Your rating:
At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred. Stabbed her father with a knife Took her mother’s happy life It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything. “It wasn’t me,” Lenora said But she’s the only one not dead As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
Your rating:
This started out really strong, setting the mood of a mysterious old house on the craggy coast of Maine. The atmosphere didn't linger in the same way it did in The House Across the Lake, though.
Sager's writing is great as usual and the pacing is good, but the story didn't draw me in.
Overall, an okay read.
this was really really good! kept me guessing and had so many twists—just one after another after another. i loved the gothic horror vibes. it was so creepy and immersive, definitely something i’ve been itching for lately and this hit the nail on the head. it did start to feel a touch convoluted at times as there were so many storylines to keep straight, but I really liked how it all wrapped up. this was way better and a more satisfying read than the house across the lake!