The Evening Spider: A Novel by Emily Arsenault (Epub)

Description

A gripping blend of psychological suspense and historical true crime, this riveting novel—inspired by a sensational real-life murder from the 1800s—by critically acclaimed author Emily Arsenault delivers a heart-stopping mystery linking two young mothers from different centuries.

Frances Barnett and Abby Bernacki are two haunted young mothers living in the same house in two different centuries.

1885: Frances Barnett is in the Northampton Lunatic Hospital, telling her story to a visitor. She has come to distrust her own memories, and believes that her pregnancy, birth, and early days of motherhood may have impaired her sanity.

During the earliest months of her baby’s life, Frances eagerly followed the famous murder trial of Mary Stannard—that captivated New Englanders with its salacious details and expert forensic testimony. Following—and even attending—this trial, Frances found an escape from the monotony of new motherhood. But as her story unfolds, Frances must admit that her obsession with the details of the murder were not entirely innocent.

Present day: Abby has been adjusting to motherhood smoothly—until recently, when odd sensations and dreams have begun to unsettle her while home alone with her baby. When she starts to question the house’s history, she is given the diary of Frances Barnett, who lived in the house 125 years earlier. Abby finds the diary disturbing, and researches the Barnett family’s history. The more Abby learns, the more she wonders about a negative—possibly supernatural—influence in her house. She becomes convinced that when she sleeps, she leaves her daughter vulnerable—and then vows not to sleep until she can determine the cause of her eerie experiences.

Frances Barnett might not be the only new mother to lose her mind in this house. And like Frances, Abby discovers that by trying to uncover another’s secrets, she risks awakening some of her own.

User’s Reviews

Review “a good old-fashioned gothic novel with a modern twist; a tale of dusty old journals, creaky houses, and ghostly whispers […] Arsenault never strays from the task at hand, which is to keep you up all night with a light burning until you reach the surprising end.” (Melanie Benjamin, New York Times best-selling author of THE AVIATOR’S WIFE and THE SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE)“an emotionally satisfying ending. Abby’s and Frances’ mirrored stories are the stars of the show… A striking reminder that today’s domesticity is not too far removed from that of the 19th century.” (Kirkus Reviews)“From the opening pages, it’s clear that this will be a haunting novel… An engrossing, suspenseful mix of historical fiction and contemporary thriller, with some unexpected twists and wisdom: “We have to learn to live with our ghosts.”” (Booklist)“Arsenault deftly shifts among three perspectives in this exquisitely creepy blend of historical true crime and modern ghost story […] Arsenualt’s gift for letting readers feel the characters’ anguish from the inside while showing their irrational strangeness from the outside makes for terror that sticks.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))“intricately plotted… Passionate and suspenseful, it is the author’s best book to date. […] That ending is as satisfying as the story is engrossing, taking the reader beyond the fun of a breathtaking tale to an important lesson about dealing honestly with one’s own past and present.” (The Recorder.com) –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From the Inside Flap “The evening spider made its visit some time later–when Martha was almost five months old. I know Matthew saw that spider. I know it was not a product of my diseased imagination.”In this compelling mix of psychological suspense and historic true crime, two young mothers–130 years apart–are haunted by the same house.1885: From inside a New England mental hospital, Frances Barnett recounts the months that led to her hospitalization. She believes that her pregnancy, the birth of her child, and the first days of motherhood may have impaired her sanity, and she has come to distrust her own memories. She escaped the monotony and isolation of her daughter’s early months by following a local murder trial, and as her story unfolds, Frances must admit that her obsession with the details of the murder was not entirely innocent.Present day: Abby Bernacki has been adjusting to motherhood smoothly–until odd sensations and dreams began to unsettle her while home alone with her baby. When she stumbles onto the timeworn diary of Frances Barnett, Abby is surprised to see how similar their situations are. But as she reaches the diary’s disturbing final pages, she becomes obsessed with the idea that a supernatural influence might be inhabiting her home. With each passing day, Abby feels her own grip on reality slipping–and most troubling of all, she fears for her baby’s safety.–Publishers Weekly (starred review) –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ ****SLIGHT SPOILER*****I liked this book a great deal. The alternating histories of the 2 different woman (but not so different after all) was easy to follow & enthralling to read. Two woman born 100 years apart who lived in the same house; had babies about the same age. One of the women (Frances Barnett) was married to an evil, ambitious, manipulative & corrupt man. He committed a heinous crime and, frightened his wife knew his secret, committed her to a mental asylum, where she remained for 6 years. She was only released because of the efforts of her twin brother & her maid. The details of her life are told by her diary & later by historical & geneological records.The modern day woman Abby & her husband Chad move into the Barnett house in 2014. Strange things begin to occur with Abby as a witness. As she’s a history teacher on maternity leave, she develops an interest in the house’s history & delves into it, more out of desperation to quell the restless ghost she believes inhabits the house.I didn’t rate the novel 5 stars because the reader was left hanging about the ghost problem. We know what happened to Frances in the 19th Century but don’t know why the ghost is haunting the upper floors in 2014. Nor do we know who she was. Nor do we know if Abby has laid the ghost to rest by her discovery of Frances’s fate.Frances’s life is resolved but Abby’s isn’t. Ms. Arsenault dumps us off in the middle of nowhere, as far as Abby’s life is concerned. The novel abruptly ends with no resolution.Nevertheless, I recommend this novel to those who like novels of subtle suspense with a gothic nuance. I’d love to read more of Emily Arsenault’s novels.

⭐ Abby and her family move into an old home. Abby starts hearing voices through her daughter’s monitor, and becomes worried that something in the house is trying to harm her daughter. After doing research into previous owners of the house, she meets a man who was related to the owners, and happens to have a journal that Frances (prior inhabitant) has written. After Abby reads the journal, she becomes even more terrified that something is going to harm Lucy (her daughter), so she stops sleeping. The story digs deeper into both Abby’s and Frances’ inner demons and their histories.After reading this book, my brain feels muddled. It took a lot of concentration (for me, at least), to keep all of the different stories and characters straight, and to remember how each interacts and relates with the others. I literally feel like I just came out of a whirlwind, and I’m slightly dizzy. I’m wondering if any other readers felt this way?There were some legitimately scary parts in the book. In a couple of places, I literally got goosebumps. It was an interesting story, don’t get me wrong, but my brain is just really tired.

⭐ What a wonderfully creepy book! Told, as so many of my favorite books, from differing points of view from differing time periods, we have the story of Abby, new mother, modern times. Her house seems to be haunted… or is she? And we have the story of Frances – from more than a century before, she was also a new mother in the same house, only post-partum made her do some awful things (or did it?). Abby is trying to uncover the truth of Frances’s story to stop the haunting, Frances tells her own story to her brother from a lunatic asylum.There is true crime, paranormal mystery, and simple mommy tales in this book. It’s got kind of a strange ending, but I wasn’t too disappointed. I was a bit disappointed with the pacing of Frances’s story, but that could be explained by the fact that she was, after all, in an asylum, deservedly or not. That would affect anyone’s brain.I read this book on an airplane and I enjoyed it.

⭐ This book definitely drew me in. I liked meeting the characters, and It has a nice gothic creepiness. I had a hard time staying away from it. But if you are looking for gratuitous violence, a truly spooky ghost story, or a terrifying novel of suspense, this isn’t it.The author tells the story of a woman in the past, and the future woman living in her house, hundreds of years later. The reader jumps back and forth between centuries each time the chapter changes, but the changes aren’t jarring.I really liked the story… Right up to the end, which was a little bit of a let down in the present story. But the ending of the story set in the past didnt go in quite the direction I’d expected, so made up for it.Try it!! If you enjoy gothic mysteries, you’ll like it. It has an interesting history and an interesting premise.

⭐ I thought many times to just put this book down and find something else to read, but I’m not a quitter lol. I thought the characters in this read were hard to follow and this book went from past to present so often that I often didn’t know which character was talking. The ending was so abrupt that it startled me.

⭐ It probably has more to say about me but I have trouble trying to work in the 1800’s in one chapter and following through with 2014 in the next. At one point I started believing that the chapters were out of order and I had to decide exactly who was crazy, as in mentally ill, me or the characters or the author. Throw in a house ghost that knows little more than “shhhh” and a Psychic who repeats, “innocent, innocent, innocent” and see if you can figure out what’s up…err…down….errr….something. I usually enjoy stories with a haunting New England historical perspective but this made about as much sense as a headstone I saw in an old New England cemetery that said, “Here lies Mary who should have been the wife of John.”

⭐ I enjoyed this book with its tight research in to the last century especially regarding the murder trials and how differently the are conducted to ours but I did not like reading how France’s was patronised because of her interest in forensics and was not only interested in her baby and husband. Abby was a very normal type mother to me struggling to come to terms with it all.

⭐ It started out good and had great promise and then to me it just fizzled. The ending left you wondering what the heck really happened to the two women of the story. It’s not very clear on that. I read it to the end, skimmed over some parts and it looked liked it was leading to something and then that was the end of the story. Huge disappointment.

⭐ What a waste of time. I read about half way through this book and still didn’t know what the h*** was going on. It was so hard to keep the characters and time period straight. I had to keep going back to see where I was. A book should be enjoyable not a marathon chore. To those that gave this book 5 stars and to those that even finished it I commend you “You’re a better man than I Gunga Din”.

⭐ I’ve lived in some very old houses that have made me wonder who lived there before, and what was their life like? This book explores the question of whether the vibes from a person’s traumatic experience in the past can linger in a place and resonate with someone else in the present. Arsenault has a gift for creating realistic stories with a delicious creepiness.

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