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A review by mwgerard
The Haunting of Moscow House by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Three years after the Bolsheviks have murdered the royal family and seized control of the country, the rebels have arrived at the crumbling Goliteva mansion. Once a prosperous family, members of the minor aristocracy, they have been relegated to the bare, freezing attic while soldiers tromp below. What little food they had is taken by the unwelcome guests.
Sisters Lila and Irina go to the market each day, in hopes of securing scraps for their family back home. On a recent trip they happen to meet two young Americans working for the American Relief Association. A sanctioned organization, they help deliver charity to displaced Russians. They offer the sisters jobs at the agency, an offer they tentatively accept.
By day they lend their talents to their modern reality. But at night the literal ghosts of their ancestors come back to life in their old home. This novel imagines a liminal world where the past demands to be part of the present.
By day they lend their talents to their modern reality. But at night the literal ghosts of their ancestors come back to life in their old home. This novel imagines a liminal world where the past demands to be part of the present.
Irina calls her fanciful whenever she mentions ghosts. Still, something isn’t right about the house, hasn’t been right since Uncle Pasha was shot dead there three years before, and Grandpere Sergei succumbed to his illness mere days after. …
Lili notices the rest of her family, hovering in the elaborately carved doorway to the East Wing…. They used to be the glitered site of soirees, of intimate conversations punctuated by peels of elegant laughter, of piping hot samovars and platters of mouthwatering pastilla desserts their butler Dmitri would set out proudly. Can she see Uncle Pasha’s tall figure? Papa’s shorter frame, his charming face? No, they are dead. … There is no denying it. She saw a ghost. Really saw it. Him. Uncle Pasha. Still shadow, but more than a flicker. More than just air. ~ Loc. 871
My thanks to Berkley for the review copy. Read via NetGalley.