the last house on needless street synopsis

Her research took two years, she interviewed people living with the condition, and the back of the book includes a bibliography listing 38 sources. To her infinite credit, Catriona Ward has taken seriously her responsibility to do justice to a condition that is suffered by a great many deeply traumatized people and present it in a way that is compassionate and, despite the horrors that unfold in the story, hopeful. It’s a form of mental illness that is still not well understood, but has been featured so often as a device in horror stories and thrillers that it’s more or less become cliche. And for any reader who still might be slow on the uptake, later on in the book Ward actually has her characters straight up tell us, “Gosh, we’re just like those Russian nesting dolls!” When Olivia talks about how much she hates the creepy Russian nesting dolls that sit on the mantlepiece, it’s almost like a Symbolism Siren goes off. It doesn’t help that Ward has a tendency to be very ham-fisted with her symbolism. I won’t drop a massive spoiler and say what Ted’s condition is, but it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out unless you yourself have been living in a boarded-up house all your life. Ted also has a daughter, a little girl named Lauren, who shows up at odd times for a visit before she has to “go away.” Are you starting to get the picture yet?

His only companion is a cat named Olivia, who has her own chapters in which she is the first-person viewpoint narrator, suggesting that Olivia is either a very special cat indeed or maybe not a cat at all. It’s evident from the opening chapter that something is very very wrong with Ted Bannerman, who lives in a decrepit old house with all of its windows boarded up, on a cul-de-sac bordering a forest and nearby lake.

It’s the tragic and often heart-wrenching story of a man living with a profound mental illness, and how this illness forces him to navigate his life. Share book reviews and ratings with Thomas, and even join a book club on Goodreads.Ĭatriona Ward’s The Last House on Needless Street arrived in 2021 riding a wave of pre-release hype the likes of which I don’t think I’ve seen since Justin Cronin released The Passage ten years ago. Book cover artwork is copyrighted by its respective artist and/or publisher. All reviews and site design © by Thomas M.

The last house on needless street synopsis