This Cursed House

In this Southern gothic horror debut, a young Black woman abandons her life in 1960s Chicago for a position with a mysterious family in New Orleans, only to discover the dark truth: They’re under a curse, and they think she can break it.
It's 1962, and Jemma Baker is leaving Chicago to start a new life. She had been working as a teacher and living with the man she loved, but that all changed when he started an affair with another woman, who is now pregnant. Then Things started changing for Jemma. She lost her job ...then tried to commit suicide. Now she is trying to pull herself together and had placed an ad in the paper hoping to find work as a tutor. She received an offer of employment from the wealthy Duchon family in Louisiana with show more a more than generous salary... but she never asked for details about the job.

Traveling to Louisiana was a shock for Jemma. She's an African American woman... she had always felt safe and accepted in Chicago, but Jim Crow laws were still in force in the deep South, our Jemma encountered segregation for the first time in her life. Once she arrived at her new employers, the Duchons’...she encounters a fading antebellum mansion, and strangely discovers there are no children in the family. Who is she supposed to tutor? It was then that she realizes that it was never exactly clear just what she had been hired to do.

Be warned that this story deeply explores the topics of racism and slavery, but also, it also explores family, and forgiveness. The author has produced the perfect "Southern Gothic" tale that is both chilling and suspenseful. The Duchon family is eerily, in their own way, beautiful, but at the same time creepy. They dress in outdated clothes...they never leave the house or the grounds. They are literally "ruled" by the matriarch, Honorine. The household consists of her widowed son and daughter, two grandchildren in their twenties, and the maid, Agnes, who is mute. They refer to themselves as being “colored” although they are perfectly able to pass as white. They say they are proud of their "Black heritage" but they view darker-skinned Jemma as being racially inferior.

Jemma doesn't know what to make of them or her new "job". She decides that the family is just reclusive. Then she discovers that many of the family members have died at regular intervals, and there are sinister explanations for why they have been "trapped" in the house for twenty-seven years...and more so that she learns that she is now expected to somehow resolve this so they can once again go out into the world.

I liked Jemma. She is a character that is strong and resourceful. It’s not always clear what motivated her to try and help this strange family when they treated her so bad. She discovers that she has a strong link to them that goes back to her birth. She has the ability to see the many, many ghosts in the house. This is the only thing that found that actually made the story eerie. I wish this aspect could have been played up more to add to the already strange atmosphere. The Duchon family is selfish and insular, they have weird behavior and their relationships with each other is strange. This only adds to the unsettling undercurrents in the house.

Ghosts, curses, long-hidden secrets, and a horrific and shameful history of slavery all contribute to the atmosphere of this novel. It’s not an intense, terror-packed novel by any means. I would call it a slow burn sinister tale, totally based on a very intriguing premise. show less

"1962: Jemma Barker is desperate to escape her life in Chicago—and the ghosts she has always been able to see. She accepts a job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans, but discovers they aren't what they seem. The Duchons are under a curse. And they think Jemma has the power to break it."

The Southern Gothic family drama in "This Cursed House" is twisted and shocking, yet somehow believable. There's domineering matriarch Honorine; biting, condescending Simone; kind but puerile Fossette; mercurial Laurence; self-effacing Russell and a mute, evasive Black maid named Agnes. They lure Jemma in on false pretenses, but the author does an excellent job of explaining why the Duchons are the way they are. It's a tired, old Gentry show more mentality mixed with racial self-denial and fearful isolation. My only gripe is the pacing, especially near the end. Even after everything comes to light, there were unnecessary moments of character indecisiveness that dragged the narrative. These needed to be trimmed, or replaced with more ghostly interactions to keep the reader engaged. (Without being too spoilery) there's also a foundational buildup for a particular character, who then disappears from the story after a couple of expositional encounters with Jemma.

The best part of this story is Jemma's character growth, which does explain some of the pacing. At first, she was full of self-doubt, lonely, desperate, with no family and "no man." By the end, the experience has given her a tougher, bolder personality without losing her empathy and gains greater emotional intelligence overall. Admittedly, there were plenty of times, were I in Jemma's situation, I would've walked right out of that house and burned every bridge behind me. She learns that the only way to overcome generational trauma or in this case, "a curse," is through accountability, familial responsibility, and forgiveness, not through revenge. Combined with the themes of colorism/racism, there are solid messages here for mindful circumspection and reader discussion. show less

Since the triangular trade primarily consisted of human cargo, and relying on the visual isn’t foolproof, etiquette dictates that it is unacceptable to assume ethnicity and lineage.

Intuition not only surpasses ego, but it also recognizes that the body hosts the soul. This awareness makes it crucial to pay attention to fight-or-flight responses. This is especially important for women, who are naturally more tuned into inherited pain, and for empaths, orphans, adoptees, and others who are sensitive to both figurative and literal ghosts.

A refined manner is a trait often associated with Southerners, and once achieved, wealth and tradition are qualities they uphold as marks of honor. In certain regions, tradition included the practice of show more passing, as it boosted social, legal, and economic advantages. This was especially true when America’s main industry was the importation, sale, and enslavement of human chattel.

Set during a time when Black Americans were empowered to correct centuries of wrongs, This Cursed House is as much about empowerment and self-discovery as it is about the ugliest form of intra-race hatred—colorism. Featuring Jemma Barker/Emmaline Duchon and a host of fair-skinned antagonists too shallow to realize segregation begins at home, it offers a glimpse into why the South is as gothic and horrific as the intergenerational trauma it breeds.

A third-person narrative filled with more red flags than a racetrack, this isn’t a love letter to the Antebellum era. Because tangled history and buried secrets taint generations, it serves as a cautionary warning for professional women contemplating a reverse migration, and readers will recognize the contemporary variation on the theme of change.

A memorable and immersive debut by Del Sandreen, this novel addresses the complex aftereffects of enslavement on both enslavers and the enslaved. It explores the chapters of the story that detail the diseases currently recognized as misogynoir and intra-family colorism. It revives the haunted house as a metaphor for systemic oppression, dismantles the mythologies of beauty, and demonstrates a need to revise how human worthiness is defined.

Packed with subtle and overt references to intuitive displacement, and why shame is a prominent form of self-hatred borne of intergenerational trauma, this one is for anyone haunted by ancestral ghosts. Set in and around The Crescent City, it is an ode to the supernatural and a nod to a few things that make it legendary, including scenes featuring Tremé /Lafitte, one of the oldest and initially the first neighborhood for free Black people, and characters consuming red beans and rice while savoring chicory.

The inclusion of rich, flavorful foods, a historically Black neighborhood, and a beverage made from bitter, dried roots deliberately highlights a cultural truth—the dark and discarded survive and thrive. Additionally, the merging of regional history with current issues effectively shows what constitutes a curse and urges readers to consider what else is being fostered by those who are supposed to nurture.

Best described as social commentary disguised as fiction, readers experiencing personal and cultural disruption will find themselves fiercely grounded in place. Those searching for long-lost family may wish to prep themselves for inclusion into one that is less accepting, loyal, and loving than human animals are alleged to be. show less

In the early 1960s, Jemma (from Chicago) has been hired by a family who live on a plantation just outside New Orleans. Jemma is a teacher and assumes that she will be tutoring. The Duchon family are all light-skinned Black people and although they say they are “proud coloured people”, they look down on Jemma’s darker skin. Jemma also has an ability to see ghosts, and there appear to be a few around this plantation. She is in for multiple surprises the longer she stays with the backwards Duchons, and only one of those surprises is what they have hired her for.

This was really good. I was pulled in early on, and the surprises continued to come. The Duchons are a piece of work, though I think the author does do a good job of showing show more multiple sides to a couple of them, and there are reasons why some of them are the way they are. Given the time period and place, there is some historical fiction thrown in to this horror/ghost story, as well, which I quite like. show less

I really enjoyed this, the themes of family, colorism/racism, and forgiveness. It's haunting, smart, and meaningful.

"I curse all the Duchon blood."

A great southern gothic mystery - with cruses and heavy family secrets.

Jemma's life is a bit up in the air. She's recently left her current boyfriend, lost her job and really needs a new start. So when she finds a job listing that pays well, provides room and board AND they want her right away, she gets herself there as fast as she can.

Once she arrives, however, the job is not quite as described. The story kicks off from there. It's a sad, heavy story that made me so angry and shocked. The haunted feel of the house and the family was well done and I enjoyed the creepy feel to it all. Heavy themes and a bit long, it did end well and was entertaining!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for show more providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less

Del Sanderson’s debut novel is a compelling supernatural tale about family, forgiveness, and racism in New Orleans in the 1960s. The Duchon family is cursed. With every turn of the page, I was deeply invested in Jemma's journey, rooting for her to break the curse and create the life she desperately desires.