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I read this book in what felt as a heartbeat. I just couldn’t put it down.
Where to begin. The story is narrated by Merry Barrett, a twenty-three-year-old woman recalling the events which eventually brought to the destruction of her whole world.
Her sister Marjorie starts to show symptoms of schizophrenia when Merry is just eight years old, and when her parents seem unable to help her medically, they think their fourteen-year-old daughter is possessed. They seek the help of a priest, and amid all that, they agree to be filmed by a crew for a new reality show that will be called The Possession.
The narration navigates between eight-year-old Merry and present Merry, with parts written in blog form from a certain Karen.
The book is full of twists and turns, up until the very end of it. And even when you’re done reading it, you’re left with a sense of uncertainty. Was Marjory really sick? Was she really possessed? Can we fully trust Merry and her recollection of the events?
What I also found somewhat spooky is that the book mentions three books I happen to have read just before beginning this one. Two by Shirley Jackson (The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle), and one by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (The Yellow Wallpaper). Tremblay explains in the notes that he thought of Jackon’s character of Merricat of We Have Always Lived in the Castle when writing Merry, and I almost fell off my chair, because while reading the book I thought about that book and the Blackwood sisters, and what happened to their family. It just blew my mind.
Hands down one of the greatest horror/mystery book I have ever read.
