Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas Review!

A seductive, gothic-infused tale of literary suspense — the debut of a spectacular new voice — about a dangerously curious young undergraduate whose rebelliousness leads her to discover a shocking secret involving an exclusive circle of students . . . and the dark truth beneath her school’s promise of prestige.

You are in the house and the house is in the woods.
You are in the house and the house is in you . . .

Catherine House is a school of higher learning like no other. Hidden deep in the woods of rural Pennsylvania, this crucible of reformist liberal arts study with its experimental curriculum, wildly selective admissions policy, and formidable endowment, has produced some of the world’s best minds: prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices, presidents. For those lucky few selected, tuition, room, and board are free. But acceptance comes with a price. Students are required to give the House three years—summers included—completely removed from the outside world. Family, friends, television, music, even their clothing must be left behind. In return, the school promises its graduates a future of sublime power and prestige, and that they can become anything or anyone they desire.

Among this year’s incoming class is Ines, who expects to trade blurry nights of parties, pills, cruel friends, and dangerous men for rigorous intellectual discipline—only to discover an environment of sanctioned revelry. The school’s enigmatic director, Viktória, encourages the students to explore, to expand their minds, to find themselves and their place within the formidable black iron gates of Catherine.

For Ines, Catherine is the closest thing to a home she’s ever had, and her serious, timid roommate, Baby, soon becomes an unlikely friend. Yet the House’s strange protocols make this refuge, with its worn velvet and weathered leather, feel increasingly like a gilded prison. And when Baby’s obsessive desire for acceptance ends in tragedy, Ines begins to suspect that the school—in all its shabby splendor, hallowed history, advanced theories, and controlled decadence—might be hiding a dangerous agenda that is connected to a secretive, tightly knit group of students selected to study its most promising and mysterious curriculum.

Combining the haunting sophistication and dusky, atmospheric style of Sarah Waters with the unsettling isolation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Catherine House is a devious, deliciously steamy, and suspenseful page-turner with shocking twists and sharp edges that is sure to leave readers breathless.

Elisabeth Thomas grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where she still lives and now writes. She graduated from Yale University and currently works as an archivist for a modern art museum. CATHERINE HOUSE is her first novel.

My Thoughts

Catherine House is one of those books that you finish reading and think, what just happened? It is about a school hidden in the woods that is a three year school. A lot of the students have problems in their lives at home. So they come here hoping to get an education. It is a school that there is pretty much free sex and drinking going on and no one seems to care. You do have to get good grades though or you may be asked to leave.
The students are asked to do the three years and have no contact with the outside world. Period. No tv, no internet, no contact with family or friends. The curriculum is experimental at best. The students are asked to explore their minds, and expand their minds.
To Ines Murillo, Catherine House is home to her, away from her past. She finds that the house's protocols are more like a prison than a home/school. She realizes that there is a hidden agenda within the school's walls.
This book is definitely creepy although I found the ending anti-climactic, wished it had gone a different way.
I did enjoy the book even though I wanted to stop reading a few times. It did eventually peak my interest. If you like a gothic story that does have some twists and turns that will keep the reader wanting more.

I received a copy of the book for review purposes only.