In the dying town of Eden, Kentucky, Opal works menial jobs to provide a future for her younger brother, Jasper. Her obsession centers on Starling House, a derelict, shifting estate once home to E. Starling, the nineteenth-century author of a morbid children’s book. Arthur Starling, the reclusive current warden, eventually hires Opal as a cleaner. Together, they confront the physical manifestations of the town’s ugly industrial history and the literal monsters emerging from the house’s foundations. As Opal uncovers the truth behind the Starling family’s pact, she must decide if home is a place worth saving or burning to the ground.
Readers drawn to modern gothic fiction and prickly, working-class protagonists will find a story grounded in corporate environmental damage and generational trauma. The narrative appeals to those who enjoy sentient architecture and a romance between two guarded outcasts. By the end, the reader understands how local legends often mask historical injustices and how reclaiming a narrative requires facing the darkness built into the soil. It is a study of belonging and the cost of protecting one’s community.
Balanced in tone; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Escapist Adventurer. Which reader are you?
Insights from Starling House
“A house is a machine for living in.”
Opal looks at a house that everyone else hates and sees a sanctuary. It made me think about how we choose what to love based on what we need to survive.
“Eden is a nice town, if you don't look too closely at the dirt.”
The town of Eden is built on literal and figurative rot. Sometimes a whole community agrees to ignore a tragedy just to keep their property values up.
Arthur stays in that crumbling mansion because he thinks he's the only thing keeping the nightmares inside. It is a lonely way to be a hero.
“I am a girl who wants things. I am a girl who takes them.”
Opal works a dead end job at a gas station just to keep her brother safe. It shows how dreams are usually the first thing we sacrifice for the people we love.
- Published
- 2023
- Publisher
- Tor Books
- ISBN
- 9781250799050
- Language
- EN
