May 19, 2020
Tananarive Due’s The Good House details the history of the Toussaint family and their house in Sacajawea, Washington, the titular “Good House,” which has been in the Toussaint family for three generations. After the death of Elijah Goode, the house passed into the hands of Marie Toussaint, a practitioner of voodoo, who used her skills to heal a young girl’s possession. The powers that exist in the space of spirits around the Good House are not all good, however, and for present-day protagonist Angela Toussaint, Marie’s granddaughter, the house holds a painful past. First, her mother’s death haunts her, and then, tragedy strikes when her teenage son, Corey, shoots himself in the home’s basement. Now, Angela is back at the Good House, hoping to sell the home and rid herself of old demons. Unfortunately, before she can do that, she has to learn about the past, and she has to face the destructive spirit that was awakened twice: first, by her grandmother’s anger and then again by Corey’s curiosity.
Recommendations: Acorn TV's Deadwater Fell and Charlaine Harris's Harper Connelly series
Discussed: https://www.tor.com/2018/03/08/uses-of-enchantment-tananarive-dues-the-good-house/
Good News: https://bookshop.org