Book Review: The Residence by Andrew Pyper
Title: The Residence
Author: Andrew Pyper
Release date: September 1st, 2020
“..all that could have been avoided by staying the boy who loved to walk in the woods, rather than the portrait who was chosen to hand in the long hallway of white.”
Back in February of 2020, the e-ARC of Andrew Pyper’s (at that time) novel, The Residence, was made available on Edelweiss. Michael Patrick Hicks alerted me, and I requested it. I didn’t believe I was going to be approved for it, as at that time, I had fifty or so rejections on Edelweiss and essentially stopped using it completely. Netgalley was the site for me! Well, imagine my surprise when I was approved! I dove in, read it in a fever, excited to be devouring my first Andrew Pyper ARC (I could’ve requested one for ‘The Homecoming’ but was a weirdo and decided to await release date like a schmuck!) and devour it I did. I raced through it, loved it and tossed together my thoughts. A few months later – to my utter surprise – Andrew kindly mailed me a physical ARC! When it arrived, I reread the e-ARC, loving it once again.
Since then, The Residence has held an odd spot in my mind. It’s weird because I know everyone out there knows my love of his work, but I think the real world chaos that is the United States political landscape now, essentially dampened my overall love of this book. ‘A book about The White House?! Pfffttt.’ Or something like that.
So it was, that after there was a group read-along of Andrew’s stellar ‘The Guardians,’ I knew that I needed to revisit ‘The Residence.’ Having now completed the second group read-along of Andrew’s work (this is just me trying to figure out new and exciting ways to promote Andrew’s books!) I was stunned at how different I had this book in my head versus what it was I actually read.
What I liked: A Historical Horror novel, ‘The Residence’ follows Franklin and Jane Pierce as they prepare to arrive at The White House, Franklin the new President of the US. Tragedy strikes them on their way, a train derailment with only one casualty – their last living son, Bennie. With that, they go to The White House, both in a fog of grief. Franklin wants to lead the country and the people. Jane simply wants her son back.
It’s from here that Andrew masterfully weaves real-life people and events within the fictional happenings of Bennie ‘returning’ in a deliciously dark form known as Sir. This novel is BLEAK. It feels like once you open the pages the power has gone out and you’re forced to read it by candle light. Time and time again, this mansion that is supposed be the most lavish and cherished house in America feels like it is abandoned and broken down.
Andrew does a great job of filtering in the slave aspect – both with the decision before Franklin of making them free or allowing slavery to continue, but also with how the house itself was built on the backs of slaves and those souls still haunt it. It created an atmosphere where, as the reader, I didn’t want Franklin or Jane to remain in their rooms as the demonic presence stomps and clomps about, but I also didn’t want them to venture to the lower levels, knowing those that haunt the boiler room are awaiting to exact some sort of vengeance.
The ending is fantastic. We get a battle of good versus evil while also seeing how this presence remains behind after they’ve left The White House and could very well be what is known as ‘The Thing’ for years after. Andrew doesn’t hold back, showcasing just how this occurrence has driven a wedge between Franklin and Jane and how they need to work to get back to being with each other and their for each other.
What I didn’t like: Franklin is a hard character to like and to root for. It’s purposeful, especially when you consider his place in history, but it still makes for tough going as a reader when you want to see success and achievement against supernatural odds, but you kind of wouldn’t mind seeing him fail and get decapitated. Of course, in this case, you know that won’t happen – history and all – but it will challenge some readers to push through, especially when Franklin puts his Presidency over his wife at times.
Why you should buy this: I don’t see this novel enough ANYWHERE. This is a phenomenally written haunted house story where we get solid (real) characters, a presence that will chill you to your core and a pacing that will have you wanting to skip work and stay up late to finish. We started out as reading a single chapter a day, which only lasted for a short time before we bumped it to three chapters a day, and even then we still all wanted to race through it.
It showcases the Pierce’s as they try and overcome an obstacle they didn’t expect while dealing with the harshest and most horrible moment in their lives. Grief is a weight that can drown even the strongest of swimmers and in ‘The Residence,’ Andrew shows just why he is one of the only authors out there that can navigate these choppy waters and get our characters back to shore.
I’m so happy I re-read this one again. Just a stellar experience.
5/5
