These very dark novellas deal with hauntings, not so much in the supernatural sense, but created by the human mind and spirit. The characters are very complex. They are all women, surrounded and oppressed by men. Cardiff by the Sea is the longest and creepiest story. You can almost hear the wood creak under your feet when you read about the house where the action takes place. Miao Dao was my favorite, because I’m a cat person. Some passages were difficult to read, but I was very satisfied with the ending. Phan-tomwise: 1972 is hard to define and extremely heartbreaking and The Surviving Child is probably the darkest one. The audiobook narrator, Lauren Ezzo, does justice to the beautifully written prose. Her voices are distinct, so even if the stories are told by women in situations of uncertainty, they still all sound like different people. Her secondary characters are also excellent (I loved the great aunts in the first story, I could picture them so clearly, bickering). This is not a book you’ll easily forget. It is disturbing and deep.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/HighBridge Audio!