If you are naturally drawn to the traditional gothic-style novel, or the trope of a mysterious private university hiding a dark secret or two, then Elisabeth Thomas’s debut Catherine House is a book you won’t want to miss! Compared to the likes of Rebecca and The Secret History, but with a decidedly more modern feel, this novel follows Ines Murillo and her cohorts as they navigate the intoxicating world of a prestigious yet secretive university. The public knows Catherine House as an experimental, liberal arts institution which offers its studies free-of-charge to those deemed worthy enough of entry; yet the school also has a dark underbelly, including progressive experimentation that was reportedly shut down years ago. Despite being renowned for churning out some of the most well-known minds in recent history, as the story unfolds it becomes clear that there is more to Catherine House than meets the eye. This shabby, yet charming university is hidden away in the woods for a reason and page by page the layers are slowly peeled back to reveal what lies beneath the house’s crumbling facade.
Ines is a likeable protagonist, burdened as she may be with a past she would like to forget. She stumbles through her days in an all-to-often alcohol-fuelled haze, as she attempts to bury her pain. This isn’t unheard of at Catherine House, however, as speaking of the past is not permitted. Students are given quite a bit of freedom to balance out the school’s unrealistically high expectations. They are also urged to focus on the present and the bright new future Catherine House will help them create. And if they are unable to assimilate with the university’s expectations, they will be assisted in doing so … via a stay at the enigmatic “Restoration Center.”
The novel’s plot is a bit predictable, however this does not detract from the desire Thomas creates in the reader to learn more about Catherine House and its inhabitants. The author shines most brightly in her development of a setting which is simultaneously intriguing and off-putting to the reader, an atmosphere of mystery and intrigue that is strong enough to keep the reader wanting more. Readers may also find it interesting to note that Thomas draws on her own experiences as a Yale graduate (where, yes, she was a member of a fabled secret society!) in creating this tale.
Thomas also adds a new twist to an old genre by incorporating a cast of diverse characters unlike those typically seen in novels described as “gothic.” This is a subject of particular importance to her as she grew up attending a private school herself. One of only a few black students attending this school, what Thomas saw in the class composition did not reflect what she saw in the world around her. Some interesting parallels may be drawn between the residents of Catherine House — largely young people with nowhere else to go, no other options, and therefore considered “outsiders” in a sense — and the way that individuals have historically been treated in the real world around us when considered to be “other” for reasons such as race, gender, or sexual orientation.
Catherine House is a good read for fans of a slow-burn, or a more character-driven novel. And here the most important, the most intriguing, character is the house itself!
Catherine House is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of May 12th 2020. Many thanks to Custom House Books for gifting me this galley! All thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Will you be picking up Catherine House? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A seductive, gothic-infused tale of literary suspense — the debut of a spectacular new voice — about a dangerously curious young undergraduate whose rebelliousness leads her to discover a shocking secret involving an exclusive circle of students . . . and the dark truth beneath her school’s promise of prestige.
You are in the house and the house is in the woods.
You are in the house and the house is in you . . .
Catherine House is a school of higher learning like no other. Hidden deep in the woods of rural Pennsylvania, this crucible of reformist liberal arts study with its experimental curriculum, wildly selective admissions policy, and formidable endowment, has produced some of the world’s best minds: prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices, presidents. For those lucky few selected, tuition, room, and board are free. But acceptance comes with a price. Students are required to give the House three years—summers included—completely removed from the outside world. Family, friends, television, music, even their clothing must be left behind. In return, the school promises its graduates a future of sublime power and prestige, and that they can become anything or anyone they desire.
Among this year’s incoming class is Ines, who expects to trade blurry nights of parties, pills, cruel friends, and dangerous men for rigorous intellectual discipline—only to discover an environment of sanctioned revelry. The school’s enigmatic director, Viktória, encourages the students to explore, to expand their minds, to find themselves and their place within the formidable black iron gates of Catherine.
For Ines, Catherine is the closest thing to a home she’s ever had, and her serious, timid roommate, Baby, soon becomes an unlikely friend. Yet the House’s strange protocols make this refuge, with its worn velvet and weathered leather, feel increasingly like a gilded prison. And when Baby’s obsessive desire for acceptance ends in tragedy, Ines begins to suspect that the school—in all its shabby splendor, hallowed history, advanced theories, and controlled decadence—might be hiding a dangerous agenda that is connected to a secretive, tightly knit group of students selected to study its most promising and mysterious curriculum.
Combining the haunting sophistication and dusky, atmospheric style of Sarah Waters with the unsettling isolation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Catherine House is a devious, deliciously steamy, and suspenseful page-turner with shocking twists and sharp edges that is sure to leave readers breathless.
