For summer vacation 14-year old
Trevor Riddell journeys to forested Washington State with his father to Riddell
House, the mansion built by their timber baron forefather. A once grand and extravagant family, the
money is all but gone: only the mansion and land remains. Trevor meets his grandfather and aunt for the
first time at the decaying mansion. As
the days go by Trevor explores more of the house and uncovers the mysteries of
his family’s history as well as his father’s past. His father was reluctant to go to face his
father and Trevor doesn’t understand how his demented grandfather could have
been so awful that his son never wanted to return home. The answers he uncovers, and the ghosts he
meets, makes this summer vacation one he will never forget.
The book is very different from The
Art of Racing in the Rain, the author’s extremely popular novel told from
the point of view of a dog named Enzo.
There are no dogs in this book, but there are ghosts. And the haunting of Riddell House is a
complex one with many layers and a strict purpose that Trevor is determined to
discover. Set in 1990 the absence of
technology enhances the book, we don’t have an adolescent running around trying
to film ghosts and tweet his friends back home.
The isolation is complete in an age when long distance telephone calls
were the only ways to communicate with distant loved ones. Trevor, cut off from his mother by distance,
and from his father by the traumas of the past, is truly alone to discover the
secrets of Riddell House and try to put wrongs right. An engaging and haunting read for those who
normally don’t enjoy ghost stories as well as those who do.
