Upon reading the synopsis of this book, I thought that it was going to be suspenseful and mysterious. Unfortunately what I got was a lackluster read with a not so exciting twist that let me down. This book could have had 100 pages knocked off, it just seemed way too long. I did like the main character but she was we forgettable. Would I read another book by this author? Probably not, sorry to say

3 stars--I liked the book.

Ellen is a ghostwriter who is assigned to collect and write the memoirs of a woman living alone in a haunted English manor. I enjoyed the plot quite a bit, and thought the themes of motherhood--especially motherhood with daughters--was well done. However, overall I thought the book could have been a short story.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

Can't believe this is a debut! It's atmospheric, twisty, unsettling and slippery, with beautiful imagery and a claustrophobic sense of foreboding. Struggled to put it down; it gets its hooks in you from the get go and turns up the narrative heat so subtly you don't realise til it bubbles over. Absolutely exceptional writing. So grateful to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC; can't wait to see this book be released into the world.

Ellen is a ghostwriter (ding!) whose job it is to interview people and write up her notes in the form of of a memoir. These aren’t for general publication. She works mainly with ordinary people who want to produce something of interest to their families and friends.

Ellen’s current job is to travel to Elver House in Northumberland and, over a week, carry out a series of interviews with the elderly, mysterious, Catherine Carey.

Firstly, it didn’t feel at all like Northumberland (my home county) - the made up place names didn’t convince at all, they sounded like new-build housing estates- but clearly the author needed a rural county, distant from London.

Secondly, the ghost story, though nicely laid in was pretty predictable from even before Ellen reached Elver House, but that’s just the nature of the genre really. As soon as we know it’s a ghost story we’re thinking “one or more of these people are dead” - The Sixth Sense pretty much laid the template for how these things are done now, and the signs (M Night Shyamalan pun not intentional) are all there.

Most of us would have been calling a taxi home within hours of arrival, but again that’s not how these things work - the protagonist has to give every grave and horrifying occurrence the most innocent spin they can so the mystery can deepen.

The author delivers some imaginative and strongly visual chills with her writing, and I liked that women’s lives from different periods were contrasted and the degrees of progress (or lack of) discussed.

Clearly the women’s backgrounds, and therefore the expectations of their lives, were very different, but it was a good engine for the story, instead of a Scooby Doo-ish “revenge from beyond the grave” plot.

A very readable assemblage of classic ghost story beats, with some neat original touches and a genuine attempt to imbue the haunting with some relevance and resonance beyond mere spookiness.

*4.5 stars*

I cannot believe this book is a debut! The Homecoming has everything I love in a ghost story. The perfectly paced slow burn and creepy but beautiful atmosphere pulled me in from the first page, and reminded me of some of the classics of the genre. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I hope to see more stories from this author in the future! I would recommend The Homecoming for readers who enjoy slow burn gothic books with emotional depth.

Thank you to NetGalley & Salt Publishing for the arc! All thoughts & opinions in the review are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Salt Publishing for the advanced read!

I really enjoyed this atmospheric horror, perfect for readers like me who prefer a slower pace, small cast, and a reveal that will leave you unsettled but still able to sleep at night (probably 😅) I actually did not figure out the twist ahead of time which made the ending more fun for sure. The imagery of the elvers and all the facts we learn about them were fascinating. The subplot with Ellen’s friend didn’t weave into the story naturally for me until the very end so I would have liked to draw a more obvious connection between those memories and Ellen’s experiences at Elver House. However, I think this is a fantastic debut novel and I’d love to read more from this author in the future!

i don't know how to feel about this, i read through this super quickly but ended up dissatisfied & disappointed in the end.

the premise: Ellen has one simple job: spend five days at Elver House, record 20 hours of interviews with Miss Carey, then head home to London and ghostwrite her memoirs. easy enough, right? trading the comfort of her flat for the quiet village of Conger Brook, Ellen expects a cozy cottage, a charming elderly woman, and a straightforward assignment. instead, nothing goes as planned. the house looms at the village’s edge, the weather turns ominous, and there’s no phone signal—just one red flag after another. but she pushes forward, determined to do her job. yet, as she unearths Miss Carey’s past, Ellen starts to wonder: is she the one uncovering the story, or is the story closing in on her?

the setting was claustrophobic and eerie, with a creeping sense of wrongness that won’t let go. it feels slow at first like it’s taking its time but before I know it, the plot has wrapped itself around me, tightening with every page. BUT this one was pretty predictable, and i kept getting stuck on Ellen's reflections about her childhood friend. that whole subplot—how their friendship faded after marriage and motherhood—felt underdeveloped and didn’t really go anywhere it felt like a filler and it takes away from the plot. and bringing up Ellen's mom and her complicated relationship with her (NOT NECESSARY) i get that it might’ve been tying into themes of isolation or even the mother-daughter dynamic with Miss Carey, but it didn’t add much to the overall story. it felt like an idea that never fully landed.

then again. i finished the book in under two days, so it wasn’t a waste of time, but it left me wanting more. thank you Salt Publishing for trusting me to read the book and give my honest thoughts about it. maybe it just wasn't for me.

3.5 stars

Ellen is contracted to stay with Miss Carey for 5 days and obtain 20 hours of interviews. After collecting the recordings, Ellen will go home and ghost-write Miss Carey’s memoirs. Easy peasy, right? Ellen trades the comfort of her London for flat for the small village of Conger Brook with Elver House being on the outskirts of the village. She pictures a sweet little old lady, a cute little cottage to hole up in, and of course, nothing meets her expectations. Ellen ignores all the red flags screaming at her, including: ominous weather, nothing going according to plan, no service; all leads to something being afoot, right? As Ellen delves into Miss Carey’s past, are things as they seem?
This one was a bit predictable. I found myself confused by the narrator’s reflections on her childhood friend that she’d grown apart from, that whole line of the plot was not adequately resolved or thoroughly explained. Overall, I don’t think it was a waste of time and read it under 2 days’ time.
#ThxNetGalley #ZoeApostolides

A moody, damp, dark, gothic, feminist tale and with eels for flavor. (I kind of wish there had been more eels to be honest.)

The writing style is perfect for the tone of the book, descriptive and thoughtful. I will be thinking about this book for a while.

4.5 stars. I clocked what was going on about half way. I think it took me longer to figure out why we were getting the flashbacks about her friend than to figure out the main plot. Then it all weaves together. It isn’t going to be for everyone. If you are looking for a scary story to tell in the dark this isn’t for you. But it you are looking for an eerie brooding tale of the inner lives of women (one where there are eels), you will feel at home in this story.

Thanks to Salt Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC of 'The Homecoming' by Zoë Apostolides.

This is essentially a haunted house, Gothic tale in which a ghostwriter - Ellen - is sent to capture the voice of an elderly woman in a crumbling great house in order to create her memoirs.

The atmosphere is very well captured - pathetic fallacy in all its glory. Ellen encounters many odd occurrences as she navigates to and around the physical house, Elver, and in and around the life of her subject, Catherine Carey and the author keeps us on edge and maintains that Gothic chill throughout, very well done.

There's a whole thread that I didn't get where Ellen is recounting her dwindling relationship with a close friend due to that friend's marriage and motherhood. Maybe it ties in with the theme of isolation? Or motherhood since the relationship between Catherine Carey and her mother is examined? In any case, I didn't think it added too much to the overall story.

'The Homecoming' by Zoë Apostolides messed up with my mind like no other book. I've read several haunting tales before but never have I been so startled by the discovery of the fulcrum of the narrative. Almost 80% of the story went on in such a lumbering sort of way that on several occasions I wished things would speed up a little. But now on retrospection, I see what a brilliant tactic it was on the part of the author to ultimately thrust you into the tumbling gyre of secrets and mystery once the layers around them started unraveling.

Ellen is a ghost-writer who has been sent to Elver House to record the past memories of Catherine Carey and ultimately write a memoir on her behalf. When she arrives on the estate, everything is a haze and honestly, I'd run for my life on the very first walk to the manor if I was her. But then I guess that's why I'm not the protagonist of the novel and she is.

Initially I wanted to know so much more, to see more, but towards the end I sort of leaned into the acceptance and understanding that this is exactly how life is. Not every secret is unearthed, not every question in answered. There're things beyond our comprehension that are as much a part of this world as us, and the only thing we can do is lay a hand gently on their presence, and keep living alongside them.

The novel is about a lot of things, but mostly it's about how hauntingly tender memories and love can be. It's about spindly, liberating, intertwining female friendships that span generations, and the loneliness that can grip you both at the centre of a hustling and bustling city and a deserted, dilapidated manor house. It's about eels and hunger and freedom, and the obfuscation and associated vulnerability that comes with age, especially in the case of women. But mostly it's about learning to care about the humans that we come in contact with, even when our stays in their life's journey might be only for a moment or so.

In the end we all become stories, and may be we write because every story deserves to be heard. I genuinely wish I could give a tight hug to Catherine.

Ellen’s had many assignments before as a ghost writer, but none as strange as Elver House. She arrives amidst a storm, locals reluctant to speak of the house and its caretaker, Catherine Carey. The house itself is beautiful, in a sort of ramshackle way, fallen to disrepair over the years as its caretaker has grown older. As Ellen conducts her interviews of Miss Carey, her life, and the house, she gets more involved than she expects.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one when I started reading it. It has a bit of a lot of things in it: part memoir (on behalf of Miss Carey), part mystery, and a dive into women’s roles in society. I figured out the plot line pretty early on, and spent the majority of the book waiting for Ellen to catch up to me. It is a slow burn, but wraps up pretty neatly by the end.

Recommended if you like: slow burn mysteries, ghost stories

A slow burn gothic setting in the style of M. Night Shyamalan. The setting is claustrophobic, forbidding, with an ever growing sense of wrongness. I mistakenly believed that the pace of this book was slow, only to realize that the plot was coiling around me the entire time.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC, this is one I will be thinking about for a while.