What Caz Read

The Children is one of those books that wraps itself around you with atmosphere. 

From the very first page, there’s this constant sense of unease, like something terrible is lurking just out of sight and the atmosphere and creeping dread kept me interested in the story.

Guinevere Sharpe, daughter of famous author Edith Sharpe slowly unravels the truth about her strange childhood, the Sharpe family dynamic and the legacy of her Mothers Ninth City books. I was completely invested in the mystery and the complicated relationship between siblings Guin and Ennis.

The neglected children, the eccentric artist parents, the creepy farmhouse in Vermont and the blurred line between memory and magic all combined to create a story that felt dark, unsettling and strangely nostalgic.

The writing is gorgeous and I liked the dual timeline format, although I preferred the past to the present.

That said, the ending didn’t quite lived up to the incredible build-up. The foreboding and tension were so well done that the final reveal left me wanting more. After spending so much time immersed in the mystery, I was hoping for a payoff that hit a little harder.

Even so, this is a beautifully written, atmospheric read that will absolutely work for readers who love gothic fiction, family secrets, magical realism and stories that feel like a dark fairy tale for adults.

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Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Paperback 416 pages
ISBN: 978-1037202469

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Here’s the synopsis

Their childhood was yours. They want it back . . .

Guinevere’s late mother, Edith Sharpe, needs little introduction. Bestselling author of the unendingly successful Ninth City series, her books brought so much joy and inspired the imagination of countless children the world over. Guin’s childhood with her mother, brother Ennis and her actor father was a blissful, bohemian affair, filled with continuous laughter and surrounded by artistic types in their Vermont barnhouse. At least, this is the story Guin presents as she prepares for the press tour for her upcoming memoir about life in the Sharpe family.

Now estranged from her brother and her parents long dead after a devastating fire, strange events threaten the veneer of serenity and familial harmony Guin is keen to project. Ennis, now a notorious artist with a troubled past, announces a new installation – his first since a disastrous last show one year prior – simply entitled Mother. And Guin can’t help but worry that the truth behind their idyllic childhood is about to blow her world apart.

Told in alternating narratives between 1990s Vermont and present-day New York, The Children is a twisting narrative of family secrets and long-held resentments, which asks whether we can ever really exorcise the ghosts of a childhood forsaken in favour of a parent’s artistic vision.