|
March 2008
Homeplace by Beth Massie
Elizabeth Blue is a writer and freelance editor in Glen Allen, Virginia where she lives with her three sons and four cats. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association and secretary of the Mid-Atlantic Horror Professionals. In her spare time, she reads, cooks and watches drag racing. For more information about Elizabeth's work, visit elizabethblue.com.
Homeplace. Sounds cozy, doesn't it? Like somewhere you'd want to go, have a glass of lemonade on the front porch with family you see only once in a while. A place for a happy family reunion, somewhere you might like to live someday. Beth Massie has different ideas. Her Homeplace is far from cozy. It will send chills down your spine, raise the hairs on the back of your neck and make you want to sleep with all the lights on. Homeplace opens with our main character, Charlene Myers, visiting her ancestral home near Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains for the first time as a child. It is her great-grandmother's birthday, and instead of a happy occasion with laughter, fun and excitement, Charlene discovers a scary, practically comatose old woman, an ancient farm littered with piles of junk and a creepy old well that gives her the worst fright of her young life. As an adult, Charlene inherits Homeplace from her mother, but she's forgotten the frightening things that happened there when she was young. Broke, and in serious need of a life makeover, she decides to move into Homeplace. She's got great plans: an artist, she intends to sequester herself in the old farmhouse and just paint. Homeplace represents hope to Charlene, and it's her chance to start over, to finally make something of herself. Things don't turn out quite the way she planned, though. The house is in such disrepair she can barely live there. She doesn't have the money to fix it up properly, but she makes do. Almost immediately, strange things start to happen. She can't paint and doesn't understand why. She hears noises in a boarded up room upstairs. At odd times, the old textile mill on her property sounds like it's still in production even though it's long-abandoned. When she meets her neighbor, Maude Boise, Charlene begins to understand that there's much more to Homeplace than just a ramshackle, barely habitable house. There are witches in her bloodline. Most people in town are terrified of her, the house and her land. Charlene reacts to the odd goings-on like any normal person, however: she thinks she's losing her mind. When something in the house tries to take control of her, Charlene finally realizes that she's not crazy. Instead, she fights back and uncovers the horrible truth of the things that happened at Homeplace so long ago and why the spirits of witches haunt it still. Homeplace will have you on the edge of your seat forcing yourself to read faster, faster because you must find out what happens next. Things never slow down for a moment. Charlene's terrifying experiences will make your palms sweat and your heart beat a little too fast. At one point, I had the creeps so bad I had to close the blinds so nothing outside in the dark could see me! Beth Massie has a gift for creating rich, memorable characters, and Homeplace is no exception. Even the minor players in this book are distinct and real. What I found most remarkable is that a good portion of the time, Charlene is alone with no one else to interact with, but Ms. Massie masterfully created Charlene's scenes with action, dialogue and frightening details. The setting of western Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills, is interwoven with the characters so tightly that you can easily forget you're reading fiction. I highly recommend Homeplace to anyone who loves a good, creepy southern gothic yarn. This book will stick with you like a duck on a june bug. |
||
|
|
||
