This Cursed House
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4.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
One of Esquire's Best Horror Books of 2024
One of Crime Reads' Best Gothic Novels of 2024
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.
In the fall of 1962, twenty-seven-year-old Jemma Barker is desperate to escape her life in Chicago—and the spirits she has always been able to see. When she receives an unexpected job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans, she accepts, thinking it is her chance to start over.
But Jemma discovers that the Duchon family isn’t what it seems. Light enough to pass as white, the Black family members look down on brown-skinned Jemma. Their tenuous hold on reality extends to all the members of their eccentric clan, from haughty grandmother Honorine to beautiful yet inscrutable cousin Fosette. And soon the shocking truth comes out: The Duchons are under a curse. And they think Jemma has the power to break it.
As Jemma wrestles with the gift she’s run from all her life, she unravels deeper and more disturbing secrets about the mysterious Duchons. Secrets that stretch back over a century. Secrets that bind her to their fate if she fails.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sandeen's haunting if somewhat uneven gothic debut transports readers to 1960s New Orleans. Jemma Barker, a young Black woman, flees her previous life following her adoptive parents' deaths and a violent clash with her boyfriend, but she can't outrun the literal ghosts that linger in the corners of her vision. She takes a job offer as a tutor for the mysterious Duchon family, who live outside NOLA city limits. When Jemma arrives, however, there is no tutoring job, and the family pays her instead to stay in the house with them as a kind of companion. The Duchons' oddness is immense, with out-of-date clothing, deep reclusiveness, and a vocal pride for their own Blackness and African roots—despite the whole family being very white-presenting. As Jemma grows uncomfortable with hearing hushed conversations about her behind closed doors, the reality of the situation comes to light: the Duchons are cursed, and they believe their last hope to break the spell is Jemma herself. After a slightly overstuffed beginning, this atmospheric tale finds its footing and brings a fresh perspective to the gothic horror genre. The author's exploration of bloodlines, family, and race is complex and nuanced, and her heroine is easy to root for as she confronts ghosts both literal and metaphorical. Sandeen offers much to chew on.
