With little in the way of major events or encounters, there is a lot riding on how the readers connect with the books leads and Alex and Rainey are both strong and memorable characters who are given plenty of space to develop and change as the book goes on. It made for some uncomfortable reading at times, heightened by Schraeder’s delicate and understated approach which deftly avoids overt generalisations and willingness to let her readers piece together the subtle hints and clues about what is really going on at Sugar House. The themes of isolation and the gradual deterioration of one’s mental health is something that is far more relatable to a greater number of people than it perhaps would have been had the book come out at a different time. This was a book I would have enjoyed regardless, but it hit home for me all the more given we are, at the time of writing this, in the midst of a pandemic. As Rainey starts to suspect something sinister may be going on at Sugar House, the couple is forced to confront the fact that their new home may not have been the fresh new start they had hoped for.
When Alex is forced to stay behind to care for her ailing mother, leaving Rainey alone in their new home, she becomes obsessed with the local history and the challenges of living a whole new life start to impact her mental health. They soon find Sugar House, picturesque and secluded, located in rural Vermont, it seems too good to be true. Tiring of their life in the city they are looking to escape to somewhere a little more tranquil, where they can live off-grid in a place that offers them the tolerance and acceptance they are yet to find. A slow-burn gothic horror, its pace is slow, its reveals are subtle and its answers are not freely given, but it is a book that rewards those willing to give themselves over to a story that delivers something that gets under your skin and quietly disturbs without overreliance on big action or violent set-pieces.Īlex and Rainey are looking for a change. E,F Schrader’s first novella, ‘Liar: Memoir of a Haunting’ is a challenging book.
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