The Radleys
Matt Haig, 2010
Free Press
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781451610338
Summary
Just about everyone knows a family like the Radleys. Many of us grew up next door to one.
They are a modern family, averagely content, averagely dysfunctional, living in a staid and quiet suburban English town. Peter is an overworked doctor whose wife, Helen, has become increasingly remote and uncommunicative. Rowan, their teenage son, is being bullied at school, and their anemic daughter, Clara, has recently become a vegan.
They are typical, that is, save for one devastating exception: Peter and Helen are vampires and have—for seventeen years—been abstaining by choice from a life of chasing blood in the hope that their children could live normal lives.
One night, Clara finds herself driven to commit a shocking—and disturbingly satisfying—act of violence, and her parents are forced to explain their history of shadows and lies. A police investigation is launched that uncovers a richness of vampire history heretofore unknown to the general public
When the malevolent and alluring Uncle Will, a practicing vampire, arrives to throw the police off Clara’s trail, he winds up throwing the whole house into temptation and turmoil and unleashing a host of dark secrets that threaten the Radleys’ marriage.
The Radleys is a moving, thrilling, and radiant domestic novel that explores with daring the lengths a parent will go to protect a child, what it costs you to deny your identity, the undeniable appeal of sin, and the everlasting, iridescent bonds of family love.
Read it and ask what we grow into when we grow up, and what we gain—and lose—when we deny our appetites. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—July 3, 1975
• Where—Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK
• Education—B.A., Hulls University; M.A., Leeds University
• Currently—lives in Brighton, England
Matt Haig is a British novelist and journalist, writing both fiction and non-fiction for children and adults, often in the speculative fiction genre. He was born in Sheffield and studied English and history at the University of Hull.
Writing
His novels are often dark and quirky takes on family life. The Last Family in England (2004) retells Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 with the protagonists as dogs. His second novel Dead Fathers Club (2006) is based on Hamlet, telling the story of an introspective 11-year-old dealing with the recent death of his father and appearance of his father's ghost.
His third adult novel, The Possession of Mr Cave (2008), deals with an obsessive father desperately trying to keep his teenage daughter safe. Shadow Forest (2007), a children's novel, is a fantasy that begins with the horrific death of the protagonists' parents. It won the Nestle Children's Book Prize in 2007. A year later, he followed it with a sequel, Runaway Troll (2008).
The Radleys (2011) is a domestic drama about a family of vampires, and The Humans (2013) is the story of an alien posing as a university lecturer whose work in mathematics threatens the stability of the planet. In How to Stop Time (2018), a man who appears to be 40 years old is, in fact, more than 400 years old. The film adaption is scheduled to star Benedict Cumberland.
At the age of 24, Haig suffered from severe depression, which he wrote about in his memoir Reasons to Stay Alive (2015). The book was a number one Sunday Times (London) bestseller and was in the UK top 10 for 46 weeks.
Personal life
Haig resides in Brighton, England, with his wife Andrea Semple. He homeschools their two children. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 2/13/2018.)
Book Reviews
The vampire novel is a crowded genre these days. To distinguish itself, a book will need inventiveness, wit, beauty, truth and a narrative within which these attributes can flourish. The Radleys, by Matt Haig, has got them…As befits a vampire story, the wit tends to be sharp, and is often aimed at the mores and folkways of suburban life.
Matthew Sharpe - New York Times
Very original spin on the myth...The bite-size chapters guide the reader from one viewpoint to another....Haig's depiction of teen politics is spot on....insightful, frightening and uplifting....Uncle Will [is] a splendidly evil yet believable character...Haig pays just about enough respect to the conventions of the genre that the average vampire fan should find lots to enjoy, but it's the blackly comic dissection of the family that makes this book stand out.
Guardian (UK)
In his witty vampire novel from British author Haig (The Possession of Mr. Cave) provides what jaded fans of the Twilight series need, not True Blood exactly, but some fresh blood in the form of a true blue family. Dr. Peter Radley and his wife, Helen, have fled wild London for the village of Bishopthorpe, where they live an outwardly ordinary life. The Radleys, who follow the rules of The Abstainer's Handbook (e.g., "Be proud to act like a normal human being"), haven't told their 15-year-old vegan daughter, Clara, and 17-year-old son, Rowan, who's troubled by nightmares, that they're really vampires. A crisis occurs when a drunken classmate of Clara's, Stuart Harper, attacks her on her way home from a party and inadvertently awakens the girl's blood thirst. Peter's call for help to his brother, Will, a practicing vampire, leads to scary consequences. The likable Clara and Rowan will appeal to both adult and teen readers.
Publishers Weekly
Dark humor pervades Haig's (The Possession of Dr. Cave) entertaining vampire family soap opera. While Helen was engaged to Peter Radley 17 years ago, his brother Will secretly whisked her off for one sex-filled "vampire conversion" night in Paris. A pregnant Helen then told Peter the baby was his, and together they decided to live like normal people and follow the guidelines set down by the Abstainer's Handbook, written for those who no longer wish to live the traditional vampire life. Complications arise as their children, Rowan (Will's biological son) and Clara, begin to acquire vampire characteristics. Clara is the first to change when one night a thuggish classmate attacks her. The fangs pop out, and Clara does what any vampire would naturally do. At last Helen agrees with Peter that it is time to explain their heritage to the children. At first the Radleys seem to be the stereotypical dysfunctional family, but each of them gradually shows a depth of character that helps them to pull together when outside forces attempt to destroy them. Verdict: This witty novel offers a refreshing take on an oversaturated genre. —Patricia Altner, Columbia, MD
Library Journal
Discussion Questions
1. In the opening lines the author describes the Radley household as one that "you would observe . . . and think that this is the property of perfectly normal human beings who pose no threat to the outside world. If you let yourself think this, you would be wrong" (p. 6). How "normal" are the Radleys? Despite their vampire background, do they have the same struggles as every other "normal" family?
2. What is The Abstainer's Handbook? What do Peter and Will each think about it? Why do you think the author chose to interject various quotes from The Abstainer's Handbook throughout the course of the novel?
3. On the surface, Rowan and Clara Radley seem to suffer from the same problems of every adolescent: bullies, schoolwork, popularity, etc. How are their adolescent issues magnified by the fact that they are vampires? Does life get easier or harder once they find out their family secret?
4. What causes Helen to realize that their "nurture over nature" parenting lifestyle has failed? Do you believe that an incident like Clara's was bound to happen sooner or later?
5. After Clara's incident each member of the Radley family struggles with the temptation to indulge in their thirst for blood. Discuss how each family member responds to the temptation. Whose response shocked you the most and why?
6. When we first meet Uncle Will he seems to be the complete opposite of his brother Peter. As the novel progresses, we discover they are more alike than we think they are. How so? What caused the rift between them? What are Will's arguments against an "unblood" lifestyle? What happens to Will over the course of his visit to the Radley household?
7. All of the main characters in The Radleys struggle with their desires. The Abstainer's Handbook states: "We have to learn that the things we desire are very often the things which could lead to our own self-destruction." (p. 88) Discuss this quotation with respect to Will, Peter, Helen, and Jared.
8. Clara argues, "Everyone represses everything." (p. 287) Do you believe this to be true? Is The Radleys an argument for denying or embracing who you really are?
9. The Unnamed Predator Unit hunts vampires but operates under the logic that by "granting immunity to some of the most depraved [vampires], they were able to exert an influence on them and curb some of their activities." (p. 165)Do you agree with this mentality? Why do you think Will is removed from their "immunity" list? Do you think the "new" Radleys have anything to worry about from the UPU?
10. Near the end of The Radleys there is an excerpt from The Abstainer's Handbook that reads "If you weaken, if you choose pleasure over principle . . . then you will never be able to know tomorrow . . . is it really worth rolling the dice?"(p. 351) How do you think the Radley family would answer? How would you answer?
11. The Radleys seem like a perfectly normal family except for the fact that they are vampires. How are the problems they face similar to or different from that of any other normal family? How many of their problems do you think are actually rooted in them being vampires?
12. Do you think their vampirism functions as a metaphor for something else? If so, what could their being vampires represent?
13. What do you think of the ending? How has embracing their true natures enabled the Radleys to live more fully? How does it affect other people in their lives?
(Discussion Questions issued by publisher.)
top of page (summary)
Objects of My Affection
Jill Smolinski, 2012
Touchstone Press
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781451660753
Summary
In the humorous, heartfelt new novel by the author of The Next Thing on My List, a personal organizer must somehow convince a reclusive artist to give up her hoarding ways and let go of the stuff she’s hung on to for decades.
Lucy Bloom is broke, freshly dumped by her boyfriend, and forced to sell her house to send her nineteen-year-old son to drug rehab. Although she’s lost it all, she’s determined to start over. So when she’s offered a high-paying gig helping clear the clutter from the home of reclusive and eccentric painter Marva Meier Rios, Lucy grabs it.
Armed with the organizing expertise she gained while writing her book, Things Are Not People, and fueled by a burning desire to get her life back on track, Lucy rolls up her sleeves to take on the mess that fills every room of Marva’s huge home. Lucy soon learns that the real challenge may be taking on Marva, who seems to love the objects in her home too much to let go of any of them.
While trying to stay on course toward a strict deadline—and with an ex-boyfriend back in the picture, a new romance on the scene, and her son’s rehab not going as planned—Lucy discovers that Marva isn’t just hoarding, she is also hiding a big secret. The two form an unlikely bond, as each learns from the other that there are those things in life we keep, those we need to let go—but it’s not always easy to know the difference. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Troy, Michigan, USA
• Education—B.A., Central Michigan University
• Currently—lives near Los Angeles, California
Jill Smolinski is the author of the novels The Next Thing on My List and Flip-Flopped, as well as nine non-fiction titles on subjects including origami, travel games and supermodels. Her work has appeared in major women's magazines, as well as in an anthology of short stories, American Girls About Town. A transplanted midwesterner, she now lives in Los Angeles with her son (From the publishers.)
Extras
• At six years of age, Jill was invited to participate in a young authors conference because of a short story she wrote. From then on, she wanted to be a writer.
• She actually works, as June does, for a non-profit group that promotes carpooling or bus-riding. "Over the years, I've become somewhat of a rideshare expert—I can rattle off statistics and facts about carpooling in California so extensively...that I'm rarely invited to dinner parties anymore." (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Smolinski's (The Next Thing on My List) latest novel revolves around two completely different women brought together under unordinary circumstances. Lucy is broke and homeless, as she has sold everything to pay for her teenage son's rehab. Hired as a professional organizer to clean the home of the great artist Marva Meier Rios, Lucy soon discovers that Marva is difficult, withdrawn, and an incessant hoarder. Helping Marva sort through her possessions is a challenge made even more difficult when there is a fast-approaching deadline. As the two women work together, Lucy literally uncovers a secret that Marva is hoarding, and Marva learns a thing or two about the detached Lucy. Can the stubborn Marva make room for people in her overcluttered space before it's too late? Verdict: This is a pleasant and engaging novel with likable protagonists who evolve; however, the relationships among the book's other characters aren't as fully explored, and the resolution seems hurried and flat. —Anne M. Miskewitch, Chicago P.L.
Library Journal
A moving look at the dangers of holding on to both objects and one’s misconceptions, Smolinski’s third novel will draw readers in through her flawed but sympathetic characters.
Booklist
If things are not people, then why do they seem to matter so much? A hoarder and organizational expert clash in this light, amusing novel from Smolinski (The Next Thing on my List, 2007, etc.). Lucy Bloom...help[s] Marva Meier Rios clear her house of clutter.... Of course the reclusive artist makes the job impossible, forcing Lucy to debate the merits of every fork, candlestick and flamingo-shaped umbrella holder.... And Lucy may have let go of a lot of things, but she hasn't released the memories—some true, some misremembered—that bind her to Ash and Daniel. A charmingly breezy tone marks this warm appraisal of our addiction to stuff.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Lucy and Marva’s relationship gets off to a rocky start, and Lucy initially finds her new employer both intimidating and crass. In what ways did Lucy’s view of Marva change throughout the course of the novel? What were some of the turning points in their relationship? What was the most important one?
2. How do you think Marva’s hoarding tendencies developed? Do you believe she truly intended to clear out her house? Why now?
3. Lucy admits she initially refused to grasp the severity of her son’s drug problems. Why do you think that is?
4. Compare Marva and Lucy as mothers. Are they as different as they appear on the surface? What scares Lucy about Will’s relationship to Marva, and how does that affect Lucy’s approach to dealing with Ash?
5. When discussing how her house burned down years ago with Fillippe still in it, Marva states: “He always did have a flair for the dramatic.” Do you think Fillippe purposely set the fire? How did this event influence Marva’s future? Was it still realistic that she keep her promise to him?
6. Daniel and Lucy’s quest to rescue Grimm’s Fairy Tales from the storage warehouse is a rare screwball comedy moment for the otherwise serious Lucy. Is there anything you’d go to such lengths to rescue?
7. At the beginning of the novel, Lucy has sacrificed her home and virtually all of her belongings to send Ash to rehab. How did you feel when Lucy finds out Ash has checked himself out of the facility? Did you agree with her actions that followed? Would you have done anything differently if you were in Lucy’s position?
8. Lucy comes close to selling her cherished car, but at the last minute changes her mind, saying that it’s the idea of the car and how it makes her feel that is difficult to let go. Do you think Lucy’s refusal to sell her car is justified? Do you think that an object’s importance is related to the feeling that a person associates with the object, rather than the object itself? What is such an object in your life?
9. At the end of the book Marva is painting over her most famous painting, “Woman Freshly Tossed.” She says she is “giving it a second life.” Were you surprised by her actions? Do you think she did the right thing?
10. Lucy may be the organizing expert, but it soon becomes clear both of these women have something to teach the other. Other than how to de-clutter her home, what did Marva ultimately learn from Lucy? And were you surprised by what Lucy learned from Marva?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
top of page (summary)
More Than Words
Jill Santopolo, 2019
Penguin Publishing
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780735218307
Summary
A tender and moving new novel about a woman at a crossroads after the death of her father, and caught between the love of two men—from the bestselling author of The Light We Lost.
Nina has always known who she's supposed to be. But is that who she truly is?
Nina Gregory has always been a good daughter. Raised by her father, owner of New York City's glamorous Gregory Hotels, Nina was taught that family, reputation, and legacy are what matter most.
And Tim--her devoted boyfriend and best friend since childhood--feels the same. But when Nina's father dies, he leaves behind a secret that shocks Nina to her core.
As her world falls apart, Nina begins to see the men in her life—her father, her boyfriend, and unexpectedly, her boss, Rafael--in a new light. Soon Nina finds herself caught between the world she loves, and a passion that could upend everything.
More Than Words is a heartbreaking and romantic novel about grief, loss, love, and self-discovery, and how we choose which life we are meant to live. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1981
• Raised—Hewlett, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Columbia University; M.F.A., Vermont College of Fine Ats
• Currently—lives in New York, New York
Jill Santopolo is the author of children's and young-adult books, as well as adult novels, including The Light We Lost (2017) and More Than Words (2019). She grew up in Hewlett New York, on the South Shore of Long Island.
Santopolo received a BA in English literature from Columbia University and an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. In addition to her work as the editorial director of Philomel Books (an imprint of Penguin Young Readers group), she is an adjunct professor in The New School’s MFA program. Santopolo lives in New York City and travels the world to speak about writing and storytelling. (Adapted from the publisher.)
Book Reviews
A smart, sexy, delicious novel.
People
Another gorgeously heart-breaking and romantic read.… This one is certainly going to sweep you up in feelings.
Bustle
[An] emotional, romantic story.
AARP Magazine
If you and your book-loving friends are fans of Reese Witherspoon’s book club, this book needs to be your next club pick.
Parade
[A] heartfelt story about life, love, and taking chances in the aftermath of loss.… This is a charming and sexy crowd-pleaser.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) [A] a fascinating look into the lives of New York City's superwealthy and political elite.…This breezy read is full of drama and romance, but at its core is a story of family and self-identity that will please women's fiction fans. —Kristen Calvert, Dallas P.L., TX
Library Journal
The latest from bestselling author Santopolo is a bittersweet and reflective novel of grief, loss, and coming into one’s own.
Booklist
[P]ropulsive and compelling. The depiction of Nina's grief for her father is vividly raw, made more real by her eventual understanding that he was an imperfect human being. Full of drama, scandal, and romance, [More Than Words] is sure to delight fans
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Nina and Tim have been best friends from childhood. Do you have a friend you’ve known your entire life? Has your relationship with him or her changed over time? How do you think this background affects a romantic relationship?
2. Is Nina’s father, Joseph Gregory, a good father? Why or why not? How does he shape Nina?
3. How is marriage portrayed in the novel? What did you think of Nina’s perception of her parents’ marriage? How does her perception change after her father’s death?
4. Why does Nina agree to marry Tim? How does she feel about her decision? Why do you think she agrees despite her doubts?
5. After Joseph’s death, Nina feels like "she’d walked into a movie about herself, where… the main character was left rudderless" (p. 198). Have you ever lost someone you loved? Did you relate to Nina’s experience? Why or why not?
6. Were you surprised by Joseph’s secret? Why or why not? How does this revelation affect Nina?
7. On p. 51, Rafael tells Nina he thinks of people like poems, that someone can be "haiku, or a villanelle, or a cinquain sonnet." What does he mean? What type of poem do you think you’d be?
8. Why do you think Nina and Tim grow apart? Do you think this is a common feeling? Have you ever been surprised by a new direction in your own life?
9. Are you Team Tim or Team Rafael? Why?
10. Why do you think Nina decides to change her entire wardrobe when she goes shopping with Pris (p. 244)? What does Nina’s new look mean to her? Why do you think it took her so long to find a style she loves? What do you think your personal style says about you? Have you ever made a surprising fashion decision?
11. Nina must choose between the life she’s always envisioned and a life that excites her. Why does she make the choice she does? Do you think it’s the right choice? Would you have made a different one?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
top of page (summary)
The Night Strangers
Chris Bohjalian, 2011
Crown Publishing
416 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780307395009
Summary
From the bestselling author of The Double Bind, Skeletons at the Feast, and Secrets of Eden, comes a riveting and dramatic ghost story.
In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts.
The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daughters. Together they hope to rebuild their lives there after Chip, an airline pilot, has to ditch his 70-seat regional jet in Lake Champlain after double engine failure.
Unlike the Miracle on the Hudson, however, most of the passengers aboard Flight 1611 die on impact or drown. The body count? Thirty-nine—a coincidence not lost on Chip when he discovers the number of bolts in that basement door. Meanwhile, Emily finds herself wondering about the women in this sparsely populated White Mountain village—self-proclaimed herbalists—and their interest in her fifth-grade daughters.
Are the women mad? Or is it her husband, in the wake of the tragedy, whose grip on sanity has become desperately tenuous?
The result is a poignant and powerful ghost story with all the hallmarks readers have come to expect from bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian: a palpable sense of place, an unerring sense of the demons that drive us, and characters we care about deeply.
The difference this time? Some of those characters are dead. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1960
• Where—White Plains, New York, USA
• Education—Amherst College
• Awards—Anahid Literary Award, 2000; New England Book Award, 2002
• Currently—lives in Lincoln, Vermont
Christopher Aram Bohjalian, who goes by the pen name Chris Bohjalian, is an American novelist. Bohjalian is the author of 15 novels, including New York Times bestsellers Midwives, Secrets of Eden, The Law of Similars, Before You Know Kindness, The Double Bind, Skeletons at the Feast, and The Night Strangers.
Bohjalian is the son of Aram Bohjalian, who was a senior vice president of the New York advertising agency Romann & Tannenholz. Chris Bohjalian graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College, where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. In the mid-1980s, he worked as an account representative for J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in New York.
He and his wife lived in a co-op in Brooklyn until March 1986, when the two were riding in a taxicab in which the driver refused to let them out of the car for 45 minutes, ignoring all traffic lights and stop signs. Around midnight, the driver dropped them off at a near-deserted street in front of a crack house, where the police were conducting a raid and Bohjalian and his wife were forced to drop to the ground for their protection. The incident prompted the couple to move from Brooklyn; Bohjalian said, "After it was all over, we just thought, "Why do we live here?" A few days later, the couple read an ad in The New York Times referencing the "People's Republic of Vermont," and in 1987 the couple moved to Lincoln, Vermont.
Early career
After buying their house, Bohjalian began writing weekly columns for local newspaper and magazine about living in the small town, which had a population of about 975 residents. The Concord Monitor said of Bohjalian during this period, "his immersion in community life and family, Vermont-style, has allowed him to develop into a novelist with an ear and empathy for the common man." Bohjalian continued the column for about 12 years, writing about such topics as his own daily life, fatherhood and the transformation of America. The column has run in the Burlington Free Press since 1992. Bohjalian has also written for such magazines as Cosmopolitan, Reader's Digest and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine.
Bohjalian's first novel, A Killing in the Real World, was released in 1988. Almost two decades after it was released, Bohjalian said of the book, "It was a train wreck. I hadn't figured things out yet." His third novel, Past the Bleachers, was released in 1992 and adapted as a Hallmark Channel television movie in 1995.
In 1998, Bohjalian wrote his fifth book, Midwives, a novel focusing on rural Vermont midwife Sibyl Danforth, who becomes embroiled in a legal battle after one of her patients died following an emergency Caesarean section. The novel was critically acclaimed and was selected by Oprah Winfrey as the October 1998 selection of her Oprah's Book Club, which helped push the book to great financial success. It became a New York Times and USA Today bestseller. Victoria Blewer has often described her husband as having "a crush" on the Sybil Danforth character. In 2001, the novel was adapted into a Lifetime Movie Network television film starring Sissy Spacek in the lead role. Spacek said the Danforth character appealed to her because "the heart of the story is my character's inner struggle with self-doubt, the solo road you travel when you have a secret."
Later career
Bohjalian followed Midwives with the 1999 novel The Law of Similars, about a widower attorney suffering from nameless anxieties who starts dating a woman who practices alternative medicine. The novel was inspired by Bohjalian's real-life visit to a homeopath in an attempt to cure frequent colds he was catching from his daughter's day care center. Bohjalian said of the visit, "I don't think I imagined there was a novel in homeopathy, however, until I met the homeopath and she explained to me the protocols of healing. There was a poetry to the language that a patient doesn't hear when visiting a conventional doctor." The protagonist, a father, is based in part on Bohjalian himself, and his four-year-old daughter is based largely on Bohjalian's daughter, who was three when he was writing the book., Liz Rosenberg of The New York Times said the novel shared many similarities with Midwives but that it paled in comparison; Rosenberg said, "Unlike its predecessor, it fails to take advantage of Bohjalian's great gift for creating thoughtful fiction featuring characters in whom the reader sustains a lively interest." Megan Harlan of The Boston Phoenix described it as "formulaic fiction" and said Bohjalian focused too much on creating a complex plot and not enough of complex characterizations. The Law of Similars, like Midwives, made the New York Times bestsellers list.
He won the New England Book Award in 2002, and in 2007 released "The Double Bind," a novel based on Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
In 2008, Bohjalian released Skeletons at the Feast, a love story set in the last six months of World War II in Poland and Germany. The novel was inspired by an unpublished diary written by German citizen Eva Henatsch from 1920 to 1945. The diary was given to Bohjalian in 1998 by Henatsch's grandson Gerd Krahn, a friend of Bohjalian, who had a daughter in the same kindergarten class as Bohjalian's daughter. Bohjalian was particularly fascinated by Henatsch's account of her family's trek west ahead of the Soviet Army, but he was not inspired to write a novel from it until 2006, when he read Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, Max Hastings' history of the final years of World War II. Bohjalian was struck not only by how often Henatsch's story mirrored real-life experiences, but also the common "moments of idiosyncratic human connection" found in both. Skeletons of the Feast was considered a departure for Bohjalian because it was not only set outside of Vermont, but set in a particular historical moment.
His 2010 novel, Secrets of Eden, was also a critical success, receiving starred reviews from three of the four trade journals (Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly), as well as many newspapers and magazines. It debuted at # 6 on The New York Times bestseller list.
His next novel, The Night Strangers, published in 2011, represents yet another departure for Bohjalian. The is both a gothic ghost story and a taut psychological thriller.
He has written a weekly column for Gannett's Burlington Free Press since February 1992 called "Idyll Banter." His 1,000th column appeared in May 2011.
Personal comments
In a 2003 Barnes & Noble interview, Bohjalian offered up these personal comments:
I was the heaviest child, by far, in my second-grade class. My mother had to buy my pants for me at a store called the "Husky Boys Shop," and still she had to hem the cuffs up around my knees. I hope this experience, traumatizing as it was, made me at least marginally more sensitive to people around me.
I have a friend with Down syndrome, a teenage boy who is capable of remembering the librettos from entire musicals the first or second time he hears them. The two of us belt them out together whenever we're driving anywhere in a car.I am a pretty avid bicyclist. The other day I was biking alone on a thin path in the woods near Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, and suddenly before me I saw three bears. At first I saw only two, and initially I thought they were cats. Then I thought they were dogs. Finally, just as I was approaching them and they started to scurry off the path and into the thick brush, I understood they were bears. Bear cubs, to be precise. Which is exactly when their mother, no more than five or six feet to my left, reared up on her hind legs, her very furry paws and very sharp claws raised above her head in a gesture that an optimist might consider a wave and guy on a bike might consider something a tad more threatening. Because she was standing on a slight incline, I was eye level with her stomach—an eventual destination that seemed frighteningly plausible. I have never biked so fast in my life in the woods. I may never have biked so fast in my life on a paved road.
I do have hobbies—I garden and bike, for example—but there's nothing in the world that gives me even a fraction of the pleasure that I derive from hanging around with my wife and daughter.
He lives with his wife and daughter in Lincoln, Vermont, where he is active in the local church and the Vermont theater community—always off-stage, never on.
Writing style
Bohjalian novels often focus on a specific issue, such as homelessness, animal rights and environmentalism, and tend to be character-driven, revolving around complex and flawed protagonists and secondary characters. Bohjalian uses characteristics from his real life in his writings; in particular, many of his novels take place in fictional Vermont towns, and the names of real New Hampshire towns are often used throughout his stories. Bohjalian said, "Writers can talk with agonizing hubris about finding their voices, but for me, it was in Vermont that I discovered issues, things that matter to me." His novels also tend to center around ordinary people facing extraordinarily difficult situations resulting from unforeseen circumstances, often triggered by other parties. (From Wikipedia.)
Book Reviews
Bohjalian has been a reliable bestseller of literary and historical fiction, earning praise from critics and a large audience, but The Night Strangers represents a more sinister turn. It boasts all the trappings of a classic Gothic horror story, reminiscent in places of the spousal secrets in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s "Young Goodman Brown," the thrills of Rosemary’s Baby, and the psychological frights of Daphne du Maurier.... A perfect book for Halloween....That thump thump you hear as you read is only your heart leaping from your chest.
Keith Donohue - Washington Post
After losing passengers in a forced landing, a pilot seeks respite by moving his family to New England. But the house is haunted and local witches won't leave them alone. Good 'n' spooky.
Good Housekeeping
Put a haunted man in a haunted house. . .and you have a Halloween hair-raiser. But it's more than that. Bohjalian, with a dozen well-received novels to his credit, understands trauma: how long it takes to recover from unimaginable pain, and how people who have never experienced it rarely understand.
Tim Clark - Yankee Magazine
Bestseller Bohjalian’s latest novel (after Secrets of Eden) is a gripping paranormal thriller set in a remote New England town. Airline pilot Chip Linton is beset by survivor’s guilt after crashing his plane upon takeoff, killing all but nine aboard. His family moves to Bethel, N.H., to escape the media glare while Chip recovers from PTSD, but they soon discover that the sleepy village harbors evil things. Their new home, once the site of a young boy’s suicide, contains mysterious passageways, hidden weapons, and a secret crypt. And their neighbors, New Age gardeners and homeopaths, soon reveal themselves to be occultists with designs on the Lintons’ twins. Chip begins receiving visits from his dead passengers, including an eight-year-old and her bloodthirsty father, who demands Chip find her a friend—at any cost. Meticulous research and keen attention to detail give depth and character to Bohjalian’s eerie world, but the spookiness consistently gives way to silliness, and the Lintons’ typical response to the strange goings on, an uneasy mix of suspicion and credulity, is a problem. Still, Bohjalian is a master, and the slow-mounting dread makes this a frightful ride.
Publishers Weekly
(Stared review.) Chip Linton, an airline pilot suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after a tragic crash from which he is one of only nine survivors, retreats with his family to a Victorian house in New Hampshire, but peace proves elusive. Why do the town's "herbalists," a group of gardening women who all have the first names of plants and flowers, take such an intense interest in the family, particularly Chip and Emily's ten-year-old twin daughters? And what is behind the mysterious door bolted shut in the basement? Verdict: Bohjalian (Secrets of Eden) has crafted a genre-defying novel, both a compelling story of a family in trauma and a psychological thriller that is truly frightening. The story's more gothic elements are introduced gradually, so the reader is only slightly ahead of the characters in discerning, with growing horror, what is going on. Fans of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones and Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye and The Robber Bride will find similar appeal here. —Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., MN
Library Journal
Bohjalian's (Secrets of Eden, etc.) latest effort finds its dark magick in a coven of herbalists, ghosts from an air crash and the troubled history of a derelict Victorian house.... A practical magick horror story with a not-entirely-satisfying resolution..
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The Night Strangers:
1. Talk about he plane crash and the way in which it affects Chip Linton. To what degree was he to blame?
2. Why does Chris Bohjalian structure the back story of the crash as he does—unfolding it bit by bit as the story progresses? Why not recount it as one continuous chapter? What effect does spreading it out have on your reading of the novel?
3. Bohjalian uses an unusual point of view for the crash scenes—the second-person "you." Why might he have chosen this method to recount the crash story? Is the technique off-putting ... or effective?
4. Speaking of narrators, what about the family cat?
5. When first reading, at what point did you begin to suspect that all is not well with the Linton family's neighbors? What early tell-tale signs did you pick up on? What first struck you as odd?
6. Describe the characters of both Emily and Chip? Is Emily the book's hero? Is she overly removed or distracted by events to be a good parent for her daughters? If you were in Emily's position, what would you do?
7. Why do the Linton's stay in the house even after they discover it's haunted?
8. What does the haunted house, and especially the basement, represent metaphorically in the novel?
9. Where you surprised, perhaps shocked, by the epilogue?
10. Overall, what was your experience reading The Night Strangers? Does Bohjalian do a good job of ratcheting up the suspense? Did you find yourself anxiously turning pages?
11. Comparisons of Bohjalian's book have been made to Stephen King's 1977 horror/ghost story, The Shining. Have you read King's book—or seen the film with Jack Nicholson? If so, how similar are the two stories?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
top of page (summary)
LitLovers Popular Classics
Age of Innocence
Edith Wharton Animal Farm George Orwell Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank Beloved Toni Morrison Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger Color Purple Alice Walker Ethan Frome Edith Wharton Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway French Lieutenant's Woman John Fowles Good Earth Pearl S. Buck Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou |
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie My Antonia Willa Cather 1984 George Orwell Night Eli Wiesel Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen Room with a View E.M. Forster Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee Tortilla Flat John Steinbeck Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys |