Amber House (novel)
A teen discovers psychometry and family secrets in a haunted estate.
Amber House is the first book in a series initially called the Amber House Trilogy, written by American author Kelly Moore with her daughters Tucker Reed and Larkin Reed. The novel follows narrator Sarah Parsons, who discovers she has the psychic ability of psychometry while staying at her family's ancestral estate near Annapolis, Maryland. Critics have disagreed on its genre, with labels ranging from horror romance to magical realism, fantasy, ghost stories, and horror, while the authors classify it as a time travel series.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Kelly Moore
- Tucker Reed
- Larkin Reed
- Cover artist
- Whitney Lyle (design); Shane Rebenschied (art)
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Series
- The Amber House Trilogy
- Genre
- Young adult
- Gothic horror
- romance
- time travel
- Publisher
- Arthur A. Levine Books
- Released
- 1 October 2012
Facts from the source article.
Plot summary
The story opens at the funeral of Sarah's maternal grandmother, Ida. Sarah and her autistic five-year-old brother Sammy have never seen the supposedly haunted ancestral home, as their mother Anne was estranged from Ida and plans to sell the property. Sarah meets Rose Valois, Ida's nurse, and Rose's grandson Jackson, who seems to know things about Sarah that Ida could not have told him. Jackson mentions a local legend of diamonds hidden in Amber House and offers to help find them. Sarah and Sammy conspire to stay in the house rather than a hotel. Sarah is introduced to Senator Robert Hathaway and his son Richard, who tells her about Deirdre Foster, the mad wife of an 18th-century sea captain who lost the diamonds, and claims Deirdre haunts the estate. Anne decides to celebrate Sarah's sixteenth birthday with a masquerade ball to advertise the house. Sarah spends days with Richard and evenings with Jackson. After Jackson rescues her from an encounter with Deirdre, Sarah confesses to seeing ghosts, but Jackson explains they are what the house remembers, and the house reveals its secrets only to the women of her family. Using her new gift of psychometry, Sarah uncovers family secrets and a connection to both Jackson and Richard, and must find where past and future meet before tragedy strikes.
Development
Kelly Moore began work on the story in the 1980s, influenced by Indonesian tribal beliefs and the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. She attempted a television adaptation in the early 1990s with her then-husband Dan Reed, later with former sister-in-law Maureen Reed and actress Nancy Harewood, but the collaboration dissolved and her research was stored in an attic. A decade later, Tucker Reed found the box of notes and drafts, persuaded Moore to collaborate on a novel, and Larkin Reed later joined. The authors cite as inspiration Back to the Future, Jumanji, Labyrinth, The Shining, an episode of Lost in Space, and The Secret Garden.
Publication and reception
Published on October 1, 2012, by Scholastic's Arthur A. Levine Books imprint, Amber House received positive critical reception. Kirkus Reviews praised the protagonist, and a second Kirkus review called the opening line a wonderful hook and the premise fantastic. Booklist highlighted the descriptive prose and deft handling of family dynamics. Publishers Weekly and the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books gave starred reviews, describing the plot as intricate and swift, respectively. The book was a finalist for the 2014 Oregon Book Awards for Young Adult Literature and the 2014 Dolly Gray Award for its portrayal of a character with autism. It was a featured title on the Texas Library Association's 2014 TAYSHAS List and appeared in Scholastic Book Fairs in 2012 and 2013.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who illustrated Amber House (novel)?
Amber House was illustrated by Whitney Lyle (design) and Shane Rebenschied (art).
Which book follows Amber House (novel)?
Amber House is followed by Neverwas (January 2014).
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