Review: 'It Will Just Be Us' by Jo Kaplan
Pub. Date: 08/9/2020
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
A terrifying new gothic horror novel about two sisters and a haunted house that never sleeps, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
They say there's a door in Wakefield that never opens... Sam Wakefield's ancestral home, a decaying mansion built on the edge of a swamp, isn't a place for children. Its labyrinthine halls, built by her mad ancestors, are filled with echoes of the past: ghosts and memories knotted together as one. In the presence of phantoms, it's all Sam can do to disentangle past from present in her daily life. But when her pregnant sister Elizabeth moves in after a fight with her husband, something in the house shifts. Already navigating her tumultuous relationship with Elizabeth, Sam is even more unsettled by the appearance of a new ghost: a faceless boy who commits disturbing acts--threatening animals, terrorizing other children, and following Sam into the depths of the house wielding a knife. When it becomes clear the boy is connected to a locked, forgotten room, one which is never entered, Sam realizes this ghost is not like the others. This boy brings doom... As Elizabeth's due date approaches, Sam must unravel the mysteries of Wakefield before her sister brings new life into a house marked by death. But as the faceless boy grows stronger, Sam will learn that some doors should stay closed--and some secrets are safer locked away forever.
Nothing will get you like generational trauma, especially if somehow the generations all stay around like ghosts. I'm fascinated by houses that hold on to their inhabitants and refuse to let the past go. Although we're all made up of what has come before, the ability to let go and move on is essential for survival. Surrounded by the ghosts of the past, Kaplan's protagonist cannot move on or heal from anything. Her mother has long withdrawn into herself and no longer differentiates between the memories she sees and the reality she misses. It Will Just Be Us battles with the fear that no matter how hard you try, everything is already set in stone. Your premonitions won't help you, you're bound to go down a certain path regardless and tragedy will find you. It is a fear not many books engage in, partly because it doesn't allow for much fun. But when done well, as Kaplan does, it allows for a thrilling reading experience.
The Wakefield women are just about keeping it together, it being both themselves and the house. Sam is newly returned home after being robbed, her mother refuses to leave the house, and her pregnant sister, Elizabeth, would prefer never to enter it again. For Sam, an archaeology professor, the past is always present. Ghosts are a common occurrence for her and she is fascinated by the nearby swamps and its witchy history. But Sam is also on edge, especially once Elizabeth moves back in and a faceless boy appears to haunt Sam. He is bad news and she begins to fear the worst. On top of that, the door in the attic which was always locked is now, in fact, open. As past and present begin to meld and everything starts to unravel, Sam can't help but wonder whether the future is just as set as the past. Kaplan builds up to a tense ending, slowly but surely ramping up the tension and the scares until you will find yourself spellbound. The scares in It Will Just Be Us work almost shockingly well. I've read quite a few horror and thriller books, but the tension Kaplan creates is something else. You will be on the edge of your seat throughout.
The connection to Shirley Jackson in the blurb isn't entirely misplaced. Echoes of both We Have Always Lived in the Castle and the Netflix adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House can be found in Kaplan's novel. There is the eerie sense of being already doomed that both Jackon's Nell and Kaplan's Sam carry with them. There is also the stubborn clinging to pretense that both the Blackwood and Wakefield family engage in. While Shirley excels at striking a balance between drama and exaggeration, It Will Just Be Us occasionally gets lost in itself. The framework is great and Sam is a fascinating protagonist. However, the supporting characters aren't fully fleshed-out and as the plot gets more complicated it becomes a little harder to follow. This is coupled to the fact that at times the prose is occasionally rather purple, which means the momentum of the plot gets weighed down. However, despite that, I simply couldn't put It Will Just Be Us down. There are images from this novel that have stuck for me since I've read it, images that pop up unbidden, usually late at night. That in and of itself is proof of the effectiveness of the story Kaplan tells. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for further books from her.
I give this book...
4 Universes.
It Will Just Be Us is a perfect scary, Gothic read that should be enjoyed during a thunderstorm. Anyone looking for a thrilling read that will bring you to the edge of a heart-attack and keep you there should give Kaplan's novel a go.
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