Julian's House [Hardcover]

Judith Hawkes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1989

Already compared to Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, and Stephen King, first novelist Judith Hawkes' Julian's House features a haunted house--but is no ordinary ghost story. Newly wed parapsychologists David and Sally are not afraid to move into a haunted house, until they find that there is no safe place in the house--especially not in each other's arms. HC: Houghton Mifflin.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This suspenseful haunted-house tale--praised by the New York Times for its "passages rich with descriptive beauty, complex with philosophical theorizing and seductive with hard (and tantalizing) information"--is a rich elaboration on the premise of parapsychologists trying to document ghost behavior. In this instance the researchers are a recently married (and sexually repressed) young couple who move their high-tech equipment into a Victorian house with the requisite history of bumps in the night. They are prepared to encounter supernatural phenomena, but not at all prepared to examine their own psyches. When the house starts acting as a sounding board for their neurotic conflicts, it's not clear whether actual ghosts are acting as interactive mirrors, or if the house is simply a big Rorschach inkblot for the projections of a troubled marriage. Judith Hawkes unfolds all the chilling complexity of the puzzle, and leaves readers to draw their own conclusions. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Though descriptions of channeling may attract ardent New Agers, this haunted-house story, decked out with speculation about parapsychology and dragged to an ambiguous conclusion, is dull reading. The year-old marriage of psychic researchers David and Sally Curtiss is already shaky when they move into a house reputedly spooked by the Gilfoy family and a tramp. David and Sally plan field research and, when nothing happens, bring in Roseanna Paine, a medium, who raises evidence of ghosts as well as David's heretofore dormant libido. The spirits take over David and Sally, causing them to act out old Gilfoy passions--although another explanation could be that it is easier for David to perform sexually while pretending to be someone else. Other manifestations of ghostly presences--odd noises, moved objects, roaming dogs--are hokum. Whether all this is paranormal, or normal pathology mixed with coincidence, turns out to be irrelevant. The mystery of the author's three-handed jacket photo is the most interesting thing about the novel.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 354 pages
• Publisher: Ticknor & Fields (November 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899199062
• ISBN-13: 978-0899199061
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,669,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant supernatural thriller, February 18, 2000

By 

Eric L. Hoheisel (Haslett, Mi United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Julian's House (Signet) (Paperback)

A husband and wife team of parapsychologists spend the summer in a haunted house in hopes of recording supernatural phenomenon. Hawkes uses evocative language and intricate character developement to make this simple premise come to life. Replete with eerie lights, sceances, and apparitions, this book is probably the best ghost story since "The Shining." Recommended for fans of Shirley Jackson and Barbara Michaels

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars HAUNTING AND WELL WRITTEN...A THINKING PERSON'S GHOST STORY, September 1, 2000

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Julian's House (Signet) (Paperback)

This is a well crafted, gripping read for those who love ghost stories. Evocative of Henry James' 'The Turning of the Screw', this novel is spellbinding, as the past and the present seem to merge into a new reality.

A husband and wife team, parapsychologists by profession, lease a well known haunted house in order to record all paranormal phenomena which may occur during their tenancy. This, however, turns out to be more than they can ultimately handle. The house begins to overwhelm them, and they personally begin a slow metamorphosis over time. Their marriage begins to undergo a change, as well. Whether this is as a result of ghostly manifestations or not, I leave to the reader to decide.

Suffice to say, I trust that this beautifully written ghost story will not disappoint the reader.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A real thinker, March 17, 2002

By 

David Pope (Franklin, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Julian's House (Signet) (Paperback)

If you are looking for your typical gory, haunted house book then don't read this one. "Julian's House" is much better than the typical book of this kind. I was suprised by the subtlety of it all. Two experts in the field of parapsychology visit a home that has had more tenants than you can shake a stick at. All of the people who have lived in the house report the same phenomena. So Sally and David Curtiss move into the Hawke's home expecting the same. They get so much more. This book is spooky and in a way strange. "Julian's House" makes you think: Do the ghosts really exist? What part of Sally and Davids' expectations explain their experiences?. A thinking man's book-not written from a template. The ending has been debated hotly between my wife and me since we read the book. You read it and see if you can figue out what really happened.