STARTER HOUSE


Her dream home is about to become a house of nightmares…

From the moment Lacey glimpses the dusty-rose colonial cottage with its angled dormer windows and quaint wooden shutters, she knows she’s found her dream house. Walking through its cozy rooms, the expectant mother can see her future children sitting on the round bottom step of the house’s beautifully carved staircase, and she imagines them playing beneath the giant maple tree in the warm South Carolina sun. It doesn’t matter to Lacey and her husband, Eric, that people had died there years before.

But soon their warm and welcoming house turns cold.

more …

Her dream home is about to become a house of nightmares…

From the moment Lacey glimpses the dusty-rose colonial cottage with its angled dormer windows and quaint wooden shutters, she knows she’s found her dream house. Walking through its cozy rooms, the expectant mother can see her future children sitting on the round bottom step of the house’s beautifully carved staircase, and she imagines them playing beneath the giant maple tree in the warm South Carolina sun. It doesn’t matter to Lacey and her husband, Eric, that people had died there years before.

But soon their warm and welcoming house turns cold. There is something malevolent within the walls—a disturbing presence that only Lacey can sense. And there is Drew, a demanding and jealous little boy who mysteriously appears when Lacey is alone. Protective of this enigmatic child who reminds her of the troubled students she used to teach, Lacey bakes cookies and plays games to amuse him. Yet, as she quickly discovers, Drew is unpredictable—and dangerous.

Fearing for her baby’s safety, Lacey sets out to uncover the truth about Drew and her dream house—a search for answers that takes her into the past, into the lives of a long-dead family whose tragic secrets could destroy her. To save her loved ones, Lacey must find a way to lay a terrifying evil to rest…before she, Eric, and their child become its next victims.

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  • William Morrow
  • Paperback
  • December 2013
  • 400 Pages
  • 9780062283054

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About Sonja Condit

Sonja Condit received her MFA from Converse College, where she studied with Robert Olmstead, Leslie Pietrzyk, R. T. Smith, and Marlin Barton. Her short fiction has appeared in Shenandoah magazine, among other publications. She plays principal bassoon in the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra and the Greater Anderson Musical Arts Consortium. She teaches at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.

Praise

“[a] stylish debut novel”Publishers Weekly

“If this novel were a movie, you could close your eyes to save yourself from its scariest parts, but it is a book and its haunting elements are inescapable. A promising start by a new author, this will appeal to those looking for a disturbing story.”Booklist

“Good, scary fun, packed with emotional nuance”Kirkus Reviews

“Beautifully written in luminous prose, Starter House kept me up late at night with its disturbing, tangled tale of childhood and what it means to be a parent. Despite the darkness, Condit’s prose has so much heart and emotion, […] I couldn’t put it down.”Yangsze Choo, author of The Ghost Bride

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