Nicole J Simms/ July 14, 2018/ Blog/ 0 comments

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Female Horror Authors – Alison Littlewood

Alison Littlewood is the next author on my female horror author reading list, and for this challenge, I read her book titled The Unquiet House.

Alison Littlewood is a British horror author. After a marketing career, she developed her writing skills, which resulted in her first book titled, A Cold Season being published in 2011. This book was chosen for the Richard and Judy Book Club, and she has since gone on to have many novels and short stories published. I have heard about Alison before, and her book was recommended to me, so I was keen to see what her book would be like.

The Unquiet House is a ghost story about a woman called Emma Dean who inherits a dark and dreary house called Mire House. Emma finds herself drawn to her surprising inheritance and soon starts a new life there. She meets her long-lost relative, Charlie, who is the grandson of the original owner. Things seem fine until she starts to see ghostly figures, she then wonders if Charlie is playing tricks on her to get her to leave the house, or if Mire House could really be haunted after all.

I found the story gripping from the beginning, but I did struggle to connect with Emma. Part one is set in 2013 and is from Emma’s point of view, part two is set in 1973 and is from Frank’s point of view, part three is set in 1939 and is from Aggie’s point of view, and the final part returns to Emma in 2013. I think how the story is set out is possibly the reason why I found it difficult to connect with Emma, especially as I connected more with Frank and Aggie, and I enjoyed their stories. For me, the backstory overshadowed the main plot, and because the present day is only at the start and end, I lost any connection with the original main character when I read the other parts. I think I would have preferred it if the time periods were mixed up, for example, 2013, 1979, 2013, 1939 and 2013.

As I previously mentioned, I enjoyed part two and three more than the rest. It allowed me to see how the antagonist became the way she did. However, I didn’t like how the story ended. It did confuse me a little, and I couldn’t work out how Charlie fitted into the story once the twist was revealed. It might be something that I’ll have to read again to fully understand.

Overall, I did enjoy the story, and I would like to read another Alison Littlewood novel, especially her zombie novel – I love the zombie genre. I’m now reading Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins, which is the next female author on my list. I’m enjoying it so far, and I will have a review for you soon.

Have you read any of Alison Littlewood’s novels? If you have, then feel free to comment below with your recommendations.

Keep writing, folks!

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