The Uninvited

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In between the house talk and the ghost talk there were allusions to their Irish home and it was clear that their roots and their history were important to them. There are several points to my story. First of all, it allowed me to give you a taste of what you can expect from "The Uninvited" without spoiling any plot. If you liked hearing about my own ghost, then this book is definitely for you. It is the template for grounded, slow-burn haunted house stories. I would like to add that Macardle's novel is a lot more than just a ghost story. She was an ardent Republican feminist who was appalled at the codification of the domestic role of women in the 1937 Irish Constitution. Therefore, it is no surprise that the main character Pamela breaks from these stereotypes. But most of all, the ghost story itself cleverly is about how a family that has literally deified a dead woman, who in life was idealized as a virtuous example of domestic martyrdom to a toxic marriage. I can't say more without spoilers, but I assure you Macardle's criticism is excellently expressed in the theme of this entertaining story without being preachy at all. I had an idea of how the mystery would pay out at an early stage, but that didn't spoil the story. It was an utterly believable human tragedy, and I could understood how and why it had happened. And I was caught up with Roddy and Pamela as they struggled to work out what had happened and what they could, what they should, do.

The plot was was well thought out, it drew in a lovely range of people and incidents, and it had things to say. This story of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstance speaks of the importance of home, of the roles that mothers can play, and of the consequences of their absence. They know that something happened in that house. They suspect that it involves Stella, the granddaughter of the man who reluctantly sold them the house, because she is drawn to them and to that room. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that inspired me to stay up later than intended to read just one more chapter; certainly one of my favorite reading discoveries this year. But the big take-away is that whether or not the Fournier manor was really haunted, you can see how our modern ghost stories are an allegory for true real estate nightmares. There is a real tragic horror behind a devastating end to the thrill and excitement of finally living the dream and owning your own home. There are very real practical and psychological issues that are involved when a home no longer feels like a home but an enemy. "The Uninvited" captures this horror perfectly, and I can say so from experience. Such a classic of the supernatural. I first read this book when it was referenced by a character in another ghost story I enjoyed. One of those winding paths that leads you unexpectedly to a new favorite on your bookshelf.

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When the republican movement split in 1921-22 over the Anglo-Irish Treaty, MacArdle sided with Éamon de Valera and the anti-Treaty Irregulars. She was imprisoned by the fledgling Free State government in 1922, during the Civil War, and served time in both Mountjoy and Kilmainham Gaols.

They find the owner, an elderly man with a granddaughter just out of boarding school. He seems reluctant to sell the house, and reluctant to explain why, but Roddy is persuasive. Again, this is pretty much how things go for Roddy and Pamela at first, only Dorothy Macardle sets the stage for this ghost story much less efficiently than I just did. This is where some readers might lose patience, as things do get off to a very slow start. Steff was pregnant with our daughter, but we didn't have any kids in the house. Needless to say, this freaked us both out, and we did some research on the house. The original tenant was a single mother and a kept woman of a wealthy pioneer explorer. Her daughter died in the house at 11-years-old of tuberculosis. We told our story to the lady who sold us the place, who admitted that she and her guests had also seen the little girl when living in that house, assuring us that she was sweet and harmless.

They find the house of their dreams. It stood alone not far from the edge of a cliff, it was uninhabited and it appeared to have been neglected for quite some time, but they saw its potential. And they saw a “for sale” sign. During a housewarming party, a friend of Roddy and Pamela’s is profoundly disturbed by something she sees in the mirror of the spare bedroom. Roddy spends the next night in that spare bedroom, and finds himself overcome by fear and foreboding. And then, when Roddy and Pamela away from the house, Lizzie is terrified by something that she sees emerging from that room, something that she can not find the words to explain.

The essential mystery of the reason for the haunting is easily solved but the ending still does not disappoint. Will Pamela and Roddy be forced to flee their dream home or can they solve a mystery to put an angry presence to rest? I gently redirected Steff, assuring her she had not been fully awake and maybe was having a waking dream. But then several months later, we were sitting in the front parlor and, from up the same stairs, we both clearly heard a little girl call out, "Mommy?" I've had this older hardcopy edition of The Uninvited for several years. I remember finding it at a used bookstore in Maryland and bought it solely because I remembered enjoying the 1944 movie version starring Ray Milland and Gail Russell.Dorothy Macardle was born in Dundalk, Ireland in 1889 into a wealthy brewing family, famous for their Macardle's Ale, and was raised Roman Catholic. She received her secondary education in Alexandra College, Dublin – a school under the management of the Church of Ireland – and later attended University College, Dublin. Upon graduating, she returned to teach English at Alexandra. Roddy and Pamela are full of ideas for refurbishing the house and making it into a home; and they dismiss local gossip that says that the house is haunted, and that terrified tenants had fled. They saw nothing amiss. They invite an old family retainer, Lizzie, to become their housekeeper; they enjoy the simple pleasures of life in the country; and they make plans to invite friends to stay. But once the hauntings start going into full swing, then the novel becomes hard to put down. Pamela, like Steff, is the first to experience strange phenomena, and Roddy, like me, placates her at first, until things start getting out of hand that no one can ignore.