Customer Reviews

A House Divided

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Deborah LeBlanc's latest novel tells a very different and unique story. We get two haunted house stories for the price of one. I'm sure you've read the synopsis if you've read this far, so I'll spare you the paraphrasing and get to dessert.

One of the most striking elements of Deborah LeBlanc's books is the way in which the people are drawn out realistically. These things are happening to very believable and very down to earth characters. They aren't super-humans who have super-powers - just their own instincts to guide them.

There's always something really interesting to uncover in her books. In this one, those of us not from the South get to learn how Mardis Gras is celebrated away from Bourbon Street. Very different and very interesting. The side-effect, though, is that you will often need to take a break to snack - the food is quite tempting to read about.

Another aspect I really enjoy about her books is that they have a sense of care and craftmanship to the writing not normal these days. Her closest comrades might be Tennessee Williams or Flanery O'Connor meets Agatha Christie. In fact, "A House Divided" ran through my mind like a play, which was wild.

Although there are many supernatural elements and some really upsetting characters, there's a hopeful spirituality that pops up just when you need it. That hope is refreshing and, for some reason, makes "A House Divided" come off as a very personal story from Deborah LeBlanc.

I was surprised at how different this story ended up being. I also think that this is her most widely accessable book yet - I read this in two quick days. It usually takes me much, much longer to read a book.

If you enjoy a good ghost story set within modern America, then read this.

Having spent a fair amount of time in Louisiana over the years I've come to appreciate the moodiness and mystery that always seems to hang in the air. Few writers have been able to successfully capture that atmosphere, that feeling that the supernatural is just behind you ready to reach out with a bony finger and tap you on the shoulder. Then I discovered the novels of Deborah LaBlanc, who is a native of those parts and brings a rich and personal understanding to her writing. Her latest novel, A HOUSE DIVIDED, is a fascinating and layered ghost story that easily manages to chill the blood and at the same time compel the reader to turn the next page. This is a marvelous book and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to see the haunted house paradigm redefined and reenergized.

This book had it all, humor, mystery, suspense, and plenty of creepy events to please everyone.
Matt Daigle buys a house and turns it into a cafe where the locals flock to eat home-cooked meals. He and his young son, Seth, live on the second floor of the cafe. Laura and Tawana purchase a house, 2 houses down from the cafe and turn it into a beauty shop. They both live on the second floor, along with Tawana's special-needs cousin, Angelica, whom they call Moweez. Moweez doesn't speak much and when she does, it's short simple words, but she has a special gift of "sight" and a talent for drawing what she "sees", and what she sees always comes true. When horrifying events start taking place in these two houses, Matt, Laura and Tawana discover that the two houses have a history together, a horrible, frightenly violent history. They will have to fight for their very lives and depend on Moweez to draw their future.

I can't say enough about this book. One page would have me laughing and the next put goose bumps on my arms and caused my heart to beat a little faster. If you love ghost stories that leave you on the edge of your seat, then this is the book for you.

A HOUSE DIVIDED is a decent horror novel. Deborah LeBlanc is a good writer, and her main strengths appear to be in characterization and atmosphere. She does a very good job of creating likable protagonists, and I really enjoyed her vivid descriptions of Louisiana life.

The major problem with A HOUSE DIVIDED, for me at least, is that it's not particularly suspenseful. The main characters in this novel are never in any immediate danger until maybe the last 30 pages or so. There is a serial killer in this book, but he targets people who have nothing to do with the main story. As a result, I didn't feel much tension. This novel is more spooky than scary.

There are also some dialogue scenes in A HOUSE DIVIDED that struck me as kind of repetitive (merely summarizing events that have already taken place). The middle part of this book is kind of slow paced. I also felt that the ending of this book left a lot of loose ends, and didn't provide a strong sense of closure.

Deborah LeBlanc is a rising star in the horror genre, and currently serves as President of the Horror Writers Association. I think she definitely has the talent, but I would like to see her write a novel with a tighter plot that contains more immediate suspense. If LeBlanc did that, she could become the next Dean Koontz in my opinion.

Trying to facilitate a bigger deal, real estate developer Keith Lafleur buys the dilapidated Devillier Mansion and moves it from Crowley, Mississippi to Windham, Louisiana, some forty miles away. To make the move easier, he actually splits the home in half, renovating each section and selling the pieces to two different buyers. Although Lafleur thought that was the end of the deal, he was sadly mistaken, thanks to a spider bite he receives while touring the home, and because the house is haunted. Lafleur deals with the grisly effects of the spider bite on his own; the spirits which inhabit both sections of the house become the problem of the new owners, café owner Matt Daigle and hair salon owner Laura Toups. As Lafleur descends into madness, Matt and Laura probe the sad story of their properties, discovering that the tragic history of the house conceals even deeper, darker secrets.

In this, her third novel (following 2004's Family Inheritance and 2005's Grave Intent), LeBlanc once again delivers the goods, showing an uncommonly deft touch in fleshing out her characters, and in evoking small town America. A House Divided taps into the subconscious fear of everyone who owns a home--namely, that there's something wrong with it, something that will interfere with the owner's quiet enjoyment of the property, or hinder his or her ability to sell it once that time comes. Imaginative and chilling, the novel creates an atmosphere of terror and dread which is only dissipated by its electrifying climax.

This is my first Deborah Leblanc book, and I'm ready to read another of hers. I think I'll try Grave Intent next.
Like her way of telling a story. She starts out each chapter with a hook and then ends each chapter with the same. She keeps the reader wanting more . . . wanting to turn the page to see what happens next.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants an easy read that is full of interesting layers.

Deborah LeBlanc has the talent for plotting an effectively creepy supernatural tale. In "A House Divided", we have a unique premise - in the past, a terrible tragedy befell a young family in a large house and the sad events have a bearing on the present.

When a greedy and ruthless builder decides to profit from an old, two-story house, he comes up with a seemingly prefect plan - he divides the house in half and hauls both buildings away, setting them up separately and leasing them out to tenants - one becomes a cafe owned by Matt, who lives on the second floor of the building with his young son, Seth. The twin building [with a sewing shop in between] is leased by Laura and Tawana who run the Beauty Box, a salon. Tawana's mentally handicapped cousin, Moweez lives with them too.

Soon, strange and creepy things start occuring on both the premises - hundreds of dead birds, strange sounds, visions of entities, and only Moweez and Seth seem to know the truth behind these occurrences, though both are also sort of trapped between two worlds that prevents them from spelling out what is going on. It is left to Matt, Laura and Tawana to uncover the mystery before it's too late, They are helped by the psychic drawings made by Moweez, who apparently has the 'sight'.

The story unfolds leisurely, but builds up the suspense well enough to make up for the slow action. Everything is described in vivid detail and there are plenty of references to Southern culture and the celebration of Mardi Gras. All in all, this is one of the better offerings by Deborah LeBlanc and I recommend it to those who like haunted house stories or tales of the supernatural.

This was my first time reading Deborah LeBlanc but it certainly won't be my last. It's so refreshing to find a writer who makes all the hard work that goes into writing seem so effortless. Everything in this novel flows of the pages and can really be read in one day if one has time. When I read that as a kid Deborah wanted to read every book in her local library I knew I would like her and I was right. She's a writer who loves to read and that shows in her work.

The story itself is very original and convincing, with the hazy, warm bayou atmosphere and authentic accents written in. Deborah created a world that lured me in, made me care about each character and then made me fear for them when I remembered that this in deed is a horror book. Things start of enigmatic enough in late sixties when a whole family perishes under someone's hands in a grand house, located in Windham, Louisiana. Fast forward to the future and the house is suddenly no longer empty, but divided in half for the move into new location by Keith Lafleur, a greedy building contractor. What he doesn't know is the ways this one job will change him and the town forever. New people move into each half, single father with a young son, Matt and Seth open a café while across the yard Laura, Tawana and Angelica run a beauty shop in the other renovated half. Things go smoothly until one day something happens and their lives are turned upside down. Dead birds appear on their front yards, huge spider web with a sneaky spider biting and infecting people appears and then someone changes into a monster. I read mesmerized at what would happen next and enjoyed the creepy house tale about different people that were somehow connected through the old split up house. The past was directing the future and it was up to those who were brave and who had big hearts to save everyone from madness that swept the whole town.

Very enjoyable and quick read, great for Indian summer nights with a snack in one hand and book in the other and I agree with some reviewers that there were jokes and scares written in so well that it made for a great combo. Little comic relief here and there is not a bad thing.

- Kasia S.

From the time that I opened the book and started reading, I did not put it down except to get something to eat drink or go to the bathroom. Read it all in one day. WILL be getting ALL of Deborah LeBlan's books!

This is a very scary book. Well written and entertaining. LeBlanc does an even better job with her 3rd novel. Be sure to catch her other books.