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Book Review of A Sudden Light

A Sudden Light
A Sudden Light
Author: Garth Stein
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Horror
Book Type: Hardcover
reviewed on + 1438 more book reviews


The Riddell house is a wooden mansion in Seattle
overlooking Seattle's Puget Sound to which Trevor, 14, accompanied his father, Jones. His parents are separated, have no money and plan to sell the place. The two will meet Serena, Trevor's aunt, to move Grandpa Samuel to assisted care and sell the estate.

Constructed from giant trees with attached bark, the house is unforgettable because of its size. Trevor recalls first seeing it the summer of 1990. He was thirteen. Now he explores the estate discovering secrets about the family past, meeting spirits/ghosts, uncovering lies and deception. He learns about those who inhabited the house and an earlier owner who dictated that the estate be returned to forest. Grandpa Samuel agrees. Trevor only wants his family to be whole again.

The stage is set for family drama told through the eyes of the youngest member, Trevor. The characters have wonderfully unique personalities with their own agendas. Trevor has conversations with a ghost and reads old diaries written by Elijah's son, Ben. It's a wonderful well told story by a storyteller who weaves the best of tales.