#BookReview-‘The Lingering’ by SJI Holliday

I really really want to be articulate about ‘The Lingering’ by the INCREDIBLE SJI Holliday but am currently in the ‘Holy F***’ stage of post book comedown.
People are often dismissive of horror/supernatural fiction in general , seeing it as somehow less worthy than literature and it drives me insane. How many times have you read a ‘horror’ novel and it has been awful and a drudge, not scary in the slightest? It takes skill to make shivers creep down the spine, talent to make you double check the moving SJI Holliday has in spades.
I am not afraid to say, I am 43 years old, a horror fan since before I should really have been allowed near a bookcase crammed with pulp fiction(but that is another story). Over 30 years of reading the good, the bad and the ugly and and this Orenda books publication has it all. I am quite exacting in what I expect from a novel and I can honestly say-

1)Don’t read it in the bath
2) If you do, be prepared to leap out of said bath with fear, then get back in because you are cold and don’t want to waste a bath bomb
3)Catch a cold because you sat there till way past the time you should have gotten out-when the dog is scratching at the door, 2 cats are sticking their paws under it and you are a mass of wrinkles.

All of this in the first few chapters

Jack(ex policeman) and Ali (ex psychiatric nurse) have sold their house and all their belongings to make a new start. It is not said what they are running from to start with, but as you get to know them,it becomes clear that Jack has had a traumatic experience that has led him to resign. They are running to join ‘Our Family’-what is scoffed at as a cult, but is actually just a bunch of like minded individuals who are looking to escape the pressures of modern life and become self sufficient. On arrival at Rosalind house, in the Fens, they are presented with a manual of expected behaviour.
Jack seems oddly reluctant and Ali more keen to be there, but as time progresses their roles switch with Jack embracing commune life whilst Ali becomes more anxious and seemingly neurotic by the day. But there are no explanations for the wet , child sized footprints that Ali sees, the woman and the child who appear then disappear from her view that no one else can see

Then there is Angela, who has moved into Rosalind House looking for proof for her theory that ghosts exist and who spies on Jack and Ali.

Smeaton, who runs the commune, has dubious motives for stepping outside of society(or so it seems) but what SJI Holliday does is present you with characters which evolve as the story does, as real people do. Their motives and manipulations change as the situation in Rosalind House becomes increasingly deadly.

In between these character perspectives, there is the hidden history of Dr Henry Baldock’s journal. Interspersed between chapters, this reveals the story behind the house’s previous incarnation as an asylum. And further back in history again there were accusations of witchcraft and resulting deaths, with local villagers just waiting to light their torches and pitchforks ….
Eerie, compulsively readable but also paradoxically wanting you to slow down, to ‘linger’, this is absolutely a 5* must read in my humble opinion. It’s bone chilling, the title is perfect, the atmosphere is drenched in dread and the suspense…honestly just trust me and buy the f***ing book !

Don’t forget, if you have read the book, reviewed it or want to share your thoughts below, please feel free to plug your blog, opinions or reviews in the comment section!