Starling House
by Alix E. Harrow
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Description
"Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote The Underland--and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it's best to let the uncanny house--and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling--go to rot. Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to get her brother out of show more Eden. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she's never had: a home. As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire choice: to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares. If Opal wants a home, she'll have to fight for it."-- show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Thanks to Tor/Macmillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
STARLING HOUSE flips the Girl-Meets-House trope. The novel does have a male heir, brooding appropriately, in the haunted house. Best to set aside your expectations where he is concerned.
The fictional small town of Eden, Kentucky is instantly familiar to native Appalachians like me. A few wealthy families who’ve long been in charge of exploiting natural resources and labor for generations have all the money, and the rest of the population is barely scraping by. Opal has tenuous custody of her intelligent teenage brother, and she has big dreams on his behalf. Change the Darrell Scott song “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” to “You’ll Never Leave Eden Alive” show more and that is the destiny for her brother that Opal will risk everything to prevent.
I was breathless as I approached the denouement of this novel. My heart was pounding. The ending was brilliant and a total surprise. Starling House is indeed haunted, but every time you think you know precisely how the house is haunted, Harrow throws you another curve ball. Only scrappy Opal can decipher the many tales that swirl around Starling House just like its flock of starlings. show less
STARLING HOUSE flips the Girl-Meets-House trope. The novel does have a male heir, brooding appropriately, in the haunted house. Best to set aside your expectations where he is concerned.
The fictional small town of Eden, Kentucky is instantly familiar to native Appalachians like me. A few wealthy families who’ve long been in charge of exploiting natural resources and labor for generations have all the money, and the rest of the population is barely scraping by. Opal has tenuous custody of her intelligent teenage brother, and she has big dreams on his behalf. Change the Darrell Scott song “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” to “You’ll Never Leave Eden Alive” show more and that is the destiny for her brother that Opal will risk everything to prevent.
I was breathless as I approached the denouement of this novel. My heart was pounding. The ending was brilliant and a total surprise. Starling House is indeed haunted, but every time you think you know precisely how the house is haunted, Harrow throws you another curve ball. Only scrappy Opal can decipher the many tales that swirl around Starling House just like its flock of starlings. show less
Can I gush for a minute? I am such a huge fan of gothic novels but it’s rare to find one that stacks up to the hype. My favs are Rebecca, The Thirteenth Tale, and The Forgotten Garden. This one was excellent. No horror and just eerie enough. Driven by mystery but not murder. I loved reading it and I could already tell I’d want to return to it again. The beautiful description reminded me quite a bit of The Starless Sea. Not for everyone, but definitely for me.
{stand alone; fantasy, urban fantasy}(2023)
This is a story about the power of dreams.
Opal is a hard-bitten red-head who lost her mother, Jewell, early in life and has fought hard to keep her much younger brother (falsifying her birth certificate so she would seem old enough to keep him) and bring him up. They have grown up in the Garden of Eden motel since their mother died but before that they drifted from place to place; they obviously have different fathers but no last name.
In a dead-end town in Kentucky, called Eden, Opal works at a dead-end job so she can scrape together enough money for her brother Jasper (who is still at school) and her to leave the town. Eden is overshadowed by Gravely Power, an electrical power plant run show more irresponsibly by the Gravely family which allows the air, land and water to be polluted by the by-products of the power plant and their coal mining operations. The Gravely family seem to be the 'haves' of Eden while everyone else, especially Opal and Jasper, are the 'have nots', dependant on the Gravelys' business for income. Opal does anything she needs to to survive including petty theft.
If Opal takes the short-cut when walking to work, she goes past Starling House which holds a fascination for her even though every one else in town avoids it because they claim that the people who live there are odd. The stories told by the townspeople about Eleanor Starling, the first owner of the house, imply that she may have been a witch.
Eleanor - Eden's one celebrity, however notorious - wrote a children's book in the 19th century called 'The Underland' about a little girl called Nora Lee which she illustrated with pictures of horrific beasts which lived beneath the earth. Opal has a well-worn copy which her mum used to read to her from all the time and has dreamed about the inside of Starling House, even though she has never seen it in person. As we learn Opal's back story we gradually learn different versions of Eleanor's story, as labyrinthine as the House itself, and why Eden has had such a run of bad luck. Eleanor’s life story and the story in her book seem related in some way to each other and to the history of Eden - and, now, to Opal's life as it tangles with Starling House and Arthur Starling, its last Warden.
The House wants Opal and Arthur is persuaded, against his better judgement, to give her a (vastly overpaid) job cleaning the House which he has wilfully neglected. Because Arthur has secrets which haunt him too.
The novel is narrated in the first person, present tense from Opal's point of view although we also have some passages told in the third person, present tense from Arthur's point of view. I found this book compelling. At points, the pace increased to nail-biting. I liked the epilogue, the illustrations scattered through the book and the 'bibliography' and I thought footnotes (initially reminiscent of [The Colour of Magic] in their voluminosity) were an interesting touch. I admit that I was slightly confused about some points of the ending though; it bears going through slowly or re-reading.
I really liked the House which believes it is sentient.
January 2025
4-4.5 stars show less
This is a story about the power of dreams.
Opal is a hard-bitten red-head who lost her mother, Jewell, early in life and has fought hard to keep her much younger brother (falsifying her birth certificate so she would seem old enough to keep him) and bring him up. They have grown up in the Garden of Eden motel since their mother died but before that they drifted from place to place; they obviously have different fathers but no last name.
In a dead-end town in Kentucky, called Eden, Opal works at a dead-end job so she can scrape together enough money for her brother Jasper (who is still at school) and her to leave the town. Eden is overshadowed by Gravely Power, an electrical power plant run show more irresponsibly by the Gravely family which allows the air, land and water to be polluted by the by-products of the power plant and their coal mining operations. The Gravely family seem to be the 'haves' of Eden while everyone else, especially Opal and Jasper, are the 'have nots', dependant on the Gravelys' business for income. Opal does anything she needs to to survive including petty theft.
If Opal takes the short-cut when walking to work, she goes past Starling House which holds a fascination for her even though every one else in town avoids it because they claim that the people who live there are odd. The stories told by the townspeople about Eleanor Starling, the first owner of the house, imply that she may have been a witch.
Eleanor - Eden's one celebrity, however notorious - wrote a children's book in the 19th century called 'The Underland' about a little girl called Nora Lee which she illustrated with pictures of horrific beasts which lived beneath the earth. Opal has a well-worn copy which her mum used to read to her from all the time and has dreamed about the inside of Starling House, even though she has never seen it in person. As we learn Opal's back story we gradually learn different versions of Eleanor's story, as labyrinthine as the House itself, and why Eden has had such a run of bad luck. Eleanor’s life story and the story in her book seem related in some way to each other and to the history of Eden - and, now, to Opal's life as it tangles with Starling House and Arthur Starling, its last Warden.
The House wants Opal and Arthur is persuaded, against his better judgement, to give her a (vastly overpaid) job cleaning the House which he has wilfully neglected. Because Arthur has secrets which haunt him too.
The novel is narrated in the first person, present tense from Opal's point of view although we also have some passages told in the third person, present tense from Arthur's point of view. I found this book compelling. At points, the pace increased to nail-biting. I liked the epilogue, the illustrations scattered through the book and the 'bibliography' and I thought footnotes (initially reminiscent of [The Colour of Magic] in their voluminosity) were an interesting touch. I admit that I was slightly confused about some points of the ending though; it bears going through slowly or re-reading.
I really liked the House which believes it is sentient.
During the day the House could be mistaken for a mere building; at night, it never could. It has the obscure topography of a dream or a body, with endless, sinuous hallways and stairs that climb at unnatural angles. The walls heave in and out, a vast rib cage, and Arthur suspects if he were to press his ear to the plaster he would hear the subtle beating of a heart somewhere beneath all the oak and pine and plaster.There are echoes of [Alice in Wonderland] and [Stranger Things] in the weirdness of Eden. I was a bit worried at the beginning that it might turn into a horror story but, though it might have been a bit tense at times, it didn't (I don't do horror). It's worth giving this one a go.
Most nights Arthur finds it soothing—it’s nice to imagine that he doesn’t stand alone against the Beasts, even if his only ally is a foolish old house with ambitions of sentience—but tonight the House is restless. Every nail turns fretfully in its hole and the roof tiles clack like chattering teeth. A drainpipe bangs against the wall in the anxious rhythm of a woman drumming her nails on the table. Arthur soothes it as best he can, renewing wards and double-checking charms, but the weather is mild and the doors are locked.
January 2025
4-4.5 stars show less
There is good YA fiction, which works for readers of all ages, and then published Wattpad fantasies full of clichés and annoying teenage characters. Guess where I peg this drivel? Forget Southern Gothic, here we have Gilmore Girls does Beauty and the Beast, with a female protagonist who is supposed to be in her mid-twenties but acts the same age as her sixteen year old brother, and an 'ugly' love interest fighting imaginary monsters in small town America.
Opal's only personality traits are being a povo and taking care of said brother, their flighty rich girl turned tramp of a mother having died in a mysterious car wreck ten years previously. (I have many questions about how a teenage Opal became the guardian of her five year old show more brother, but presumably we just have to swallow that.) She complains about everything and turns independence into vindictiveness, while claiming that she 'never had the chance to wallow' in self-pity. Arthur, who lurks in Starling House, the wannabe-gothic mansion at the heart of the decaying former mining town, is also a fully fledged adult, but mopes about like a teenage goth. Neither of them are likeable and have zero chemistry, which makes the forced romance that subsumes the whole plot even more painful.
The only possible saving grace, of both the story and the characters, could have been Starling House itself, which 'had begun as stone and mortar had become something more, with ribs for rafters and stone for skin. It has no heart, but it feels; it has no brain, but it dreams.' The building communicates with its inhabitants by opening rooms and doors to people it likes and trapping or expelling foes. Yet like the concept of the book, the house is wasted on a bitter and twisted little martyr, who cossets her brother to the point where he can't fetch his own inhaler during an asthma attack and has no idea about the private education being lined up for him (at sixteen? Isn't that a bit late?), and Truman Capote who is trapped in the big house. If the author had wasted less adjectives and poor similes on Opal, omitted the footnotes (dear god, the footnotes!), and generally tightened up the purple prose, I might have been more involved in the plot and had less time to notice the terrible writing (what the hell kind of adverb is 'cliche-ly'?) And was there any need to have both Opal and Arthur's narratives, especially when we get the joy of Opal's whinging in first person?
Sorry, Starling House, you could have been up there with Manderley, but unfortunately you let the wrong ones in. show less
Opal's only personality traits are being a povo and taking care of said brother, their flighty rich girl turned tramp of a mother having died in a mysterious car wreck ten years previously. (I have many questions about how a teenage Opal became the guardian of her five year old show more brother, but presumably we just have to swallow that.) She complains about everything and turns independence into vindictiveness, while claiming that she 'never had the chance to wallow' in self-pity. Arthur, who lurks in Starling House, the wannabe-gothic mansion at the heart of the decaying former mining town, is also a fully fledged adult, but mopes about like a teenage goth. Neither of them are likeable and have zero chemistry, which makes the forced romance that subsumes the whole plot even more painful.
The only possible saving grace, of both the story and the characters, could have been Starling House itself, which 'had begun as stone and mortar had become something more, with ribs for rafters and stone for skin. It has no heart, but it feels; it has no brain, but it dreams.' The building communicates with its inhabitants by opening rooms and doors to people it likes and trapping or expelling foes. Yet like the concept of the book, the house is wasted on a bitter and twisted little martyr, who cossets her brother to the point where he can't fetch his own inhaler during an asthma attack and has no idea about the private education being lined up for him (at sixteen? Isn't that a bit late?), and Truman Capote who is trapped in the big house. If the author had wasted less adjectives and poor similes on Opal, omitted the footnotes (dear god, the footnotes!), and generally tightened up the purple prose, I might have been more involved in the plot and had less time to notice the terrible writing (what the hell kind of adverb is 'cliche-ly'?) And was there any need to have both Opal and Arthur's narratives, especially when we get the joy of Opal's whinging in first person?
Sorry, Starling House, you could have been up there with Manderley, but unfortunately you let the wrong ones in. show less
Starling House is Alix E. Harrow's fifth novel. With it, she solidifies her status as one of my favorite fantasy authors. Her writing is so evocative. Plus, she excels at establishing a novel's tone, balancing the eerie otherworldliness that is the hallmark of her novels against the mundanity of the small towns where she sets her stories.
Set in a forgotten, southern, blink-and-you-miss-it town, Starling House follows the travails of Opal as she attempts to pull her little brother out of their go-nowhere situation.
Opal is not your stereotypical heroine. She is unapproachable, secretive, and very, very angry. Her anger permeates her entire being, affecting every interaction and her decision-making. As prickly as she is, however, she is show more the type of character you can't help but love. You love her not just because she is the ultimate underdog but also because everything she does is for her brother. Her unselfishness is her most redeeming quality, and you want her to obtain some semblance of a happy ending to reward her for all her sacrifices.
In Opal's world, vulnerability is a liability, a lesson she repeatedly learned in the school of hard knocks that became her life after the death of her mother. Starling House is as much about watching Opal learn to accept this part of being human as it is about the mystery of Arthur Starling and the Starling House. It may be the heart of the story because battling everyday monsters is something everyone can learn to do.
As in her previous novels, Ms. Harrow fills Starling House with weighty themes. With its mix of human and otherworldly monsters and Opal's extreme emotions, it is not an easy novel to read. She puts Opal through the proverbial wringer, but it makes the conclusion so satisfying. Starling House is a fantastic Gothic mystery and the perfect read for October and the spooky season. show less
Set in a forgotten, southern, blink-and-you-miss-it town, Starling House follows the travails of Opal as she attempts to pull her little brother out of their go-nowhere situation.
Opal is not your stereotypical heroine. She is unapproachable, secretive, and very, very angry. Her anger permeates her entire being, affecting every interaction and her decision-making. As prickly as she is, however, she is show more the type of character you can't help but love. You love her not just because she is the ultimate underdog but also because everything she does is for her brother. Her unselfishness is her most redeeming quality, and you want her to obtain some semblance of a happy ending to reward her for all her sacrifices.
In Opal's world, vulnerability is a liability, a lesson she repeatedly learned in the school of hard knocks that became her life after the death of her mother. Starling House is as much about watching Opal learn to accept this part of being human as it is about the mystery of Arthur Starling and the Starling House. It may be the heart of the story because battling everyday monsters is something everyone can learn to do.
As in her previous novels, Ms. Harrow fills Starling House with weighty themes. With its mix of human and otherworldly monsters and Opal's extreme emotions, it is not an easy novel to read. She puts Opal through the proverbial wringer, but it makes the conclusion so satisfying. Starling House is a fantastic Gothic mystery and the perfect read for October and the spooky season. show less
Starling House is an old mansion that seems to have a mind of its own, that even its wardens do not understand. The local people avoid it and believe it to be cursed as its origins are connected to some tragic histories of Eden's most powerful inhabitants. The protagonist is a young woman, Opal, haunted by her own tragic past and hopeless present. She feels connected to the house which is now inhabited by a mysterious man.
I was surprised how much I liked this novel set in rural Kentucky, with a decent Southern Gothic setting and an intriguing story. The atmosphere is pleasantly eerie, just the amount of horror I can take and that lets me sleep at night after reading it. There are no sharp edges here.
Alix E. Harrow is a master show more storyteller. The language is just beautiful and the atmosphere is perfectly moody. Even though the tropes she uses feel old and seen before, they are never boring. It is like reading a fairytale.
Compared to some other gothic-leaning books I've read this year ([b:Fayne|60510110|Fayne|Ann-Marie MacDonald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651705946l/60510110._SX50_.jpg|96190936] or [b:The Square of Sevens|101146072|The Square of Sevens|Laura Shepherd-Robinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1687711902l/101146072._SY75_.jpg|100412861]) this one felt almost YA-leaning and very straightforward. show less
I was surprised how much I liked this novel set in rural Kentucky, with a decent Southern Gothic setting and an intriguing story. The atmosphere is pleasantly eerie, just the amount of horror I can take and that lets me sleep at night after reading it. There are no sharp edges here.
Alix E. Harrow is a master show more storyteller. The language is just beautiful and the atmosphere is perfectly moody. Even though the tropes she uses feel old and seen before, they are never boring. It is like reading a fairytale.
Compared to some other gothic-leaning books I've read this year ([b:Fayne|60510110|Fayne|Ann-Marie MacDonald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651705946l/60510110._SX50_.jpg|96190936] or [b:The Square of Sevens|101146072|The Square of Sevens|Laura Shepherd-Robinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1687711902l/101146072._SY75_.jpg|100412861]) this one felt almost YA-leaning and very straightforward. show less
I’m not one for taking book recommendations - even from people I know - but the library bingo strikes again with a challenging task to read a book recommended by library staff. In theory, any book purchased by the library is kind of recommended and any of the books that make it onto their various summer reading club genre lists are fair game, so I did make an effort to check them out. The lists compiled are random (as expected), but thankfully Starling House, which has been lingering on my TBR for longer than it should be, made the list, so we’ve accomplished another task while crossing off a proper book from the TBR list-that-never-ends! Starling House was expectedly another brilliant read from Alix E. Harrow, whom I discovered by show more accident a few years back and was instantly craving more from. Her books are always moody, magical, and decidedly unexpected, and with the promise of a haunted house, sword battling with demons, and a mystery based on a gothic children’s book I knew this was going to be another book I would devour whole within the space of a few days. And devour it I did, mimicking the speed with which protagonist Opal falls into obsession with the Starling House that has haunted her dreams since her childhood. Harrow moves through her tale with haste, packing multiple seasons into the space of 300 pages, and while I could easily linger in the hallways of Starling House as Opal determinedly polishes the house into a state of loving care (while slowly falling in love with its cranky but intriguing occupant, Arthur Starling) the story needs to move at pace through the house and into the heart of the curse that has plagued Eden for over a century. Opal and Arthur, of course, get swept up in the quest to end the curse once and for all, and Harrow artfully builds a town mythos that at once quietly treads the path of the lore of the ages and becomes something new that is caught up in typical Southern small-town drama and grudges. Balancing perfectly on the sword-edge that separates fantasy and reality, Harrow’s latest tale is one that keeps readers poised, turning page by page until the bitter end. show less
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Published Reviews
Harrow has a gift for turning settings into characters, as she does with both the strangely alive Starling House and the working-class town of Eden. Carefully unpacking the institutionalized power dynamics of class and race, Harrow untangles the many mysteries of Starling House, revealing how powerful people and groups will twist the truth until the story suits their purposes.
A spooky story show more about how hidden truths always come back to haunt you. show less
A spooky story show more about how hidden truths always come back to haunt you. show less
added by Lemeritus
Hugo Award winner Harrow (The Ten Thousand Doors of January) does it again in this tender and triumphant haunted house story....Harrow’s prose cuts straight to the heart as she melds a story of family legacy and historical oppression with a stirring call to speak the truth. Readers will be left chewing on this tale long after the last page, and Starling House will no doubt take its place show more alongside fiction’s most memorable haunted houses. show less
added by Lemeritus
Harrow’s captivating prose centers her flawed, cynical protagonists in a haunting plot of horrible actions, fog-hidden beasts, and moving connections between family, friends, and lovers. Fans of Shirley Jackson and Catriona Ward should pick this up. VERDICT Harrow’s (A Mirror Mended) mash-up of twisted fairy tales and Southern gothic fiction is a haunting story of longing, lies, and show more generational curses. show less
added by Lemeritus
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Author Information
23+ Works 15,377 Members
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Starling House
- Original publication date
- 2023
- People/Characters
- Opal; Jasper; Arthur Starling
- Important places
- Eden, Kentucky, USA
- Dedication
- for my brothers
- First words
- I dream sometimes about a house I've never seen.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)In the dream, you're home.
- Blurbers
- Blake, Olivie; Stewart, Andrea; Howard, Kat
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PS3608.A783854
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 3,562
- Popularity
- 4,579
- Reviews
- 92
- Rating
- (3.94)
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- 6 — Chinese, English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 24
- ASINs
- 6