'The Birthing House' by Christopher Ransom
Firstly, my apologies for the quality of the pictures, again, they're only from my phone and it doesn't have a flash. I think I need to start saving for a decent camera really, but you get the idea. :)
I bought this book for 50p at the little charity book stall at Tirley Garth yesterday and finished it about half an hour ago. For a while, it's been one of those that I've picked up every time I've been into Waterstones or WHSmith or wherever, um-ed and ah-ed and decided on something else. Something else probably not as good. I don't normally go for scary novels, and I'm a complete coward when it comes to horror films. When we watched 'Insidious' in halls last year, I had to sit squashed up against my flatmate who had seen it before because he would flinch whenever a scary bit approached and I then knew when to cover my eyes. So maybe it was the distinction from my usual choice that helped me enjoy it so much: I don't really have anything to compare it to. Well, I say enjoy. It genuinely was like watching a horror film (in my limited experience), complete with shivers and increased heart rate. You can't bear to read the next page but putting the book down is out of the question. I was totally gripped from the very beginning and it kept me engaged all the way through. I didn't really want to put it down, but as it got darker outside, I thought it might be a good idea...
I would, however, criticise the summary on the back cover. It really doesn't give the reader any idea of what the book is actually about. I know no publisher with a brain would think revealing the whole story on the dust jacket is a good idea, but in this case, they've probably lost out on quite a large part of their potential readership by putting so little. I don't know if you can read it properly on the photo, but I will put an Amazon link too which will have a clearer version. There is so much more to the text than the blurb even hints at, including illicit affairs, ghosts (or are they?), infanticide, historical insights and a lot of pregnancy/parenthood, which would-be-readers have no chance to consider.
Another slight criticism is of the writing style. There is a lack of consistency at times which might be seen as off-putting by some readers. If this was a Uni essay, I'd say that the erraticism of the narrative style is reflective of the disturbed and inconsistent mentality of the central character, but it's not, so I won't. There was a bit, a fight scene, where there was a lot of name repetition, which was really annoying, clunky and would grate, I think, on most fluent readers. On the whole though, it wasn't bad at all, there was enough detail to create a rich picture of the house and its inhabitants, but didn't get stuck on it. A novel paced like this one can't afford to get hung up on flowery language and Ransom doesn't, much to his credit.
It is pretty explicit in parts (should probably have at least a '15' rating) and the ending is somewhat dissatisfying, but then again, I personally always like the end of a standalone novel to tie up every possible loose end- not knowing is the worst thing! On the whole though, I was genuinely gripped and very spooked, even sitting in the sunny garden, Pimms in hand, which is really quite a feat. Not only that, but you really get behind the characters, some are a little one dimensional, but the central ones certainly are not- even the 'evil' character tugs at the heart strings more and more as the reader comes to better understand her. Which probably helps make it even scarier- how much does who we can sympathise with say about us? The central character's subplot was also interesting, helping to build up a richer image of Conrad and saving the novel from becoming structurally and narratively repetitive.
I will stop rambling on now, but I'd recommend 'The Birthing House' to anyone who actually enjoys horror films (madness!) or doesn't, but is feeling a little adventurous.
Definitely the best 50p I've spent in a very long time! :) If you do read it- let me know what you think!
Christopher Ransom's Website: http://www.ransomesque.com/
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