This book was very unique, but alas not the book for me. Very odd, very short, and I just didn't get it. Maybe those who like fantasy or possibly horror would enjoy it more than I did.

'The Children's Home' by Charles Lambert is a moody book about a disfigured recluse and the people who enter his life.

Morgan Fletcher lives in a sprawling estate. We aren't told where or when. There are clues that it may not be on our world at all. The artifacts in his home are strange, like the wax figure of a pregnamt woman with a hinged womb containing a baby. When a couple children show up, Morgan takes them in. Then more and more start appearing. Morgan and the town physician, Dr. Crane, set out to try to figure out where these mysterious children seem to be coming from.

I liked this atmospheric tale, and I really liked the prose. For those looking for a specific story arc, this may be a disappointment. Morgan is more of an observer than a protagonist, and the ending left me with more questions than answers.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Scribner, Gallic Books, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Net Galley did not give readers a feedback ratio when I first requested this novel. However, now publishers are looking at that in determining whether or not to provide a digital ARC, so I am having to go back and fill these out for titles requested more than two years ago.

Awesome storyline with descriptive prose that grabs you and doesn’t let go. I would love to read more from this author.

A Dreamy, Unnerving "Ghost-like" Story

It's a little bit "Turn of the Screw", and a little bit "Schindler's List", spiced with a touch of Kafka and a hint of "Children of the Corn".

What price does one pay for ignoring the rest of the world, concerned only with one's own problems and grievances, and unwilling to question the immoral or appalling foundation of one's own security? When adults will not engage with the world and leave innocents to suffer, who, exactly, is the child? These are the sorts of questions that arise as one reads this dreamy and unnerving morality tale.

If you enjoy toying with such ideas as you fall under the spell of a story, or if you just appeciate a writer who tries to ask such questions between the lines, then this is a book you might find appealing.

The book is frankly surreal, tense, and intentionally ambiguous. Filled with oblique confrontations and unsettling revelations, (and, to be honest, the occassional bit of overreaching), this story unfolds like a dream, or possibly a nightmare. Some of the images are arresting, and some are, (again to be perfectly honest), a bit precious, but the overall effect is just the sort of unsettling thoughtful suggestive bizarro-gothic that the blurbs and commentary promise.

This is not genre specific and it's practically uncategorizeable, but it is, in every sense, haunting. It is also stylish and sometimes illuminated by a very dark humor and, oddly enough, a generous and forgiving spirit. When you finish the final page it will feel as though a small guttering candle in the dark has been put out. And you will, perhaps, sit quietly for a moment and think about what you have just read.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)