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Harrow's Eden is notable for its looming and sinister manor owned by the reclusive Starling family.
And finally, a review
There isn’t a lot to do in a town like Eden, and I didn’t have many friends my own age. It’s generally hoped that both they and their house will fall into a sinkhole and rot at the bottom, neither mourned nor remembered, and—perhaps—release the town from its century-long curse. I should be scared—there are stories about Starling House, the kind people only tell at night, half-whispered under the hum of the porch light—but in the dream I don’t hesitate. Starling House is a gorgeously modern gothic fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January. Reading Group Choices selects discussible books and suggests discussion topics for reading groups. "In my family stories, it's magically scrubbed clean of where wealth came from or who worked the land," Harrow says.
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Opal finds herself increasingly intrigued by Arthur despite his odd ways and off-putting looks. But Gravely Power representative Elizabeth Baine, in hopes of obtaining the mineral rights to Arthur’s land, demands that Opal spy on Arthur and his residence, threatening Jasper’s future if she declines. The trauma of history is a bitter stain on the coal-dusted town of Eden, Kentucky. And while residents of the town may be determined to turn a blind eye, readers will find it impossible to look away.
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Starling Bank's chief marketer: In-housing, fewer reviews by financial brands and how to pick agencies.
Posted: Tue, 27 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
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But sometimes, right before I fall asleep, I see the black shadows of trees rising up the motel walls, though there’s nothing but asphalt and weeds out the window. I feel the hot breath of Beasts around me, and I follow them down, and down, to Underland. Since nobody would tell me the story of Starling House, I made up my own.
How many guests can sleep at Starling Lake House?
Carefully unpacking the institutionalized power dynamics of class and race, Harrow untangles the many mysteries of Starling House, revealing how powerful people and groups will twist the truth until the story suits their purposes. Despite this warning, however, Opal continues to feel drawn to Starling House and eventually takes on the position of housekeeper for the dilapidated property. She quickly learns that Starling House and its owner are just as mysterious as the people of Eden believe, but despite the ominous air of mystery that surrounds the place, Opal starts to feel at home there. Eleanor is also rumored to have killed her husband, John Gravely, and his two brothers. Since her mysterious death, Starling House has been continually inhabited by unique yet unrelated characters whose activities have raised suspicions that cultish elements of witchcraft and Satanism must be present amongst the residents of Eden. Written by Hugo Award–winning author Alix E. Harrow in 2023, Starling House is a Southern Gothic work of speculative fiction about finding a place to call home.
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The dying coal town is the fictional setting of Alix E. Harrow's "Starling House," and the smog of fading power and bad luck is enough to suffocate its residents, most of whom live in abject poverty. In the small town of Eden, Kentucky, rumors and legends surround the supposedly haunted property of Starling House and its enigmatic former residents. With the exception of Opal, the citizens of Eden are also fearful of the Starling land and its current inhabitant, Arthur Starling. Struggling to support herself and her younger brother, Jasper, Opal feels like an outsider in the community and frequently dreams of Starling House. One day, feeling physically drawn to the house, she approaches the gates and meets Arthur, who tells her to run away. The town of Eden blames its bad luck on Eleanor Starling, the mysterious 19th-century author who first owned Starling House.
"I had to learn many things about my own family and about my own home in undergrad and grad school." "There's a line in 'Starling House' that I think sums up everything that I would want to say about the Gothic genre, which is, one girl's pain has been transmuted into generations of beautiful, terrible, unsettling art," Reid says. "That's what Gothic really is to me. It's this almost refuge for people who want to create meaningful and beautiful art from pain." In writing about class, Harrow joins a long tradition of authors writing Gothic fiction as a way to process the ills of society. "I think what I wanted to say about class and poverty is that poverty is a form of violence and horror in and of itself," Harrow says, "and that those experiences do emotional and physical harm." Guests will receive a rental agreement, which must be signed and returned directly to the property prior to arrival.
Starling House (A Reese's Book Club Pick)
If the agreement is not received, the guest should contact the property management company at the number on the booking confirmation. Possibly for the sake of authenticity, Melissa McCarthy (who essays Lilly), was not informed of the sounds the director was going to make, which led to a genuinely surprised reaction from her during the filming of a crucial scene. Melfi also researched the specific bird calls made by starlings so he could mimic them authentically as well. The hilly landscape around Lilly’s home also seems to be from this area, and filming was likely carried out on location in the outskirts of the city. The bird that plays a central role in Lilly’s journey of acceptance and hope is CGI, but to help his actors, the director Theodore Melfi made loud bird calls off-camera during filming. The film, in its entirety, is set in a handful of locations, and filming was likely done on-location (as opposed to a studio) for most of the scenes.
Book excerpt: 'Starling House'
As Eleanor’s own version of events unfolds, the narrative reveals that Eleanor was the daughter of one of the Gravely brothers, all of whom mistreated her. The beasts of the Underland were created from her dreams and would later cause the deaths of the Gravelys. After a few weeks at Starling House, Opal is approached by a woman named Elizabeth who claims to be helping the local power company, Gravely Power, to research unspecified anomalies connected to the house. In response to Elizabeth’s threats against her safety, Opal is coerced into taking pictures and making notes on the house. The big, churning wheels of this lusciously plotted book begin to quickly turn when Opal takes a job cleaning for Starling House’s current owner, a reclusive young man named Arthur Starling.
Proceeding on her conviction that Starling House served as an entrance to the Underland itself, Eleanor tried to fight against these beasts and claimed to be the Warden of Starling House. Arthur declares that he is determined to be the last Warden of Starling House, for he does not want anyone else to have to fight the beasts and risk being killed by them, as his parents were. Opal uncovers many different versions of the same stories about the house and its inhabitants, past and present, and the truth is hard to sort out. “The Gravelys are either victims or villains; Eleanor Starling is either a wicked woman or a desperate girl. Eden is either cursed, or merely getting its comeuppance,” she concludes. The dying coal town is the fictional setting of Alix E. Harrow’s “Starling House,” and the smog of fading power and bad luck is enough to suffocate its residents, most of whom live in abject poverty.
Type in a keyword, phrase, or exact wording and you will be directed to the results. You can also click on “view all books” beneath the search box to run a more advanced search, and to scroll through all of the books in our database. Excellent social commentary unfolds in the matchup between feisty, sarcastic Opal and the greedy power company.
Gothic fantasy author Ava Reid says “Starling House” exemplifies what Gothic fiction can offer people struggling with pain and trauma. I still dream about the Starling place sometimes, but I no longer think it means anything. And even if it did—I’m a high-school dropout with a part-time job at Tractor Supply, bad teeth, and a brother who deserves better than this dead-end bad-luck bullshit town. Reassuring Eleanor that she believes her story, Opal helps Eleanor to reconcile with her past and also does the same for Arthur, who struggles with his own nightmares of the Underland and the deaths of his parents.
I wanted to see where she came from, prove to myself that she was real. I wanted to walk through her secret architecture, run my fingers over her wallpaper, see her curtains flutter in the breeze and believe, for a moment, that it was her ghost. BookPage is a recommendation guide for readers, highlighting the best new books across all genres as chosen by our editors. Starred (★) titles indicate a book that is exceptional in its genre or category. BookPage is editorially independent; any publisher-sponsored content is clearly labeled as such. "This is the first book that I set fully in, like committed to writing about Kentucky," Harrow says.
I don’t linger when I pass by the iron front gates, or look up with my heart riding high in my chest, hoping to catch a glimpse of that lonely amber light that seems to shine from some grander, stranger world, just for me. Everyone agrees that it’s best to ignore the uncanny mansion and its misanthropic heir, Arthur. A new month means its time for some of our favorite things — coats and totes full of the best new young adult books of September 2023. And the pain buried underneath Eleanor's story is at the core of what sickens the whole town.
The film’s production crew also spent a few days in California, where scenes featuring Lilly’s family home were likely filmed. Lensing was undertaken in the city of Calabasas, which is located in the Santa Monica Mountains region of southern California. “Women's anger is something that had to be shoved into horror, or really only had a place in horror and Gothic, because it was naturally antithetical to the way things were supposed to be,” Harrow says. Harrow’s Eden is notable for its looming and sinister manor owned by the reclusive Starling family. I figure dreams are like stray cats, which will go away if I quit feeding them.
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