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For a long time through the end of the book I thought Phineas was going to die, but it would be good to understand how he ended up where he did. Megan Weiler, the book's protagonist, is struggling with a jarring shift in identity and the constant fear that she isn't being a good mother. I love Julia Fines brain and the radical stories she creates. [An] assured, beautifully written book.Sarah Lyall, In this provocative meditation on new motherhoodShirley Jackson meets. The largest risk factor for postpartum psychosis is a family history of psychotic episodes, so the biology of that relationship was always very much in play for The Upstairs House. I fretted over the characters when I wasnt reading it and ached for them when I was. I don't have children, but after reading this postpartum-influenced ghost story (I'm sure I will revise the wording later but right now it works), I felt like I did. In the books most unsettling shift, Megan discovers that somehow Margaret Wise Brown (who is long dead) has moved in upstairs. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold. Mahira showed him around the museum, where she and Jordan used to meet. I got into that character's head real quick. I felt he wanted to continue being around Phin. Thankfully, he was able to slip out the back and become legally dead. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and Amazon Prime. Perpetuates Harmful Stereotypes Against the Mentally Ill, Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2021. This white-knuckle depiction of the essential scariness of new motherhood will captivate readers. Publishers Weekly, The Upstairs House is a terrifying jolt of a book. Then the ghost of Michael Strangethe woman Margaret Wise Brown was in a relationship with for many yearsstarts haunting her. Libby Jones (birth name Serenity Lamb) has grown close to her biological mother, Lucy Lamb, her uncle, Henry Lamb, half-brother . Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2021, Strange but not crazy this book will have you reading with curiosity and enjoyment, A very well-written, intense, and unique book, Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2021. Megans story of a wrenching postpartum experience is combined with other interspersed pieces, such as fragments from Megans abandoned dissertation, which includes childrens author Margaret Wise Brown, as well as separate chapters on Browns own troubled relationship 70 years prior to the books current action. Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2021, Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2021. House lives! I find etymology, as a sort of collective (if mostly subconscious) baseline, very useful as a writerwhen you peel back layers of meaning, you can say so much with so little. I do think that any major life transition narrative, specifically one about becoming a parent, is its own sort of ghost story. Probing the sore spots of new motherhood and the power of language, Fine's Russian-doll narrative lives in the narrow space between childhood dreams and grown-up nightmares. "to Amber. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions. Her second novel, The Upstairs House, is forthcoming from Harper in 2021. Julia Fine, the critically acclaimed author of What Should Be Wild, continues to impress with her sophomore novel The Upstairs House, a deliciously unnerving account of a postpartum woman's encounter with the ghost of modernist writer Margaret Wise Brown.. She has this need to know her dad but he doesn't seem to care to know her. Its real to Megan, which is an interesting metaphor postpartum is so frequently dismissed as something that will pass, or something that will vanish on its own because hey, what doesnt a new mom have to be happy about? As Michael joins the haunting, Megan finds herself caught in the wake of a supernatural power struggleand until she can find a way to quiet these spirits, she and her newborn daughter are in terrible danger. Polanski throws a modest little house-warming party, and all hell breaks loose. A fitting end to a wonderful series, don't you think? This book is like getting invited out for a nice hike through the woods with a good friend except your forgot to bring your own shoes so you have to borrow your friend's which after about two hours you realize have all these little pebbles in them but you can't seem to find a good place to stop and shake them out and your friend's just so gung-ho out about the whole damn hike that you just keep walking and walking and the weather is good and the views within the forest are nice but then hours later when its all over and you're driving home you can't help but think that even though its nice to get out into the woods now and then the walk really was a bit too long and you're feat actually really hurt and you're left with the sneaking suspicion that your good friend might be a bit of an asshole. Loved it so very much. , Julia Fine is the author of the critically acclaimed debut. There was a problem loading your book clubs. There's a madwoman upstairs, and only Megan Weiler can see her. Additional gift options are available when buying one eBook at a time. I mean, you surely know before you pick this up whether you're inclined towards a book with the ghost of Margaret Wise Brown. And let's not forget continually poisoning Phin with the 'love potion' that was really messed up. Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2021, Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2021. Proceed with caution. The narrator begins her journal by marveling at the grandeur of the house and grounds her husband has taken for their summer vacation. Dark and unsettling, this novel's end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed. [I just finished reading this book and I think its so strange that Henry's strange behaviour was just accepted and on top of that why doesnt anyone ever question him further about the night everyone died. I hadnt made sure she was real. In attempting to discover how Margaret is living behind a door that appeared from nowhere, Megan is also trying to grasp the strange reality of motherhood where a brand-new person exists where before there was none. I found it a little slow paced. Ravaged and sore from giving birth to her first child, Megan is mostly raising her newborn alone while her husband travels for work. I read this on maternity leave with my first kid and it was tough. Enter a new upstairs neighbor: the ghost of quixotic childrens book writer Margaret Wise Brownauthor of the beloved classic. Yes I think so. In this gripping and stylistically impressive novel, Fine illustrates how the rational and the mythic, the tangible and intangible, intertwine to fully tell a womans story. Can you talk a little about how the idea for this story came to you? But I don't see that happening. Julia Fines writing is sharp, dark, and delightfully twisty. Please try again. I'll be reading everything she writes from now on." Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. : Megan must deal with the real and imagined threats around her without much support. Rose tries to . It seems Margaret has unfinished business with her former lover, the once-famous socialite and actress Michael Strange, and is determined to draw Megan into the fray. Utterly unique, authentic, and addictive, this is a literary triumph you won't soon forget. Provocative. Fate brings Rose back to the home -- this time as housekeeper for the new owners, Sir Hallam and his wife, Lady Agnes; his mother, Lady Maud, soon arrives with manservant Mr. Singh. Ben finds a family tree featuring Pierre in an upstairs bedroom, revealing him to be the son of the Montgnacs and indicating that . Phin works in Botswana, not South Africa. It is up to us to make sure that staircase is working. : While House hung out in the burning building, he got visits from Kutner (Kal Penn), Amber (Anne Dudek), Stacy (Sela Ward) and Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), who all convinced him that suicide was not an option and that he had plenty to live for. The book ends with Henry admitting (via narration) that Phin was sick because he was poisoning him (Henry was jealous that Phin didn't love him back), and feeling dizzy with anticipation at the thought of seeing him again. The novel was an instant New York Times bestseller and a Good Morning America Cover to Cover book club pick. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! I do think Djuna Barnes (Nightwood) is brilliant. Is new mom Megan Weiler haunted by the ghosts of Margaret Wise Brown and her lover Michael Strange, or is she experiencing a deep postpartum depression? , Print length Reader Q&A, The first tale take place in the 1800's, with a family moving in and . :-). What do we need to be a highly functioning person in the world? Margaret claims she is building a house for Michael Strange, her lover. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. A great second offering from Julia Fine. Dive into a little brain lesson with us! Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. This book kept my attention and my sympathy, but ultimately I found it pretentious and unsatisfying. He said he knew Libby's big boy would find him., and now he is inviting himself along. It seems Margaret has unfinished business with her former lover, the once-famous socialite and actress Michael Strange, and is determined to draw Megan into the fray. In this gripping and stylistically impressive novel, Fine illustrates how the rational and the mythic, the tangible and intangible, intertwine to fully tell a womans story. --, lets the reader inhabit a massively entertaining and slyly enlightening story nestled inside another story like a ghost within its host. Fines unapologetic presentation of female relationships and postpartum struggles makes The Upstairs House a novel youll think about for weeks after turning the last page. The story of a recent mother with post-partum depression (my third book about post-partum depression in a month, btw. Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2021. I tell children that their brains are like a house, with an upstairs and a downstairs. It hits so close to home--the experiences Fine captures here are visceral, vivid, terrifying. This book is strange and beautiful and completely original. Her second novel, The Upstairs House, is forthcoming from Harper in 2021. . If ever there is a time when one feels insane, it's during those first sleepless, disorienting weeks as a new mother. Publisher , ISBN-13 : Plot. Instead, Megans symbolically resonant search for a beginning is also a creative, imaginative journey to claim her own story. Its like the downstairs of a house, which is where we almost always find the basicskitchen, living room, bathroom. Near the start of the novel, Megan believes her daughter can see a balloon outside their hospital room, even though doctors say that newborns dont possess such vision. I felt like a lot just wasn't adding up with him. Not only is she struggling to bond with the infant that society tells her she is supposed to love instantaneously, shes being driven insane by building noises, noises no one else can hear. Erika Swyler, author of The Book of Speculation and Light from Other Stars, Like only truly good fiction can, Fine weaves the hilarity and horror, and in a truly original story she explores the ways that we lose ourselves in parenthood, academia, and unhealthy romantic relationships. Rachel Mans McKenny, Electric Lit, "By turns funny, eerie, suspenseful, and wild, Julia Fine's The Upstairs House took me completely out of myself. As a character, Megan is so thoroughly relatable that when she finds herself haunted by the ghosts of Margaret Wise Brown and Michael Strange, you find yourself almost believing her.