Such a strong voice and unique take with the house being its own character. I will definitely be re-reading this at some point to give it the full attention it deserves

Great read and a surprising character! Not for the faint of heart. Loved the historical element. The ending, not so much. Worth the time spent.

Sorry I could not finish this book in time. I will get a copy and try to read. Thank you for the opportunity.

A bit slow for me. I tried to get into this one multiple times and it took a while to fully adjust to the storyline. I would be curious to see more by this author though.

I enjoyed that this feels like a literary thriller that deals with immigration. Using the house itself as a narrator is a double-edged sword in that it feels interesting but doesn't always work quite as well as you would like it to. All in all, this is an enjoyable book that I have a few quibbles with.

My starred review of the audiobook for Booklist is here: https://www.booklistonline.com/My-Mother-s-House-/pid=9741311

The review was also cross-posted to Smithsonian BookDragon: http://smithsonianapa.org/bookdragon/my-mothers-house-by-francesca-momplaisir-in-booklist/

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. First off, the cover of this book is amazing. Second, the books was a little slow to get into, but gained momentum to me as it went along. Magical realism done well.

First off, there isn't enough talk about this book. What an interesting horror story, the way that Momplaisir gave life all the characters including the house, whew! It's been a few months since i read this book and its still on my mind. Tons of triggers here. You have been warned. Thank you, Knopf for this gifted copy via netgalley.

The year seems to be riddled with novels that are brilliant conceptually, but whose execution falls short of its promise. Such is the case with My Mother’s House. My thanks go to Net Galley and Bloomsbury for the review copy.

The story is told in the third person omniscient, and the most interesting character by far is the house itself. The house has had it with its inhabitants, particularly with protagonist Lucien, a man that’s evil and demented from the top of his pointy head down to the toes of his nasty loafers. Think of the worst thing one human being can do to another, and whatever you’ve come up with, Lucien has done it.

Our rotten old man is an immigrant, a resident of a mostly Caribbean neighborhood in Queens, New York. He brought with him the wife—nearly a child-bride—that he had set his cap for early on, for she is a descendant of the Duvalier family that ruled Haiti ruthlessly for decades. Once he has married her and moved her, however, he abuses her in much the same way he does every other female in his life, including the daughters they have together.

Do I need to tell you there are triggers all over this thing?

The house can’t take it anymore, all of the ugly within its walls. It decides that the only way to get rid of this bastard is to go down with him, and it sets itself ablaze.

One of the three stars is for this aspect of it, the animation of the house. This is where the story begins, with the house’s thoughts and actions, and I sigh contentedly, sure I am in possession of a great novel.

Alas, not so much.

I love a good horror story, but what makes such a story work is when there is an underdog to cheer for, or a victim to be rescued. This is part of Stephen King’s magic; not only does he provide visceral, original bad guys and monsters, but also some ordinary person that sees what is going on and tries to stop it. Whoever his good guy is, he develops the living heck out of them, and I feel as if I would know them on the street.

In contrast, Momplaisir gives me no possible good outcome; the only hope we have comes from the defeat and death of Lucien. That’s not enough to keep me turning the horrible pages of horrible deeds. I don’t just want to see the bad guy lose; I need a good character that might, against impossible odds, win.

Character development is also lacking. Although I learn about Lucien’s early life and the trauma that he’s endured, and which we know is often part of what warps a person, I never see him change internally. He is static all the way through, and since he’s the only important character, apart from the house, I feel cheated. His distinguishing characteristic is the need to count, because “I am nothing unless I count.” So all the way through, we hear him enumerating one thing after another, and to be honest, this device, though original, leaves me cold, and eventually it just becomes redundant. MAD Magazine—the original, from the 1960s and 1970s—would have had a field day here.

Unable to push myself all the way through the text, I seek out an audio book from Seattle Bibliocommons, and just to top all of it off, I dislike the reader intensely. The over-the-top dramatic voice would work in very small, shocking increments, but instead it is the main voice used, and by the end I just wanted to tell it to shut up. (Full disclosure: I actually did, not that anyone was there to hear it.)

In the end, I am left with a tremendously clever premise, a fantastic book cover, and then a whole lot of nothing. How dare the publicist or whoever wrote the teaser compare this work to those of Tana French and Jesmyn Ward? For shame!

You can buy this book now, or you can take that same exact amount of money and burn it in the fireplace. Same thing, either way. Or you can do the smart thing, and go find another book by someone else.

I really wanted to read this one but, as it stands, with the current state of things I just don't think I can handle it. I will keep it on the shelf and circle back.

I was excited to read this book because I love Haitian culture. Unfortunately, despite strong and colorful writing, this story just did not hold my interest. It was intriguing to me, although a bit fantastical, that the house itself is a character with feelings. That said, I didn't find the characters likable or compelling and found myself feeling depressed about the abuse the main character had inflicted and gotten away with for years. There is a lot of trauma and it took too long to move toward redemption.

I was drawn in by the concept of a house as a full character, not just a common “setting as character” trope used in gothic novels. Unique character aside, I was disgusted and depressed with the details of the homeowner’s life and there was not ever a glimmer positivity to push me forward with my reading

Wow. Francesca Momplaisir has written an exquisite novel telling the story of an immigrant from Haiti and his life living in the United States. We get the story from three different perspectives. One of which is the house that he lives in. This offers a unique perspective that I have never experienced and really ever thought about before. A creative re imaging of a Haitian immigrant.

Let me tell you what I liked about My Mother’s House. ….Not much.

First of all, fuck that self-righteous house. You saw. You chose to ignore until you didn’t. And why oh why must It refer to itself in third person the whole story? To annoy the reader? Mission successful. This POV really did nothing to enhance the story.

Next, Lucien. What a piece of work. Like legitimately this author wrote an incredibly vile character. I am nothing. was overused and had no meaning to me by the end. First, she really didn’t explain anything important until the end. So I’ve repeatedly read I am nothing. with no explanation. Which in my opinion was a big mistake. By the time I learned why he feels this way, my hate and disgust have over powered anything for this character. And that phrase legitimately pissed me off by the end. Her timing on the explanation could have changed my view. Instead, I was infuriated by the author at that point in time trying to humanize Lucien. Don’t humanize the motherfucker, too late, he ain’t one. Also, Lucien, my dude, Don’t worry. You are something. You are all of the words that describe the scummiest, vilest vermin that has ever walked on this Earth. And when this man goes on and on about what he thinks he deserves…Lord help me. I honestly saw fucking red. The author got me going there. That was probably the hardest chapter to read in my opinion even with animals cruelty and sexual abuse. How he views himself and what he thinks he has earned or at very least bought…

Another big issue. She had a few characters, but I literally didn’t connect or feel anything for any of them. Which is insane considering what is happening in this story. I should feel something. But she provided so little detail about all of them and spread out their individual story entirely too far between. Not really impressed with how the characters were introduced or how we learned about their stories. Honestly, I hated the way the story was told. It really did not work for me at all. I got the tail end of what has been an incredibly wild life. All of the misdeeds have been done. And filling us in little by little was ineffective for connecting with the story. She drew it out too long. Slow burning your readers into a readers death isn’t good for anyone. I hate a book where I count down the pages until the end. Reading isn’t a chore, but this felt like a hefty one.

Lastly, I think the vile actions and activities going on make it hard to focus on the immigrant experience. The weight of the actions and activities in the story make the focus on racial injustices and disparities faced by minorities in this country blur at times. I almost wish the author would have chose one focus or another. Either focus on the immigrant experience, Haiti, and the culture. Or write a slow burn horror like novel.

I am curious to see how other readers received this story.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for the read!

I’m judging a 2020 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got this book from the perspective pile into the read further pile.

I was really pulled in an excited by the conceit, in the beginning, a narrative told from a house’s point of view or house as a protagonist.

Those first pages, and those fantastic first lines The house screamed, “Fire!” from every orifice. Dife! Melting windowpanes rolled down the aluminum siding, dripping polyurethane tears.

Great writing and strong voice. Recommend if looking for a story that is as captivating as it is well-written.

This book gives an unflinching look into what it is like for an immigrant in the US looking to carve out a life for themselves.

Even though I was really looking forward to this one (and have a paperback ARC as well), I couldn't get past the first 50 pages. There was something that bored me, but also I couldn't get into it. Maybe I'll try again some other time.

My Mother's House publishes 5.12.2020.

2/5 Stars

What a great book! I highly recommend this book about a Haitian immigrant who moves into a predominantly Italian neighborhood and starts out happy there, helping other immigrants especially and calls his house "Mother's House". He helps with a wide range of legal problems, life problems, anything he can do to help others but he soon falls into bad vices and evil ways. What he doesn't know is that in this house, the walls see and hear everything and when he does and feels evil inside him....well, this house has plans for him itself. Great book!

Special thanks to Knopf Doubleday books and NetGalley for my ARC copy!

This is the story of a house's death. <i>La Kay</i> is a middle class house surrounded by other middle class houses that were built for returning GIs on an area near JFK Airport. South Ozone Park became a neighborhood of immigrants, the latest ones being from the Caribbean. Lucien and his wife buy the house and raise their three daughters there, while operating as an informal gathering place for new Haitian arrivals to find help getting settled, a card game and a taste of home. But Lucien's friendly demeanor hides an inner rot. He's done terrible things. Things the house finds unendurable and which lead it to decide to burn itself down in order to stop him. But Lucien, now an elderly man in poor health, a widower estranged from his children, has one more secret he's kept hidden from the house. And it's far worse than all of the other things he's done.

This is an impossible book to pigeon-hole. It's horror, sure. It's also a novel about immigrants struggling to make lives for themselves and those that prey on them. There's a grim realism here, but also a supernatural element that interact uneasily with each other. There are tonal shifts between the chapters, the ones centering Lucian have a black humor with a touch of slapstick that contrasts with the grim realism of another character's sections, which in turn are jarringly different than the magic realism of the sentient house.

Momplaisir is a talented writer, one who can evoke strong emotions or create a vivid image in very few words. This skill made this novel much harder to read than had her writing been just serviceable. The author is never overly graphic, nor does she linger on the act of harming being done. But she does dig into the emotions and harm being experienced by the victims and it makes for hard reading. It also made it difficult to appreciate Lucien's chapters or to enter in to what the house is experiencing. It's as though three very different novels about the same events were mashed together. Each element on its own is very good, but they lose something as a group.