4/5 stars
Translated by Sophie Hughes & Annie McDermott
I got this in a book swap at my book club's holiday party this year, and read it almost immediately after! It is so immersive and haunting. Reminded me a lot of books like Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, or T. Kingfisher's A House with Good Bones - basically, creepy in the same cursed-people living in a cursed-house kinda way. All three have that dark fairytale essence, like an old Grimm's story.
An unnamed woman lives with her grandmother in a remote house, along with saints they pray to, and ghosts from their past. The young woman used to work as a nanny for a young boy in a rich household, but he went missing on her watch, so now she's back at home, shunned by the community and facing charges. The grandmother never leaves the house. The narration switches back and forth between the two of them to tell their (sometimes conflicting) stories.
But the most interesting character is the house itself, which moans and moves and is always a prayer away from potentially eating its inhabitants alive. Because it has done just that in the past. In fact, the men of the bloodline all end up disappearing into its bowels, one way or another. This a metaphorical story of generational trauma inflicted by men, sacrifice and revenge, and overcoming the limitations that are placed on women and their choices. If "haunted house revenge tale" speaks to you, then you'll definitely love this!
Thanks to Tonya Griffin for the book!
And here is a 100-word piece I wrote about Woodworm:
In a book of Spanish literary horror - Lives a girl and her grandmother. Stands a house of cursed women. Leave the men out of it. Their bones make up the bricks of the house. The womens’ pain is the mortar, which has to be replenished and re-smoothed. There are shadows of the girl’s mother, too - entering through the front door, exiting through the wardrobe. (Did she ever look not-sick?) She isn’t asking for anything. Or maybe she needs to be remembered. Either way, the girl and the grandmother will take over from here. Sacrifice and revenge are on their tongues.
UP NEXT: Sleeping Giants, by Rene Denfeld
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