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Hemmet

Mats Strandberg (Goodreads Author)

3.63 · Rating details · 1,618 ratings · 214 reviews

Välkommen till Hemmet. En kuslig berättelse om kärlek, vänskap och den största skräcken av alla: att förlora kontrollen över sig själv.

Joel är tillbaka i småstaden där han växte upp. Han har tvingats bli förälder till sin mamma Monika, som nu ska flytta in på demensboendet Tallskuggan.

På hemmet jobbar Joels barndomsvän Nina. De har inte pratat med varandra sedan tonårens s ...more

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Hardcover, 342 pages

Published May 11th 2017 by Norstedts (first published 2017)

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Sep 21, 2020 Louise Wilson rated it liked it · review of another edition

Joel and Nina haven't spoken in twenty years. They had once been inseparable.

Joel's mother has dementia and he had to return to his hometown to care for her. Monika needs specialist care which means Joel will have to take her to Pineshade Nursing Home where Nina works. Monica's health quickly deteriorated. She has terrifying outbursts, she's violent and she shouts out things she couldn't possibly know. Nina and Joel know Monika well ento see the signs; only by working together they can try and ...more

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Oct 27, 2020 The Tattooed Book Geek (Drew). rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Twenty years ago an eighteen-years-old Joel left the small village of Lyckered to try and make it as a musician in Stockholm, now aged thirty-eight he has returned. A few years ago his mother, Monika suffered a heart attack where she died and had to be resuscitated. The heart attack brought on dementia that now plagues her, orchestrating Joel’s return to his childhood home where he moved back to become her guardian.

Joel has an older brother, Bjorn who is largely absent with his own family, job a Twenty years ago an eighteen-years-old Joel left the small village of Lyckered to try and make it as a musician in Stockholm, now aged thirty-eight he has returned. A few years ago his mother, Monika suffered a heart attack where she died and had to be resuscitated. The heart attack brought on dementia that now plagues her, orchestrating Joel’s return to his childhood home where he moved back to become her guardian.

Joel has an older brother, Bjorn who is largely absent with his own family, job and responsibilities, leaving caring for Monika completely up to Joel. Dementia has gradually overtaken Monika, a slow decline that has recently gotten far worse and Joel can no longer provide the care that Monika needs. Monika has moments of clarity, lucidity where she is able to break through and resurface, but they are few and far between and she is lost beneath the surface, drowning in the depths in a sea of forgetfulness. The light has faded from her eyes and she is living in the past and not the present. Monika needs round the clock and specialist care and, when a room becomes available at Pineshade, a care facility in the nearby town of Skredsby, Joel, as her guardian decides that it is the best option for his mother.

Monika doesn’t take to living in Pineshade and her condition rapidly deteriorates. It is like she is withering away, being poisoned and eaten from the inside. Monika seems to become a different person, the abrupt mood swings, hallucinations, spiteful words, changes in personality and violent episodes are all traits of dementia, but is it just the natural effects of the devastating illness taking its toll? Or, is there something more? Something malign and sinister that is happening to her? A malevolent presence that has taken hold and is influencing her? One thing that can’t be explained by the dementia is that Monika knows things that she couldn’t possibly know, the hidden and painful secrets that people keep locked away, and the truths that they wouldn’t tell themselves, that they would only admit in the deepest, darkest depths of their minds.

Joel has to face the constant guilt that he feels for putting Monika in Pineshade, knowing that it is the best thing for her, but hating himself for it. They never really knew each other, as a child he was an outsider, she was a closed person, there was always a divide between them. Joel’s former childhood best friend Nina works at Pineshade which makes things even harder from him. There is a history, a traumatic history between the pair that they have to face in The Home, looking at themselves in the mirror and confronting their past. For Joel, he will have to look at his regrets, his failings and he will come to realise the truth that though you may blame others, often, you are the one to blame for your own failings. They haven’t spoken in twenty years blaming each other for their hopes and dreams going up in flames. Seeing Nina is hard for Joel and it brings the past all back for him. The decay of their friendship, once inseparable, their partnership, they didn’t drift apart, they severed. Joel’s return for Nina is an unwanted surprise too, she never expected to see him again, never wanted too. His return brings back memories that she has suppressed from a part of her life where she was a different Nina and a different person. For them both it is the reopening of a wound that has festered and has never fully healed.

Joel and Nina were from different worlds, but they got on and connected over a love of music. There was nothing romantic between them, Joel isn’t interested in women and they formed an alternative music duo. They were good and after some gigs, a demo followed and, eventually, they received an offer for a record contract. The day it all fell to pieces was the day that they were due to go to Stockholm and sign the record deal. Joel was self-destructive, an addict who was deep into drink and drugs, Nina wasn’t and on the morning that they were due to leave to pursue their dreams, she chose a suburban life, turned and walked away from the chance of fame and fortune. Joel went on his own, tried and failed. They were better together than apart, the record company didn’t want a solo artist, they wanted the duo and Joel didn’t make it. Since then he has spent his troubled life drifting around from job to job, struggling to get by and keep steady employment as the drugs took hold of him. Finally, he managed to get clean, and he is now a recovering junkie who has on the road to recovery for over six years.

Nina has a history with Monika too. Since Joel left, Nina has avoided Monika, but when they were younger Nina spent a lot of time at Joel’s house and Monika was like a mother to her. In place of her own mother who was an alcoholic with a bottle in hand rather than caring for her daughter, Monika was the mother that Nina always wanted which makes it hard for Nina to see Monika and the husk that she has become in Pineshade.

The Home is told in the third-person with alternating chapters from Joel and Nina with occasional chapters that focus on the residents of D Ward and the happenings at the care home, titled ‘Pineshade’. For the first half of The Home, Strandberg slowly lets the tension build, foreshadowing, getting beneath your skin, unnerving and saturating the story with an ominous undertone of a menacing presence lingering, but just out of sight. He takes his time establishing the characters of Joel and Nina, attempting to settle Monika into Pineshade and getting to know her fellow residents on D Ward (Bodil, Petrus, Lillemor, Edit, Anna, Wiborg and the sister’s Dagmar and Vera). There are glimpses, portents, small things occurring in Pineshade, of gathering darkness, of something not right and the creeping unease of something unnatural. However, many of the occurrences are deceptively devious and are things that could be put down to the distorted reality that, to some degree, all the residents suffer from and that the Pineshade staff see on a daily basis. In the second half, things take a darker turn, the shadows lengthen and the shroud falls, covering the story in the cold and spine-chilling caress of the supernatural as what started as hints at something threatening and evil comes to the fore.

Along with the story of supernatural evil and possession in The Home, there is another element, a layer to be found that is surprisingly moving, thought-provoking and touching. The elderly residents of Pineshade who have forgotten most of who they were, what made them, them and their lives. Some are stuck in an endless loop repeating, others stuck in an in-between place somewhere between the past and the present, but that is neither and is a fantasy, a time of their own making. While others are stuck entirely in the past, believing that they are far younger, that loved ones, parents, relatives, children are all still alive when, in truth, they are long gone. Some have moments of clarity where they awaken, realise the truth and then, in an instant, gone, back to their current state, but the moment is long enough to torture them for the fleeting seconds where they are whole once more before dementia once again takes hold. The residents are all fragile shells of their former selves, some with only the deepest memories, remnants of their former life that still remain, those memories that have been etched deep into their soul and are the last to fade. Even though they are only characters in a book and names on a page my heart went out to the residents of D Ward. Honestly, I couldn’t help but be moved by the heartbreaking depiction of dementia and the anguish and grief that it causes both the sufferers and their family members.

There is nothing exaggerated, no theatrics or anything that can be classed as outrageous and ‘over the top‘ that tries to scare you with shock tactics and then, inevitably fails in The Home. Instead, what you get is an atmospheric and disturbing story that is suffused with a whispering dread that unfolds in a grounded and believable way and is all the more terrifying for it. ...more

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Dec 06, 2020 The Coycaterpillar Reads rated it really liked it

The Home is a spectacular tale of mistakes, families and forgiveness. Nina and Joel haven’t seen each other in twenty years. Mistakes were made, and both blame the other for both their approach to life and what it become. This is a story that will have your heart aching and palpitating in equal measure. At points, it’s not healthy for the readers continuation of life – my favourite type of read!

This one hit home especially hard after having a career in nursing the elderly specialising in neurol The Home is a spectacular tale of mistakes, families and forgiveness. Nina and Joel haven’t seen each other in twenty years. Mistakes were made, and both blame the other for both their approach to life and what it become. This is a story that will have your heart aching and palpitating in equal measure. At points, it’s not healthy for the readers continuation of life – my favourite type of read!

This one hit home especially hard after having a career in nursing the elderly specialising in neurological disorders. Strandberg’s research was spot on and took me back in time to various nightshifts. It was a story I could fall back in time with.

Joel has returned to a small town in Sweden after trying to make it as a musician in Stockholm. His mother, Monika, has recently suffered a heart attack that resulted in her dying and having her heart restarted. She was alive, but her brain was starved of oxygen longer than anticipated, she now has dementia that is worsening at an alarming rate. He’s home but struggling to manage her care as her guardian. He makes the painful decision to transfer her care to Pineshade, a care home with a dubious rep.

The Home is great at giving us accurate intricates of the pressures and stresses of being a parental carer. We are introduced to Bjorn, Joel’s older brother who is wrapped up work, holidays and his own family obligations and doesn’t find the time to support his brother until much later in the storyline. Joel has had a difficult life to say the least, his brother not withstanding hasn’t helped to make him feel included. He’s had problems with drugs and struggled with his sexuality and coming back to Lyckered has exasperated it all over again.

The Home is a more complex story than just Joel caring for his mum. His anxieties play a major part nothing in this story is plain black vs white. The characters are multi-layered, and you need to strip back the layers of these characters to discover just how grey and unattached they are.

One thing that I absolutely loved about The Home is how Strandberg used the thinly veiled threat of mental illness to distract the reader, you don’t see the horror walking in in plain sight before it’s too late. Be prepared to doubt the things you are reading and seeing. This is a story that at its heart is about putting the past to rest.

Monika doesn’t take to living in Pineshade and during her moments of lucidity seems very worried, the other residents reflecting those worries. Is Monika’s new episodes and rapidly changing behaviour something to worry about or is it just the manifestation of dementia? Is the fact that staff members leaving and residents dying a mere coincidence or is something altogether malignant and sinister happening to Monika?

The Home is an intense and claustrophobic horror. The author excels at humanity and horror, a creeping sense of unease will have you addicted and wanting more. ...more

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Aug 11, 2020 Rachel Bridgeman rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: august-20

This is a novel of horror and suspense which is very much rooted in reality and the way we, as a society, treat our elders.
The source of the creeping dead is centred in a residential/nursing home for older people, where the narration is split between Joel-a failed singer who missed his big chance to get out of his home town-Nina-one of the nurses who works in the care home he places his mother in-and the residents.
As Joel faces the reality that his mother is no longer safe to be left to live alo This is a novel of horror and suspense which is very much rooted in reality and the way we, as a society, treat our elders.
The source of the creeping dead is centred in a residential/nursing home for older people, where the narration is split between Joel-a failed singer who missed his big chance to get out of his home town-Nina-one of the nurses who works in the care home he places his mother in-and the residents.
As Joel faces the reality that his mother is no longer safe to be left to live alone, he reluctantly admits her to Pineshade Home. At this time he has no idea that Nina, a girl he grew up with, works there and their shared history is about to collide.
The home is like any you could name, the location setting in Sweden aside, it has applications that can apply to anywhere a reader is. It has so much that I can identify with and affirm as a nurse who mainly deals with older patients. The lack of enough staff, the constant covering of shifts and juggling the needs of patients and family is often a tricky one, and the guilt that Joel feels is palpable.
Contrasted with this is Nina, who has worked so hard to get her nursing degree and no finds herself in a job which is demanding, gruelling and a million miles away from the future she imagned for herself.
Played against these lost lives, imagined futures and regrest, are the older residents of Pineshade who are noticing that it's not all ok in their home...there are subtle mentions of people who have just moved in-but no one had seen-faces and things happening that are written off as delusions.
And here is the horror , people who are no longer usueful to society, ostracized and contained away from it, forgetting who they are as their families mourn the living death of a person who at once is so familiar and yet so foreign.
There is a darkness to the home, it's subtle and builds slowly, this is not an out and out horror novel, it is a steady exploration of the care system, a lament at the futility of ageing and I really, really enjoyed the slow burn.
The perspectives and characters are built up in layers, the staff at the home and the residents are well realised and fully formed, the details are atmospheric and it's just a great, mindful horror novel that finds the dark spaces in the everyday existence of the common person, then exposes them to the reader.
I look forward to what Mats does next immensely. ...more

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May 26, 2020 Life in books Ric rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is my first time reading Mats Strandberg, and wow! What an introduction!

The protagonist, Joel, returns to his home town after many years away to help his Mother, Monika move into a care home as her dementia worsens.

Monika’s health quickly deteriorates once in her new home - Pineshade, but is it her illness natural course or is something more sinister afoot?!

If you enjoy stories of family heartbreak, friendship, love and loss with a whole heap of eerie - this is the book for you.

I loved it! ...more

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Aug 28, 2018 Martin DH rated it really liked it

Really good horror fiction. It reminds me of the japanese style of building an earie story with a lot of atmosphere and a sense of creeping horror. You can also see that the author have done a very thorough research on how it is to work at a hospice/elderly home and how demented patients behave and that made the book feel authentic and...well...creepy.

Anyone who would like to read a great horror story without much jump scares, this is the book for you.

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May 07, 2020 Tabatha Stirling rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

If this book were corporeal I'd be writing it poetry & proposing in Highgate cemetery.

I challenge you to read this in more than 2 sittings because I guarantee it will be impossible. An absolute blinder of a thriller. Dark, juicy, menacing with a poetic narrative that is unusual in commercial books. Strandberg details the heartbreak of a retirement home but uniquely manages to humanise dementia & the experiences of family and the sufferer. I think the author must have some experience with this s ...more

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Aug 27, 2020 peggy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The first book I have read by this author and it literally blew me away. Atmospheric, gripping and heartbraking all in equal measures. The story is mostly set in a Nursing Home and shows the real human side of the devastating and debilitating disease that is Dementia. How the patients deal with it. How it affects their families and loved ones and the care givers who care for them. If that isn't enough you also have something dark and malevolent lurking just out of reach. This book was not what I ...more

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Apr 27, 2020 Rebecca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

If you know me at all, then you'll know that alongside my love of cosy, romantic fiction, I also hold a special place in my heart for horror. Anything to do with spirits, hauntings, demons, poltergeists, possessions... I am there for it. That's not to say that I'm not a massive wimp though, because believe me when I say that I absolutely am, yet I still delight in scaring myself witless and reading books like this well into the early hours of the morning, in the darkness of my room. I'll push my If you know me at all, then you'll know that alongside my love of cosy, romantic fiction, I also hold a special place in my heart for horror. Anything to do with spirits, hauntings, demons, poltergeists, possessions... I am there for it. That's not to say that I'm not a massive wimp though, because believe me when I say that I absolutely am, yet I still delight in scaring myself witless and reading books like this well into the early hours of the morning, in the darkness of my room. I'll push myself on until the fear really becomes unbearable, and only then will I give in and turn off my Kindle.
So, when I stumbled upon 'The Home' by Mats Strandberg, I couldn't help but to click the 'request' button on NetGalley, and I was delighted when I received an email not long afterwards informing me that I had been accepted. I started the novel pretty much immediately. I could not wait to see what Mats Strandberg had in store for me. After a swift read of the blurb, and a glance at the eerie cover image, I had a feeling it was going to be right up my street. Now that I've finished reading it, I'm pleased to inform you all that I was right.
Strandberg begins his novel with a rather emotionally striking opening chapter. It is here that readers are introduced to Joel, a troubled man with a dark and secretive past, who is currently in the difficult situation of moving his dear mother, Monika, to a nursing home for patients at differing stages of dementia. As the chapter picks up pace, we begin to learn of the troubles Noel has faced with trying to keep his mother safe in her own home. It becomes obvious that Monika is struggling to take care of herself, and her ability to continue with her life as normal is no longer an option. Putting herself at risk daily is more than enough to encourage Noel to make the decision to take his mother to Pineshade, a facility where other people like her reside, and although it's not an easy decision for Noel to make, he knows that it is for the best, and that his mother will be cared for in a more appropriate, structured way.
Once Monika is settled within Pineshade, the novel really takes a hold of the reader and begins to take the pace up a notch. It is here where Nina is then introduced to the reader, who we find out is an old friend of Joel's, and who will also be caring for Monika during her stay in the nursing home. As the story begins to take shape, and we begin to see the links forming between the characters, something darker comes into play, and suddenly, this novel becomes something else entirely.
Mats Strandberg is an author entirely new to me, but after reading 'The Home', I'm certain that this is an author who I'll be keeping an eye on in the future. Although I love to read horror, it's not my most-read genre, so I don't have a lot of authors I can turn to when I fancy something a lot darker and more chilling, but now I can safely add Mats Strandberg to that list because this was such an enjoyable, addictive, unique and chilling novel, I already want more from this author.
Strandberg is excellent at creating an atmosphere that draws you in and holds you prisoner. There were numerous moments throughout this book where I felt like I could hardly breathe, the tension palpable, the mood heavy and suffocating. It was perfect, I felt, for the goings-on between the pages, and the author couldn't have managed to get the balance of it anymore perfect. The eeriness was almost too much to handle at certain points throughout the novel. There were chapters where the characters did things that sent a chill down my spine, and I had to quickly busy myself with something to shake away the image that Strandberg had planted in my mind.
The plot itself was of a mysterious nature. I couldn't quite tell in which direction I would be taken, although I was more than happy to sit back and allow the author to lead the way. I was always eager to know what would happen next, and I found myself looking forward to each forthcoming chapter titled 'Pineshade', possibly more so than the others, as this is where my nerves truly trembled and where my interest always piqued.
'The Home' by Mats Strandberg was a strange and satisfyingly creepy novel which unravelled in the most unique of settings. This story dug right beneath my skin and remained there long after I turned the final page. I'm certain that the characters from within will be the one thing that returns to my mind each time I turn the lights out.
The Book Babe is giving 'The Home' by Mats Strandberg a rating of four out of five. I'd like to thank Jo Fletcher Books (Quercus Books) for the advanced reading copy of this book, that of which has no reflection on my giving a fair and honest review. ...more

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Aug 03, 2020 Rebecka O'Malley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fanciful-reviews, 2020-reading-challenge, arcs

Thank you to Netgalley and Quercus Books for providing a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!!!

"The tiniest loose end could unravel the whole world. The tiniest crack could grow into a chasm."

Joel's mother, Monika, has developed dementia, and must be admitted to Pineshade, an aged care facility for dementia sufferers. When she arrives, it becomes clear to Joel and Nina, his one time best friend, who works there, that something isn't right, and perhaps there is something more t ...more

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Feb 19, 2018 Elin Nilsson rated it it was ok

Shelves: in-swedish, horror, 2018

The second horror book by the author hailed as a Swedish Stephen King... This time the nature of the threat was left ambiguous way longer, which was better in a way, but it was also left ambiguous and unknown to the characters for most of the book which made it seem like they either didn't care or were chasing question marks. While his other book was extremely obvious this one was just flat. I'm just happy it was short. The only thing I really enjoyed with this book was the subtle hint that this ...more

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Oct 27, 2020 Manab J Kalita rated it really liked it

Dementia has never been an easy topic for me. I hate the thought at how a person loses everything that once defined their identity.
Even though that is not the main point of the story, the disease itself sets the platform for a sad and horrific tale.
The story is a bit slow in its first half’ slow; mind you, not at all was boring. In fact the slow start gives it the perfect aura of a haunted tale. The story shifts between past and present from the perspectives of both Joel and Nina and once in a ...more

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Apr 18, 2020 Ana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, netgalley-to-read

https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2020/0...

It's been a while since I read a horror novel, I missed it. And this one did not disappoint.

First of all, it was very refreshing to read a novel taking place in Sweden. I actually didn't know that beforehand and it was a pleasant surprise.

Our main character Joel is a flawed 38-year-old man who has many regrets. Being back home, seeing his mother in that state, and having to commit her while his brother completely brushes off any responsibility is bad enoug ...more

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Apr 29, 2018 Michael rated it liked it

I definitely enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as 'Färjan/Blood Cruise' (The English title is awful). The build-up was too subtle and too slow given the length of the book, and it lacked a sense of threat to drive the narrative forwards. I think the novel might have benefited from having Monika as a POV as well as Joel and Nina. It was still head and shoulders above other Nordic horror I've read (although admittedly I've not read too much) and the ending was more satisfying than most horror nov ...more

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Jul 03, 2017 Booksofdoom rated it really liked it

I had some expectations for The Home (Hemmet), because the previous book from Mats Strandberg, Blood cruise, was really really good. But, like all cautious and conscious constant readers, I made sure I stayed reasonable.
☄️
I hope that some characters, both from Blood cruise and from The Home might make guest appearances in Strandberg's future books. I really want to meet them again. If they're not dead. Or, maybe even if they are.
☄️
Find the whole review at booksofdoom on instagram:
https://www.ins ...more

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Jul 12, 2017 meandermind rated it liked it

Shelves: läsecirkel, horror

As with his previous horror book, you kinda didn't need the supernatural elements. An old folks' home is such a creepy environment that the ghost thing is almost a relief - thank God it's not just dementia!

Strandberg is a master of conveying believable characters, you really _understand_ Joel and Nina, where they come from, what they want and so on. That is really the authors most excellent strength, and if he only wrote dramas without the horror/supernatural elements I would have missed this e ...more

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Sep 03, 2019 Keeloca rated it liked it

Read for work.

I was initially disgusted by this book: it is REALLY not shy about the bodily horrors of growing old, and in combination with the hopelessness and misery of all the characters... NOT my cuppa.

But then it's like Strandberg can't help but develop all the characters, and I actually get somewhat interested in their arcs, if not in the horror story. (Just not my genre.) Gorana is my favourite. Potentially the only sane one.

The ending is predictable, but that's fine, I wasn't here for ...more

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Jul 02, 2018 Emilie rated it liked it

I enjoy the beginning the most when you do not know what is going on. There are many clever details from reality worked into the book that highten the level of creepiness. The book also has a high pace with short chapters which makes it a quick and fun read.

For me the passage into the stage where people have realized that something is going on came too soon. I would have been more freaked out if the book left you with an uncertain feeling: is something spooky going on or not?

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Jan 23, 2018 Jesper Mikkelsen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Although I read a lot of horror fiction, its quite seldom I find anything that truly scares me anymore. But Mats Strandbergs new novel managed to run some icecold fingers up and down my spine!
Sweden rocks, especially when it comes to chilling literature!!

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Apr 11, 2019 Helena rated it liked it · review of another edition

This book is gripping - the story proceeds at a good pace and the characters are interesting. This was an interesting and entertaining read, but it wasn't really special - good for a bit of light (though quite creepy) reading. ...more

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Jun 18, 2019 SwedishGeekGirl rated it really liked it

Shelves: wishlist

I finished this book in two sittings xd I could not put it down!
Hemmet (the home) is a really good suspense novel but not as scary as I would have liked ;) guess Im sutch a tough cookie XD

This book get a 8/10.

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May 30, 2017 Carolina Edvinsson rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2017, recensionsexemplar

My review in swedish ---> Romeoandjuliet
...more

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Jun 04, 2017 Kirsikka71 rated it really liked it

Scary and creepy, both as far as story and setting goes. I know more than I want to know now about dementia in an old folks home.

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Apr 15, 2018 Ebba H. rated it liked it

Not really into thrillers, but this was indeed a thrilling book. Not too scary.

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Sep 03, 2018 Sara Schultz rated it really liked it

Such an interesting take on possessions - how dementia can look just like it. Creepy and really, really good!

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Nov 11, 2018 Natasha rated it really liked it

Poltergeist. Easy read.

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Aug 31, 2019 Jo rated it liked it · review of another edition

Honestly, I was kinda dissapointed. Maybe my expectation were too high. It wasn't scary, and the ending was so cliche and predictable that it took the rest of the wind out of the book. ...more

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Dec 09, 2020 Sally Boocock rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This has to be one of the creepiest books I've read. Set in a home for people with dementia it tells the story of Monica , whose son Joel has had to place her in the home as he can't cope anymore. However when she arrives all sorts of strange things begin to happen and the ending is brilliant. It's not a home I would like to end up in that's for sure. ...more

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Aug 06, 2020 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 20booksofsummer2020

All of my reviews can be found at https://damppebbles.com/

I chose to read and review an eARC of The Home but that has in no way influenced my review.

The Home is a compelling, immersive piece of quality fiction and it absolutely broke my heart. As a contemporary horror novel it also made me very uneasy and gave me chills. It ticks all the boxes in that respect. But this isn’t a fast-paced thrill ride featuring the same old, same old we’ve all seen time and time again. Oh no. It’s a beautifully wr All of my reviews can be found at https://damppebbles.com/

I chose to read and review an eARC of The Home but that has in no way influenced my review.

The Home is a compelling, immersive piece of quality fiction and it absolutely broke my heart. As a contemporary horror novel it also made me very uneasy and gave me chills. It ticks all the boxes in that respect. But this isn’t a fast-paced thrill ride featuring the same old, same old we’ve all seen time and time again. Oh no. It’s a beautifully written tale featuring some of the most exquisitely drawn characters I’ve had the pleasure to meet in fiction. A very memorable read and one I relished spending time with.

Joel Edlund has made the very difficult decision to put his mother, Monika, in a nursing home specifically for people suffering from dementia. His mother, who lived on her own until a heart attack, has become a danger to herself after the onset of dementia. Joel has his own poor excuse of a life back in Stockholm and he wants to return, leaving his mother in the capable hands of the staff at Pineshade nursing home. But before he leaves he needs to pack up his mother’s house and instruct estate agents to put it on the market. He can’t escape the past as he clears out trinkets and mementoes his mother has kept over the years. Nor when he goes to visit his mother, as his ex-best friend from his teenage years, Nina, works at the home. He hoped he’d never see her again after their friendship broke down so irreparably. But during his strained visits, Joel starts to notice a distinct change in his mother. Her health is worsening, strange things are happening and she’s not the same woman who arrived at the home only a short time ago. Joel isn’t the only one to notice how strangely Monika is behaving. Nina, who used to see Monika as a second mother, is just as concerned. What has happened to make her act in such an odd way? And how does she know the deepest, darkest secrets of the staff at the home…

I always get excited about a book when the characters stand out from the page for me, and this is a wonderful example of some truly beautiful creations. The characters in The Home are everything. They broke my heart, they made me smile and they scared the bejesus out of me. I became completely involved in their day to day lives. So much so, I think I may have fallen a little bit in love with some of the residents of Pineshade. But please don’t get me wrong. This is a dark and frightening tale of losing ourselves and of losing control. Our main characters, Joel and Nina, were also very well-written and I enjoyed seeing them begin to relate to one another again after so much time apart.

This isn’t a thrilling, high-octane read but a slow meander through the very different, but fascinating, lives of a group of interesting people who all end up, for one reason or another, under the same roof. The pace suited the book perfectly and I was more than happy to lose myself for a few hours in Pineshade and Skredsby. The Swedish setting was something a little different and I lapped it up. I’m a fan of translated fiction which meant The Home gained another big tick from me!

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. If you’re considering reading horror fiction for the first time I think The Home would be an excellent place to start. It’s creepy and unsettling, with bucketloads of eerie and I loved it. When I knew where the story was heading (this was quite near the end) I could tell what the final twist was going to be but that didn’t take anything away. I really enjoyed reading The Home and it’s going to stay with me for some time to come. I think I’m still a little bit in love.

I chose to read and review an eARC of The Home. The above review is my own unbiased opinion. ...more

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Jun 13, 2020 Gulnaz rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. The cover drew me in, and the blurb had me hooked. I loved Let the Right One in, an iconic Swedish horror novel, so was intrigued. Unfortunately for me The Home was a tedious, slog of a read.
This is narrated from two characters:
* Joel - 38-years old has moved back home, after failing as a musician, to take care off his mother, Matilde. His mother suffered a heart attack and died for a minute, but she came back from her short death and is stru Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. The cover drew me in, and the blurb had me hooked. I loved Let the Right One in, an iconic Swedish horror novel, so was intrigued. Unfortunately for me The Home was a tedious, slog of a read.
This is narrated from two characters:
* Joel - 38-years old has moved back home, after failing as a musician, to take care off his mother, Matilde. His mother suffered a heart attack and died for a minute, but she came back from her short death and is struggling with her health. Diagnosed with dementia Joel moves her to Pineshade, a residential home for the elderly.
* Nina - also 38-years old works at Pineshade. She’s married to Murkus, and they have a 19-year old son, too. Her life is shaken though when she learns Joel, her old childhood best friend, whom she hadn’t spoken to for decades is back and his mother is moving to Pineshade.
Interspersed with POVs of other employees and residents of Pineshade the story kicks in when Joel and Nina notice Matilde knows other people’s secrets that she has no way of knowing and begins to have ‘episodes’. Could it be that when she died she didn’t come back alone?...

This had an intriguing premise. However, due to stacks of minutiae details regarding every little detail of working in a residential home, and tonnes of references to a resident wetting him or herself, and constantly needing to have their nappies changed, it’s takes literally the first 50% of the story for the plot to really commence, which felt too late. It isn’t until that last 30% that a story actually emerges, but by then I just wasn’t really invested in the characters, and the writing is so slow and on the nose with the writer spoon-feeding the reader until they can’t take anymore 🤢. Less is more in prose. Someone needs to remind the author to trust the reader. This reads likes a first draft. Honestly I’m surprised this managed to get published, when it needed so much editing. The relationship between Joel and Nina has zero tension, also Joel’s character really needed fleshing out. It wasn’t quite clear what he had been doing for the last twenty years. His character had potential - I liked the way he feels regret and guilt later, wishing he had been nicer to his mother and that they had a better relationship. Unfortunately the book is bogged down by tedious writing and showing the minutiae of a residential home, which wasn’t entertaining or illuminating, just dull like a CCTV camera had been placed into this Pineshade and the reader is just waiting for some semblance of a plot, which takes it sweet time appearing. 2/5. ...more

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About Mats Strandberg

Mats Strandberg

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Mats Strandberg is an award-winning novelist and journalist. He is a regular columnist for Sweden's biggest evening newspaper, has been named Columnist of the Year by Sweden's Newspapers and Magazines organization, and had published three previous novels, with rights sold in numerous countries. ...more