Synopsis:
At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life
It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.
“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead
As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.
Riley Sager is one of my favorite authors! His most recent book, The Only One Left, is (in my opinion) the best of all his books. I am not sure if it would be characterized as “gothic fiction,” but I believe it is in the “gothic literature” category. So, why did I love this book?
First, Edgar Allen Poe is one of my favorites!!!! Click on the following link and read page one of “The Fall of the House of Usher.” (link) If you choose not to click on the link, here it is:
It was a dark and soundless day near the end of the year, and clouds were hanging low in the heavens. All day I had been riding on horseback through country with little life or beauty; and in the early evening I came within
view of the House of Usher. I do not know how it was — but, with my first sight of the building, a sense of heavy sadness filled my spirit. I looked at the scene before me — at the house itself — at the ground around it — at the cold stone walls of the building — at its empty eye-like windows — and at a few dead trees — I looked at this scene, I say, with a complete sadness of soul which was no healthy, earthly feeling. There was a coldness, a sickening of the heart, in which I could discover nothing to lighten the weight I felt. What was it, I asked myself, what was it that was so fearful, so frightening in my view of the House of Usher? This was a question to which I could find no answer.
I am not sure if Sager paralleled the setting of this book with Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” but there is definitely, in my opinion, a parallel. Here is another part of Poe’s story that is hinted in the book: “break in the front wall, that crack which I thought I had seen when I first saw the palace. Then only a little crack, it now widened as I watched.” The entire time I was reading this book, I could not help but read with the eeriness and “feel” of Poe’s story. I would suggest you read “The Fall of the House of Usher” before reading this book. Afterwards, here are some “sparknotes” for those who choose not to (LOL). I honestly do not think anyone can deny the similarities between the two. And what an excellent job Sager did (if indeed, he paralleled the two). And by the way, please do not watch the Netflix version of “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Just no…
Also mixed in this book is the feel of Rebecca – another beloved novel. As in Rebecca, there is a story and “ghostly” feel to the house…which again is why I am categorizing this book as gothic literature. Some may say “gothic horror” but there is no “horror” as one may perceive today. There is mystery (not demonic horror…just to be clear).
Another reason I loved this book is the ending! As much as I tried to figure out what was going on, I just didn’t. What a great surprise and twist. I do not want to say more in fear of ruining the book.
This is a must read if you like gothic literature and mysteries. Also, if you liked The Thirteenth Tale, I believe you will also love this book (I can’t help but think that he incorporated a little of that in this story as well…).
Happy Reading!
