Jemma Barker's life isn't going so well lately, but perhaps it's time for a big change, and she hopes the job she's accepted in New Orleans is just what she needs. After all, it pays $300 a week, and she really needs to leave Chicago, especially since her boyfriend Marvin has gotten another woman pregnant. However, when she arrives in New Orleans in her fall clothing, only to be blasted in the face by the Southern humidity and heat as she debarks the train, she hopes things can only get better. She is wrong.
New Orleans in 1962 is a far cry from Chicago, as you can imagine, and Jemma struggles to get to the Duchon estate, which is a few miles outside of the city. It seems people know who the family is and give the homestead a wide berth. When Jemma finally arrives, she is greeted by a stern elderly white woman named Honorine Duchon, who informs her that the position is for a live-in assistant to handle her calendar, as well as entertain her granddaughter, Fosette, who is close in age to Jemma. Fosette seems nice enough, but her brother Laurence is strikingly handsome, although aloof. She soon meets Honorine's son, Russell, and her daughter, Simone, and the family isn't exactly welcoming, although she is expected to live among them and eat her meals with them. This is in stark contrast to the other "hired help" at the Duchon's, such as Agnes, the light-skinned mute maid that they treat like dirt, and Dennis, the groundskeeper. Jemma is stunned to discover that despite her first assumptions, the family is actually black, although they have been passing for white with their light skin and eyes.
Things seem to be going well for the first few weeks or so and she and Fosette have struck up a nice friendship, but strange things occur in this house and have from the start. Things like the house always has an underlying smell of smoke and the food always tastes a bit burnt. No one else seems to notice, but Jemma certainly does. She also can't help but notice that the family's wardrobe is about 30 years out of date, despite their wealth. Then there's the fact that at night, as she is going to sleep, she hears Fosette singing a strange lullaby, but when Jemma asks her about it, she denies it.
One day, Fosette and Jemma are walking the estate grounds and Jemma spies the family cemetery, noting that several headstones bear her birthdate, one occurring the exact same day. Why are Duchons dying on her birthday every seven years?
When confronted, Honorine comes clean about a family curse that they hope can be broken by Jemma, one that binds every family member to the house, never being able to leave. Why would they think Jemma could break the curse? Well, it's probably because she can see ghosts, although she was taught from a very young age to count to five and ignore them so they'd go away. Her adoptive parents, Carl and Mabel Barker, weren't too keen on her abilities, but now she seems to be in demand because of them. Yes, it seems that she's been seeing more ghosts than ever before since coming to New Orleans, but she's not very confident about being able to break some generational curse, especially one with a timeline of only a few months and such high stakes. Failure means someone in that house will die.
Let's just say that nothing is as it appears and there are more secrets in the Duchon home than there are ghosts roaming about. While Jemma wants nothing more than to please this odd but beautiful family, and to be included with them almost as if she belongs, despite her darker skin, she figures out pretty quickly that this will be a nearly insurmountable task, especially once she begins to peel back the layers of this family. Blood will be spilled, secrets will be revealed, and Jemma will realize that sometimes the living can be far more horrifying than the dead.
I really enjoyed This Cursed House. Either Del Sandeen really did her research or she is from Louisiana. Everything about the story felt authentic, and while I wasn't in New Orleans in 1962, I was born there and lived most of my life in South Louisiana. The names of people and the descriptions of New Orleans and its areas felt just right.
While there are some really uncomfortable (and possibly triggering) topics covered in this book such as incest, racism and horrific physical abuse, it's an excellent Southern gothic ghost story that confronts the inherent, deep-seated racism found in the South, especially prevalent during the 1960's and before. Del Sandeen is definitely an author to watch for in the future. Highly recommended.
