Book Summary and Reviews of Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Book Summary

Starling House is a gorgeous, modern gothic fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

I dream sometimes about a house I've never seen….

Opal is a lot of things―orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier―but above all, she's determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper. One that gets them out of Eden, Kentucky, a town remarkable for only two things: bad luck and E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth century author of The Underland, who disappeared over a hundred years ago.

All she left behind were dark rumors―and her home. Everyone agrees that it's best to ignore the uncanny mansion and its misanthropic heir, Arthur. Almost everyone, anyway.

I should be scared, but in the dream I don't hesitate.

Opal has been obsessed with The Underland since she was a child. When she gets the chance to step inside Starling House―and make some extra cash for her brother's escape fund―she can't resist.

But sinister forces are digging deeper into the buried secrets of Starling House, and Arthur's own nightmares have become far too real. As Eden itself seems to be drowning in its own ghosts, Opal realizes that she might finally have found a reason to stick around.

In my dream, I'm home.

And now she'll have to fight.

Welcome to Starling House: enter, if you dare.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. How does Opal define home at the beginning of the novel and in the closing scenes? What would it have taken for the lodgings provided by Bev to feel like a true home?
2. Despite the wealth gap, what do Opal and Arthur have in common, both in their life stories and in their personalities? How does the balance of power shift between them? What do they ultimately need from each other?
3. What is the effect of reading the novel through Opal's first-person eyes, with footnotes written in the voice of a careful researcher? How was the tale transformed when you read it from Eleanor's point of view in chapter 30? What is Charlotte's role as a librarian in trying to discern and preserve the truth, despite a multitude of versions of a ...