A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It’s been fifteen years since Merry’s family was changed forever. Now she sits with an author to tell her story for the first time. Her story is not her story alone, but the story of her family, once perfectly ‘normal’ as families go, until her older sister, Marjorie, got ill. Or possessed. Then their happy lives descended into a chaos filled with doctors, priests, and a reality television crew.
I have read this author before and absolutely loved and was heartbroken by The Cabin at the End of the World. Paul Tremblay is a master at putting sympathetic characters in tragic and ambiguous situations. Just as we were unsure if the ‘end of the world’ part of Cabin was genuine, coming out of this novel I wasn’t truly sure what Marjorie’s situation was. I personally leaned toward ill, but I think someone could easily finish the story and believe otherwise. And I love that.
Let’s talk about Merry. She is the perspective that we follow throughout the book. It is a book written entirely in first person perspective, so if that bothers you, then you might find that to be frustrating here, especially if you have problems with a child’s perspective being portrayed in the first person. On that note however, in both of Tremblay’s books I’ve read thus far, he is very good at putting us in the mind of a child. We are able to feel their confusion as they attempt to navigate a world that grows increasingly scary, and yet Paul Tremblay is in no way condescending or patronising. I think it is clear that he respects children a great deal, and believes that they are much more capable than many adults give them credit for.
Whoops, we didn’t really talk about Merry there, did we? Well, she is the child watching her sister, her hero, Marjorie descend into a terrifying, difficult to navigate darkness, and she, along with Marjorie and their parents, of course, experience much of the fallout of this descent. She no longer feels safe with Marjorie, or sure if it’s even her anymore. But outside of the situation that she is experiencing with her sister and family, Merry has a big, wonderful personality. We learn through her memories how beautiful her relationship with her sister once was, and through her thoughts, experience her hope that it could be that way again. She has likes, dislikes, flaws, and a complex inner world that some authors fail to give their child characters.
I was very intrigued by the framing of the story in this book. As previously mentioned, this is Merry recounting the story fifteen years after it unfolded. It was highly publicised due to the reality television series that was filmed about them, and she has of course watched the show in the years since. So she admits herself that while she is pretty sure her memories are her own, they may also have been muddied by these other factors, which is a scary thought to her in and of itself. And some chapters are broken up with blog posts written by an outsider who watched the reality show and is reviewing it for her readers, very critically and with many references to classic horror. So if you are a fan of horror, these sections will likely appeal to you, and they truly round out the story and provide yet another perspective of the events within.
As I read, like I said, I ended up leaning more toward Marjorie suffering from a mental illness. Yet, as I said, some people may come out believing that she was indeed possessed, and this divide is represented in the book perfectly. Some characters fall on one side of that fence, and some on the other. Which is how doctors and priests become involved in the lives of Marjorie and her family. The concept and criticism of performing an exorcism on an ill person has real world parallels as well, as in the case of Anneliese Michel (if you are interested, I would definitely read up on her- it is a fascinating and horrific case).
You can also read a certain amount of criticism of reality television and its exploitative nature. Merry’s family is struggling financially, and has been since the father was laid off from his job. Paying for Marjorie’s doctors, hospital stays, and medication, has taken a further toll, and Merry’s parents agree (with varying degrees of reluctance) to allow the filming of Marjorie’s impending exorcism, some confessional interviews, day to days of their life, and so on. This show has followed them since, and has negatively impacted their lives.
At this point, I think I am going to have to stop, because there is so much that I can’t really discuss without spoiling the book for you, and I’m not going to do that to you. You deserve better than that, and so does this book. All I can really say at this point is that if you enjoy your spooky stories containing some ambiguity, a modern setting, and some interesting framing, then you will likely enjoy this story. I wouldn’t say that it was especially scary, but unsettling would be a word I’d happily use in this case. And Paul Tremblay’s writing style is one I find lovely.
Rebecka O'Malley 