MAPPING THE INTERIOR by Stephen Graham Jones (Tor Nightfire, April 29, 2025) Paperback, 112 pages. ISBN # 9781240306026
Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .
Walking through his own house at night, a fifteen-year-old thinks he sees another person stepping through a doorway. Instead of the people who could be there, his mother or his brother, the figure reminds him of his long-gone father, who died mysteriously before his family left the reservation. When he follows it he discovers his house is bigger and deeper than he knew.
The house is the kind of wrong place where you can lose yourself and find things you'd rather not have. Over the course of a few nights, the boy tries to map out his house in an effort that puts his little brother in the worst danger, and puts him in the position to save them . . . at terrible cost.
My Five-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
I believe this is one of those books that you try to recommend without giving too many details . MAPPING THE INTERIOR is best experienced in an innocent state. Just let it carry you away.
This one stayed with me and played around inside my head long after I finished reading. Disturbing. Creepy. Vivid. Chilling.
It also provides a slice-of-life, coming-of-age story of a young 12-year old fatherless Native American boy growing up in a low-income modular home rental off the reservation. His mother is struggling. His younger brother suffers from a mental ailment, and requires his older brother's protection. I believe Jones pulled from his own experience in writing this, and it feels authentic.
MAPPING THE INTERIOR is also a ghost story like no other I have read. Told from the point-of-view of the 12-year old Junior, and narrated by him. A traumatic experience that would leave physical and mental scars on almost any one who would live through it. I also felt the he was sharing this experience/confession to lend clarity to what he does as an adult male.
No comments:
Post a Comment