I love a good horror story and was looking forward to reading this one, but I must admit that I feel a bit let down. Michael rushes home from a trip out in the field (he's a geologist) when he finds out that his wife has gone into premature labor with their first child, a son. When he gets there, Sarah is acting very strange, and there is a strange woman there, Greta, a doula, who is doing her best to drive a wedge between them. At the same time, she insists that he not leave Sarah and the baby, even to go to the grocery store. Unfortunately, I figured out pretty quickly what was going on, which kills the suspense aspect of the story, as well as the horror aspect. It's not that this was a badly written book, it was just more of the same after about the first quarter, so there wasn't really anything to look forward to. This was a debut novel for this author, and because it wasn't badly written, I look forward to trying one of her more recent books.,

3/5 stars. ( )

Strange but in a good way. ( )

Harrowgage is a debut novel by Kate Maruyama. The story revolves around a married couple, Michael and Sarah who are excited to welcome their first child together. However, Sarah gives birth while Michael is away on an excursion and comes back to New York to find his wife behaving oddly with their new son Tim who she does not want him to touch. Also, Sarah has gotten a new friend called Greta who comes and goes as she pleases and seems to have an undisguised hostility towards Michael.

I don't want to give anything away in my review since I was very surprised by what this story was ultimately about. I will say in a general way that I was surprised in a good way by this novel. I was not expecting the novel to take the direction it did and I kept hoping for things to work out differently. I felt for Michael and Sarah and ultimately found myself afraid for both of them and moved to tears in parts. I wish that the author had a better explanation regarding some of the people and the Harrowgate. For example, I was perplexed if the Harrowgate was the reason that certain things were occurring or not. I thought the ending when it came was not as climatic as I hoped it would be, but parts of it were so sad that I ended up coming around in my thinking and finding as a whole I liked the book.

As other reveiwers have mentioned there was some repetition with regards to some of the phrases and that was tedious after a while but I only really noticed it once in a while since I was that engrossed in the story.

Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program. ( )

While he was away for work, Michael's wife Sarah had their baby, and when he comes home, that's all Michael can think about. But all is not well. Although Sarah never wanted a doula, there's this woman Greta who keeps turning up in the apartment and won't leave them alone. The psychiatrist who lives down the hall seems to be having an inappropriate relationship with one of his patients. Neighbors keep bringing over casseroles, and something is wrong with Sarah.

This is a lovely ghost story about a particular kind of grief, full of excellent twists and turns. Although it's very tense and creepy at times, it's not really a horror novel, and the back cover copy does it an injustice. ( )

An engaging postmodern Gothic novel full of strong, memorable characters.

The story revolves around a young couple and their child, but features a strong supporting cast of characters. We get to meet the psychologist down the hall, the overbearing "doula", the needy mothers of Harrowgate (and elsewhere). We meet the oppressive in-laws with their overbearing social requirements. We meet the off-beat mother who is comfortable in her boots.

All the components of Gothic literature reside in this modern, yet nostalgic novel.

My only complaint is that we lose some of the beauty and lyricism in the closing chapters of the story. There is so much texture and feeling throughout the novel. But during the process of resolution, the release of tension, the poetic feel of the story fades a bit.



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