magic just doesn't do those things. Except that it does, and part of Cordelia's struggle is to convince her newfound allies that she's telling the truth, that her mother's powers really are that strong, leading to the question of how to undo it and save not only herself, but the Squire, and Hester, and everyone else now concerned with Cordelia and her mother.

I don't want to spoil the story for anyone more than I already have, because it's a deep, dark, and delicious fairy tale retelling that blends magic and demons with the mundane lives of realistic characters, and deserves to be experienced properly by reading it for oneself, not just reading a review and seeing one person's opinions. A Sorceress Comes to Call is a fine example of T Kingfisher's storytelling, her ability to delight and horrify in equal measure, and to also to provide that ray of hope that shines through the stormclouds. Fans of historical horror and dark fantasy will find something truly special here.