From Publishers Weekly
Wright's 11th book of horror is set in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, where middle-aged Frank and Allison Hitchcock move after the accidental death of their son Joey. They buy an old school that they plan to refurbish, but discover upon moving in that the building is haunted by strange presences--four children and a teacher who died of ostensible food poisoning. This static, improbable and nearly plotless novel consists of the Hitchcocks' flashbacks to Joey, existential conversations as the two recall their own school days, and descriptions of the school and surrounding countryside. Interspersed throughout are snippets of Allison's surreal novel "The Insiders," about people haunted by ghosts of their former selves. Mysterious happenings in the school (broken windows, vandalism, cracked foundations) and sightings of ghostly strangers (particularly by Allison when she is sexually aroused) lead to a tense but unfulfilling conclusion. Wright's ( The Place ) latest is, at least, bafflingly atmospheric.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Frank and Allison Hitchcock buy an abandoned 1950s-era school, subconsciously chosen to evoke memories of their school days and of their dead child. A tragic accident had occurred in the school, and when Frank tells one victim's mother that he, too, has lost a son, she warns "You miss him terribly . . . . But don't miss him too much. Especially there." But Frank and Allison do miss him, and soon the school's past emerges. Voices and presences come closer, until the past and present mix. Two kinds of ghosts emerge: those of the physically deceased; but also ghostly child-spirits of people who have lived to adulthood have returned, too. What might these spirit children do to the still-alive mortals in their midst? As in his previous novels, Wright convinces the reader that such surreal suppositions are natural and the results inevitable. This eerie novel maintains a mood as ominous as a low rumble of thunder. Highly recommended.
- A.M.B. Amantia, Population Crisis Committee Lib., Washington, Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
