Rich, atmospheric, dark, gothic, just utterly brilliant! This Cursed House is a wonderfully, dark and atmospheric tale set in New Orleans in the 1960s, in a time when the Jim Crow Laws were horribly prevalent, and this is a situation that runs throughout the novel. Our female main character is Jemma, a young Black woman from Chicago, who receives a mysterious job offer from a family in New Orleans. I love her strength and the power that she demonstrates, not in a magical sense, but rather as she recognises who she is and stands up for herself, despite the limits placed on her by society.
The family, Duchons, have a lot of secrets and these are slowly revealed throughout the novel as the tension ramps up and the storyline becomes increasingly darker and scarier, with all the elements for a Souther gothic horror.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC!

It took me a little while to get into this—at around 30% of the way through, I still wasn't hugely interested and wondered if I should drop it. But then it picked up and kept running with the plot, so I'd definitely recommend sticking around if it's not pulling you in immediately!

The main character, Jemma, is a Black woman from Chicago who gets a work offer from a family in New Orleans. This is the early 1960s, so we're introduced to Jemma on the train. It's made clear to us that Jim Crow laws are still in place—the train puts up a 'coloured' sign on her carriage once they reach a certain point along the journey. Jemma's Blackness, particularly her darker skin tone, is an important factor in this book not just because it limits her in what she can do in segregated Louisiana.

Protests are mentioned throughout the country, signifying the slow change rolling through the USA, and Jemma supports it wholeheartedly. It's important to note that ethnicity and skin colour are very important in this book, particularly amongst the Black community here. Jemma feels relatively comfortable and home in Chicago, whereas she feels very Othered in Louisiana.

The family she's here to work for are a strange bunch - a reclusive family in an old antebellum house miles from anyone else. The people Jemma meets in New Orleans act strange when she mentions working for the Duchons, and it's not long before she realises the Duchons are, in fact, very weird. Upon first meeting them, she thinks they're a white family, but they proclaim to be proudly 'coloured' (an outdated term Jemma takes offence at).

Despite this, throughout the book, the Duchons reveal themselves to be perhaps the worst family ever. They're heavily racist and colourist to Black people, both directly and indirectly, despite their claims to be proud. They're only proud if the Black folk look like them; otherwise, they use some horrible language to describe them. Jemma learns a lot about the Duchons and the house they never seem to leave, and her life is much more entwined with them than she thinks. Not to mention the ghosts of the slaves buried on the property she keeps seeing.

At the heart of it, this is a Southern gothic horror about a haunted house. But it's a much deeper discussion about internalised racism and colourism, classism, the horrors of slavery still ricocheting through time and the repercussions of something even worse than slavery on its own - Black-owned slavery. I spent the book rooting for Jemma to get away from this horrible family because they were honestly just disgusting people.

The saddest part for me was that the only characters I liked (mainly because they showed remorse and a willingness to change) suffered, whereas others, particularly heinous, didn't. Two of the family, Laurence and Fosette, were unlikable in their own ways, but I also felt sorry for them. A curse on the house means they can't leave, so since they were little kids, they've never been able to leave the house and have been stuck with horrible adults. It's understandable how they ended up with awful personalities, too, but they at least have the excuse that they've never been able to explore the world and learn any better.

This was fully worth the read, and I would highly recommend it to anyone else who loves horror!

What a cracking debut novel!!!! I have always been a fan of gothic novels so was really pleased to be offered the opportunity to read an advanced copy of This Cursed House.
This is a Southern Gothic horror set in the 1960s in New Orleans. The story follows Jemma Barker, a young Black woman who moves from Chicago to work for the Duchon family. As expected in a gothic horror, she uncovers a web of curses, hauntings, and dark family secrets. The book also addresses some important themes such as racial discrimination and the legacy of slavery.

This Cursed House is perfect for us lovers of gothic fiction, it’s the perfect atmospheric horror read. I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

This is a genuinely creepy read, filled with tension and threat. Along the way, it explores a number of serious issues including racism, slavery and colonialism. It’s very much a slow burn and the gothic atmosphere builds layer by layer. I’ve visited New Orleans, a beautiful city, quite unique; even on a bright day, there’s an undercurrent of the old voodoo vibes and the mansions and swamps make it an excellent setting for this story.

It works well, in the main. It’s 1962 and Jemma has left her home and family in Chicago to take up a live inpost with the Duchon family. They have an ulterior motive, wanting a curse lifted. The family is dysfunctional, the mansion run down and Jemma finds herself way out of her depth as an impoverished black girl in a strange place. This is a chilling tale as secrets and lies from the past reverberate. The era was one of significant racial hatred in America and that theme runs through. It’s not always comfortable reading, but it’s a clever construction and overall, it’s a satisfying story.

Jemma Barker, a young black woman, accepts a post in the Duchon House in New Orleans. Its early 60's and there is still racial discrimination. The Matriach of the family Honorine, informs Jemma that she wishes her to break a curse that was placed by her dying daughter Ines. But the members of the family, despite classing themselves as coloured, look down on Jemma because of her colour.
Jemma soon realises there are problems within the house and the family are unpleasant, added to that she can see ghosts of people that have a connection to the house. These all give problems in trying to break the curse.
This is a very powerful debut novel. It's a historical gothic horror. It's sinister and the ghosts add to the creepiness of the house.

Set the 60s a messy situation results in a young woman traveling far from home to work on what was a plantation in New Orleans.
Jemma finds herself on a journey of discovery about herself and her family.
Atmospheric and uncomfortable this is a story ultimately about secrets and lies.
Unsettling family dynamics, colourism, slavery,- big issues are incorporated into a piece of very visual storytelling.

If you like a book thats a slow burn, creepy with atmosphere this is for you! The story and characters are intriguing, mind opening and full of thought provoking moments. Once I got going I enjoyed it!

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

An intriguing concept with a build up of story, This Cursed House delivers what you would expect. I imagine many readers will enjoy this book.

What a gripping premise with its exploration of a haunted residence, making it impossible for me to resist.

The novel’s atmospheric tension and haunting setting are masterfully crafted, evoking the classic ghost story's eerie charm. Sandeen excels at creating a pervasive sense of dread, with the house's ominous details vividly brought to life. Yet, the execution falls short in some areas and the plot occasionally drags, with some pacing issues that may test the reader's patience.

Overall, If you enjoy atmospheric horror with a few chilling moments, it’s worth a read!

1962 Chicago and times are a changing. Jemma Barker is desperate to leave the city as her life is unraveling and she needs to get away. The recent death of her adoptive father, the breakdown of her relationship with her live in partner, a suicide attempt, the dismissal from a job she loved, have all led to her thinking it’s time she got away. But no funding, no family, with nowhere to go, Jemma is stuck. Temporarily living with her friend Betty, Jemma receives a letter offering her a home and job that she can’t refuse, so off to New Orleans she goes. The first glimpse we get of Jemma’s ‘gift’ is in the segregated coloureds carriage on the train, when she sees another passenger who really isn’t there.

On arrival in New Orleans, despite a couple of warnings to think again, Jemma is keen to meet her new employer and to find out who she is tutoring.

This is the kind of story where the reader is screaming “no, don’t go there” at the narrative, it’s so obviously wrong! Despite her desperation it’s unlikely that in 1962 a young woman would think full board and lodgings, plus $300 a week salary was normal!!

I really liked the setting for this book, and was hoping for more of an Anne Rice vibe and her antebellum mansions. This didn’t happen, and much more could have been made of the house and grounds. The plot was good, but very drawn out, a real slow burn. As expected, the rich folk were awful, and the poor folk downtrodden, nothing unusual there. The phantoms were a touch lacklustre, but delivered the message! The ending, when it finally arrived, tied up all loose ends and it was a satisfactory conclusion.

If the book had been 20% shorter and had not been riddled with repetition then this would have been an easy 4* read. As it is, it’s a 3*.

Thank you NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House.

I have to admit, I’m wired in a way that I prefer modern day setting to older – but this book – set in 1962, got properly under my skin.

Our protagonist, Gemma, has been offered a mysterious job in a mysterious house for a then huge sum of money. She travels down from Chicago to New Orleans to work for a family called the Duchans in what she presumes to me a tutoring job with a child.

This Cursed House dishes out atmospherics, heat and injustice from the get go as we experience the systemic racism and caste system with her as she navigates new places, faces and hate toward races..

It’s a southern gothic horror with some welcome tropes (to me) throughout: a haunted house, a family she is warned about, she can see spirits, the mysterious role that has been mis-sold and a creeping dread that I adore.

And lo, we’re all set up for a gloriously creepy story that flows like haunted molasses in the burning Louisiana sun.

Gemma’s character is solid and well developed, there are the twists and turns you’d want but don’t always see coming. The horrors of a black woman living in a Jim Crow era are handled deftly and leaves us agog with disgust. It’s all rather well put together.

It’s a very beautifully crafted, slow burning gothic horror that leads you slowly, surely and languorously to a satisfying conclusion. Fast and furious it is not. Slow, intelligent and haunting it is.

Thanks to Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and Del Sandeen for the opportunity to read this ARC book. FIVE STARS.

Interesting concept for this initially atmospheric southern gothic novel, but for me the book rather outstayed its welcome. The core theme of racism is handled broadly well, and gave me a few things to think about in terms of how different communities interact within a larger community, but that wasn’t enough to hold my attention. Ultimately the ghost element isn’t chilling, and the reveals are telegraphed so obviously I was left frustrated that the main characters couldn’t get there quicker. There are endless cycles of ‘conflict, minor revelation, family say and do horrible things, Jemma stays anyway” and I just wasn’t convinced. Disappointing, i felt this had great promise

This is a good gothic debut, I enjoyed it. Jemma is living in Chicago in 1962 when her life starts to unravel. She moves out of her boyfriend's flat after catching him cheating and loses her job as a teacher. While bunking with her friend, she receives a job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans which she accepts. On arrival she realises that the family is very odd and the real reason they offered her a job is that the house and its inhabitants are under a curse and they want her to break it. None of them have been able to leave the property in over 20 years. She's told lies upon lies but slowly starts to find the truth. Jemma is a strong character and the Duchons are quite creepy! Some very interesting twists along the way. All in all well worth reading.
Thanks to Netgalley, Michael Joseph | Penguin Random House UK, and Del Sandeen for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this one sounded really good, so I was delighted to be invited to read an ARC. Sadly, though, this one fell flat for me.

The year is 1962, and here we follow Jemma Barker, a woman in her late twenties who is desperate to start a new life. So when an exciting and well-paying job opportunity arises in New Orleans, she grabs at it with both hands. But Jemma soon finds out that somethings are too good to be true when she arrives at the Duchon family home, a creepy plantation whose inhabitants never leave. But why?

Curses, ghosts, generational trauma…
This could have been an exciting new contribution to the Southern Gothic, but for me, it missed the mark. The setting was fabulous—an old plantation-style house in New Orleans—but I didn’t feel any sense of atmosphere. This is also true of the house. I felt like the property could and should have been a sort of character in itself but was rather neglected in terms of description, which was a great disappointment when the entire novel basically took place inside it. This text could have been ultra spooky and atmospheric had a little more gone into description and the building of tension.

Overall, though, the main plot was slow moving but interesting enough. The highlight of the entire text is how Sandeen uses the Gothic to critique and comment on race, slavery, and gender. Her look into racial injustice and prejudice is emotional and important.

Thank you to @netgalley and @michaeljbooks for allowing me to read this early in exchange for my honest thoughts.

There's a lot of crazy in this house, not least the family who live there.
Lived there, and are cursed to remain and die there.
The story takes a few unexpected turns, some nice surprises.
I liked our main character Jemma, with her ability to see ghosts, and a past to reveal to us all.
Enjoyable stuff.

September 1962

Jemma Barker is travelling south from Chicago, it’s a long journey and she’s in train carriage marked ‘Colored’. She’s taking a position as a tutor with the eminent Duchon family in New Orleans, the salary is a generous $300 a week. Almost immediately upon arriving to the suffocating southern humidity she’s warned off the Duchons, why? She makes her way to the large antebellum house which is not as pristine as at first appearance, in fact, it’s neglected. To her surprise the Duchon family are also black, though they are very pale imitations of Jemma‘s dark skin, in fact, they could easily pass for white. The matriarch Honorine is haughty and the granddaughter Fossette is a puzzle and all are evasive about the job that Jemma is hired to do. Will she be able to shake off the ghosts she’s left behind in Chicago or has she travelled to something way more disturbing?

This is a very impressive southern Gothic horror debut novel in a great setting and a time period of change that lends so much scope to the storytelling. It’s got everything that you would want in a story of this kind. It’s ghostly, there’s a strange atmosphere not least created by the Duchons as well as that of the southern USA at this time. There are bizarre and troubling coincidences, there’s isolation, secrets, curses, a horrifying past (well this is the south….) so there are plenty of shocking reveals and then the fear that it evokes.

I really like the female lead in Jemma who certainly is
‘enough’ and although the other characters are very unlikeable for a variety of reasons, the author has portrayed them really well. The timeframe is a really good choice as this is a time of flux and change (or not…) and it creates a sort of bridge to the past.

It’s a good slow burn, it raises strong feelings and emotions, making me feel so angry at the overt racism as well as very sad. It may be a tad long (perhaps in the middle) but that’s my only criticism of a very strong first novel.

Congratulations to Del Sandeen for creating a spooky, ghostly, sinister tale which is very well written. I shall look forward to reading whatever she creates next.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review

This Cursed House is a Southern Gothic horror about a woman who can see spirits and a curse that only she seems to have the ability to break. I have always been a fan of gothic novels, particularly those with a haunted house aspect, so I was so excited to receive an ARC of this book.

I especially liked reading about spirits and curses in New Orleans which is famous for its haunting. As someone who is not American, I found it really interesting and refreshing to read a gothic story in a 1960’s American setting rather than the typical Victorian mansion. I also think that the author fully researched and utilised the historical setting. She talks about heavy hitting topics like racism and the long-term effects of slavery. This focus on generational trauma makes the reader think about how the past haunts the present. In that way, it is a ghost story in two senses.

In terms of characters, I think that Jemma is a strong and likeable main character. She is determined to discover the truth and it was both entertaining and suspenseful to see her uncover secrets. I think that the author also created some well-constructed unlikable characters. Particularly in a gothic novel. I think that it’s important to create flawed, sometimes downright horrible, characters. This is not just so that they can be sacrificed to add a sense of horror to the book, but so that the novel can focus on the darker side of humanity.

I think my main complaint is that the book is a bit too long. Just personally, I prefer it when gothic novels are short and open-ended. Iconic gothic stories like The Turn of the Screw and The Haunting of Hill House are powerful because they leave you with so many questions. It’s also hard to see why Jemma is so determined to help the Duchon family at times.

Overall, this was a great introduction to American and specifically Southern Gothic literature. I love stories with curses, ghouls and creepy family dynamics, and this novel ticked all of those boxes.

Couldn't put it down, read the whole book in 24hrs (couldn't sleep)!****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy