Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Sep 2014
320 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family - bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna - have arrived for their inheritance.
But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself - in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb.
The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide - with cataclysmic results.
Elegantly constructed and brilliantly paced, Rooms is an enticing and imaginative ghost story and a searing family drama that is as haunting as it is resonant.
"Starred Review. [An] intricate, suspenseful story. The house's breathing residents and ghosts alike find freedom, and the story culminates with an ending that arrives in dramatic and surprising ways." - Publishers Weekly
"With poetic prose, Oliver weaves a satisfying story arc for each character, and readers will be left with a feeling of peaceful acceptance?" - Library Journal
"...the book is a page-turner. This satisfying novel will be enjoyed by Oliver's fans and bring new ones to the fold." - Kirkus
"Without much in the way of action, however, the pace of the story is slow, though it does pick up appreciably near the conclusion as closely guarded secrets and surprising connections are revealed. In the end, patient readers will find the story as haunting as it is haunted." - Booklist
"A sensational novel that easily glides between the normal and the paranormal. At times humorous, at times heartbreaking, Rooms is always emotionally resonant and, despite the presence of ghosts, very, very real." - Ivy Pochoda author of Visitation Street
"A chilling ghost story, and much, much more: Rooms is a magnificent gothic fugue on the themes of longing and buried secrets."- Lev Grossman, bestselling author of The Magicians Trilogy
This information about Rooms was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Jonathan Alpeyrie
Lauren Oliver is the author of the New York Times bestseller Before I Fall, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. Her thrilling second novel, Delirium, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list and is the first book in a trilogy. The second volume is Pandemonium (March 2012). Oliver is also the author of a luminous novel for younger readers, Liesl & Po.
A graduate of the University of Chicago and the MFA program at New York University, Lauren is now a full-time writer and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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