Anna Pace was already dreading her vacation with her family before finding out the mansion they were going to stay in was haunted. The haunting did not improve the family dynamics.
Mixing family trauma with ghosts seems to be a theme lately. It’s not exactly a theme that excites me, especially as I’m currently dealing with some family drama of my own, but I don’t have anything against this theme either, especially when it’s done as well as it’s done here.
This book by Jennifer Marie Thorne begins with Anna arriving in Florence a day before she has to make it out to the mansion her parents have rented for themselves and their three grown children, two grandchildren, and their son’s boyfriend to stay for a week.
It becomes clear right away that Anna is avoiding her family, taking some time for herself so she can actually enjoy at least part of her trip to Italy before she has to deal with her family. It’s not clear until she finally makes it to the mansion why Anna is so intent on avoiding her family.
Her sister is constantly criticizing her, and for some reason thinks Anna wants to screw her husband. For the record, Anna has never had any intention of sleeping with her brother-in-law.
Her mom is constantly expecting Anna to ask for money and also exasperated by this expectation. Where she got this expectation is unclear since Anna never asks for money in the course of the book, and as far as we know, has only asked for a loan from her parents once before and promptly paid it back.
Her best relationship seems to be with her brother, but her brother’s new boyfriend is a complete asshole who keeps looking for a fight. Then Anna somehow gets the blame for his confrontational and demeaning attitude, although Anna shows saintly levels of restraint when it comes to refusing to rise to the bait her family is constantly setting out for her. Instead of defending herself against their many accusations, she is adept at changing the subject.
And we haven’t even gotten to the haunting yet!
The haunting is a proper slow burn, but it loses no time in getting started. Even before she gets to the mansion, Anna is warned by the cab driver taking her there that the place is bad news, but of course she brushes it off, because what else is she going to do? Cancel her plans with her family because of a comment made by her cab driver? That would just give her family more ammunition against her.
Then, as the cab is driving up to the mansion, she sees movement in a window at the top of the tower. She assumes it’s her nieces who have claimed that bedroom since it’s clearly the best bedroom in the place.
But once inside, she finds out that the tower is locked and no one has the key. And when she looks at the outside of the tower again, there isn’t even a window.
Other creepy things continue to happen, including everyone in the family losing an entire day, strange people spreading salt in a circle around the mansion at night, voices whispering in Italian, a room that’s inexplicably cold, and at least two people experiencing what feels like a dark presence pressing on their chest at night.
Anna was one of those people. Her brother was the other person, but when the family turns against Anna and accuses her of creating drama by pointing out how weird shit is getting, her brother refuses to back her up and admit he experienced the same thing.
Things don’t improve after the vacation ends. Anna’s brother confronts her, saying Anna creates chaos wherever she goes. Then he takes a secret Anna told him and spills it to the rest of the family, who are so upset at her for having an abortion that they stop speaking to her.
So Anna is on her own, and guess what? The ghost followed her home just like the ghosts on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney, and it continues to wreak havoc on her life at home until her whole life implodes.
She does finally manage to defeat the ghost/witch, but I appreciate a ghost story that shows humans as the true source of horror. Not only is Anna’s family awful to her even without help from an evil ghost, but Anna discovers the locals around the mansion all know about the witch’s ghost and what it does to residents. They let people stay there rather than shut the place down as a way of offering up tourists to the ghost as a sacrifice so she’ll leave them alone.
I saw this book on someone’s list of best books of the year so far over the summer. It’s not my favorite book I’ve read this year, or even my favorite horror I’ve read this year, but it’s up there, and I highly recommend it if you’re into ghost stories.