‘Of course, they would come for me eventually. How could I have ever thought they wouldn’t?’
Everyone knows where Betty lives. Strangers knew her address long before she knew her own name. Like every woman in her family who has resided at Hanger Hill, she has been subject to rumours all her life. Some of the rumours are vapid and vaporous, others go into specifics that seem impossible. The weather, the scent in the air, the exact words spoken by people who thought they were alone.
On the morning of Betty’s 18th birthday, she is approached by a detective at her school gate. She wants to know whether, now of age and free of her mother’s guardianship, Betty will help her solve the cold case of what happened at her house the year she was born.
Betty can picture scraps of it. The flick of a cat’s tale. The smell of rot. A neighbour peering at her from a house that no longer exists. Screams coming from below the kitchen floor. Pages of old diaries curling amongst flames.
The only person who knows the truth, whole and complete, is her mother. And Betty decides it’s time that she knows her family’s story too.
Everyone knows where Betty lives. Strangers knew her address long before she knew her own name. Like every woman in her family who has resided at Hanger Hill, she has been subject to rumours all her life. Some of the rumours are vapid and vaporous, others go into specifics that seem impossible. The weather, the scent in the air, the exact words spoken by people who thought they were alone.
On the morning of Betty’s 18th birthday, she is approached by a detective at her school gate. She wants to know whether, now of age and free of her mother’s guardianship, Betty will help her solve the cold case of what happened at her house the year she was born.
Betty can picture scraps of it. The flick of a cat’s tale. The smell of rot. A neighbour peering at her from a house that no longer exists. Screams coming from below the kitchen floor. Pages of old diaries curling amongst flames.
The only person who knows the truth, whole and complete, is her mother. And Betty decides it’s time that she knows her family’s story too.
Reviews
Delightfully unsettling. The sort of tale that seeps into your bones and refuses to let go. Mounser excels in creating unease bubbling under the surface of the mundane. I loved every moment.
The House at Hanger Hillis a compulsively readable gothic thriller that evokes the spirit of Shirley Jackson - rich, twisty, and wonderfully spooky.