The Upstairs House

The Upstairs House presents the best post-partum period descriptions I have ever come across. I found myself having PTSD (not using that lightly) while reading. The narrator's experiences were very relatable and easily remembered by me-- which made her dive into surrealism so disturbing.
The narrator is haunted by Margaret Wise Brown and her lover, Michael Strange. As someone who also studied children's literature at the graduate level, I found this to be very jarring. MWB is not someone who is mentioned frequently outside of academics. To have her pop up, much less with Strange, felt nightmarishly tailored to me. There is also a very strong "Yellow Wallpaper" aspect to the plot.

In the days following the birth of Megan's first child, strange things begin to happen. The reader wonders, is she being haunted or is she psychotic? Fine's depiction of the isolation of new motherhood and of the expectation for everything to be a-ok right away feels capital-T True, but the unfolding of the story is tedious at times (as is motherhood, admittedly). This novel addresses the ways we fail women and the things that we pass down to our children as we live our lives of quiet desperation.

The theme veers quickly off into an unusual, but fascinating trip into an imaginary life with the 1940s authors and poets, that is so real that our narrator, Megan seems to be interacting with them. I wasn’t too sure just how Julia Fine was going to carry this them throughout an entire book and still keep the reader on track. Why is Megan hearing strange noises? How does she seemingly connect with what can only be ghost-like images? The forays into the 1940s lives of these characters really didn’t captivate me very much since I was more interested in what would happen to Megan in the present. I was also amazed by how nobody around Megan seems to notice that she was struggling. They criticized her and urged her to get out more and show more even suggested that she to get “help,” but instead of offering assistance or even compassion, they just seem angry with her. Megan’s oblivious husband and critical sister were additional frustrating characters for me. show less

Interesting premise but I got lost in the pages. There are two stories going on here. One is the MC, having just had a baby, in the hospital and then soon home with her new confusing, odd shaped addition to the family.

The other story is about a female poet and her angsty, needy ways. She has an assistant who is "building a house for her" and you learn a lot about their relationship, individual issues and exhusbands.

These two stories just didn't work for me. I found the interjections disjointed and I never seemed to find the flow. The main story felt voyeuristic instead of informational and I don't think I closed the book feeling like I understood the complexities of postpartum or any of the hormonal and psychological issues facing new show more mothers. The ending just seemed to wash all the new information away. I wish I'd liked it more. show less

Megan is having trouble bonding with her newborn baby, Clare, even though her husband is bonding and providing great support. She keeps hearing noises no one else can hear and discovers that the children’s author, Margaret Wise Brown (long dead) has moved in upstairs. Megan’s dissertation is about children’s authors including brown. Margaret Wise Brown house she is building upstairs looks remarkably like the bedroom in Goodnight Moon. I found the connection between reality and fiction jarring, but then I imagine that’s exactly how Megan felt. Unable to work on her dissertation and hour after hour spent caring for a baby. Its also the story of women who are often overlooked. Even Margaret Wise Brown can attest to that. In The show more Upstairs Room Julia Fine explores the reality of womanhood, the complications, the creativity and the intelligence. Eventually, Megan finds a solution, yet like real life not everything is solved, but instead remains unsettled. show less

A twisty, thoughtful, fascinating and unsettling story of a new mother who discovers Margaret Wise Brown is building a house above her condo.