A House with Good Bones

Sam Montgomery is an archaeoentomologist—she studies insects on archaeological digs—but her latest project is on hold indefinitely after human remains are found. Needing a place to stay in the interim, she returns home to North Carolina to stay with her mother, who is living in her childhood home. Sam is surprised by the drastic change in her mother’s behavior, along with the house’s strange new decor. As literal vultures stand sentry over the house, Sam tries to rationalize the lack of insects in the garden and the bizarre events happening at the house, while worrying that her mother is suffering from dementia. Digging into their family history to find some answers, Sam uncovers secrets far more surprising and horrific than she could have imagined, and that past will not stay buried. Narrator Mary Robinette Kowal wonderfully conveys the wryly funny prose and the creeping horror of the story. Giving each character a distinct voice, Kowal deftly and consistently moves between them and superbly renders Sam’s voice.