Model Home

A Novel

De: Rivers Solomon

Narrado por: Gabby Beans

Long-listed, Audible.com Best of the Year, 2024

Long-listed, CPL: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, 2024

Welcome to Rivers Solomon's dark and wondrous Model Home, a new kind of haunted-house novel.

The three Maxwell siblings keep their distance from the lily-white gated enclave outside Dallas where they grew up. When their family moved there, they were the only Black family in the neighborhood. The neighbors acted nice enough, but right away bad things, scary things—the strange and the unexplainable—began to happen in their house. Maybe it was some cosmic trial, a demonic rite of passage into the upper-middle class. Whatever it was, the Maxwells, steered by their formidable mother, stayed put, unwilling to abandon their home, terrors and trauma be damned.

As adults, the siblings could finally get away from the horrors of home, leaving their parents all alone in the house. But when news of their parents' death arrives, Ezri is forced to return to Texas with their sisters, Eve and Emanuelle, to reckon with their family’s past and present, and to find out what happened while they were away. It was not a “natural” death for their parents . . . but was it supernatural?

Rivers Solomon turns the haunted-house story on its head, unearthing the dark legacies of segregation and racism in the suburban American South. Unbridled, raw, and daring, Model Home is the story of secret histories uncovered, and of a queer family battling for their right to live, grieve, and heal amid the terrors of contemporary American life.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

©2024 Rivers Solomon (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“[A] startling reimagination of the haunted-house genre . . . In evocative prose, Solomon harnesses and recasts classic horror tropes to tell an original story of race and class, family, trauma, and grief. Each character . . . is finely rendered, with the dynamic among the siblings illustrating the ways loyalties shift and change, in constant renegotiation, and dramatizing the ruptures activated by traumatic events. The novel’s construction is elliptical, with past and present alternating from chapter to chapter [and Solomon’s] twists and turns are carefully drawn, with the tension mounting toward a shocking end . . . With this exhilarating and unforgettable work, Solomon proves to be a formidable writer.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“A profoundly haunting work of true horror from one of the greatest writers working today.”—Sarah Gailey, author of Just Like Home and Magic for Liars

“Intense, original, and wonderfully unpredictable—those adjectives describe Rivers Solomon as much as this novel. Model Home is a story of a haunted house and haunted people; profound family secrets lie at the heart of this book as well as, surprisingly, blessedly meaningful touches of love and hope. Rivers Solomon is an astonishingly talented writer.”—Victor LaValle , author of Lone Women and The Changeling

Solid good, but not great

I like that it was a unique story but the narrator’s main character voice didn’t work well for me. It was fine but I think I would’ve enjoyed this more if I read vs listened to it

This Book is Not a Fun Book

In thinking about what to write about this book the opening to the song "𓆩♡𓆪 4 and 3 𓆩♡𓆪" on "ok seashells" album "𓆩♡𓆪 𝟸 𓆩♡𓆪" comes to mind.

"This song is not a love song
This song is just my curse
I know you've been dreaming 'bout me
But I'm telling you first

This is not a fun song
Of that I'm sure
But I don't need your presence
I just need to hurt"

This book is not a fun book. It is a real book, though. It tells things like they are, showing the reality of life, messy and emotional and beautiful. It shows the horror of trauma, both of visceral sudden violence and of emotional and mental pressure over long periods of time. This is a story about insidious racism, casual homophobia, and sexual abuse.

The main character is queer, genderfluid, and plural. It's wonderful representation. The difficulties these things bring are raised, but mostly as a matter of course, and mostly with support from others. There are a few uses of slurs, both by the main character and others, but they fit within the narrative and character, not simply gratuitous or sensational.

The things that happen to the main character, the things they went through, and the things they think about themselves are all hard to experience but ultimately feel more like a representation of a real person and a cathartic release of feelings held deep than just a character written to suffer. I have felt some of these things myself. I know people with many of these characteristics. This is not simply fiction.

The narrative structure, tone, and pacing all remind me of Stephen King, as does the focus on the characters and their interactions. The supernatural is there, but it's more of a foil for the characters to explore themselves. In the end, though, this book feels much more real and visceral than Stephen King's books ever do. Stephen King feels like he is writing about his characters. It doesn't feel like a lived experience. This book feels like an almost raw expression of thought and emotion.

Read this book if you're up for a challenge. When you're not emotionally fragile or experiencing your own triggered trauma. When you can handle seeing inside another person who has been haunted their entire life by a faceless nightmare mother.

Enjoyed every moment!

Loved the mystery and the surprise twists. Also, the sibling relationships were so well written. Birth order matters. And it doesn’t. If you have siblings, there’s something to learn about the different ways we perceive our growing up years. I love how this author keeps it real while telling a good story.

Wandering around my house in a daze

A beautiful, terrible, horrifying, gorgeous book. I can’t recommend it enough. The narrator was fantastic.

Deep and dark

What makes a haunted house? Is it the ghosts or the memories of living there that haunt us? These are questions Ezra and their sisters struggle with in Model Home.
I loved the writing style of this book. It’s got unreliable narrators, flash backs, and poetic moments. It also pulled hard on my heart strings in almost every chapter.
Please be warned: there are a lot of tough themes and content expressed in this story, so please come into it as an informed reader if you need.

They eat every time

They are amazing at writing books at hold a grip to you. I Love how Rivers Solomon brings history to their stories

Best of domestic horror

If you like Jordan Peele, you're going to love this take on domestic horror. An affluent family moves up and into a nightmare. Another visceral fable from Rivers Solomon!

Too odd to be frightening

Not for me. Characters, relationships, timelines poorly defined. Writer skilled with words, but not a good storyteller. Narration, not bad, but why did character who grew up in England until age 14 have an American accent? I felt very dissatisfied but stuck it out to to silly end.

A short and sad story written beautifully

It was a shock reveal ending, but felt lackluster. Beautiful and terrible language used throughout. Definitely thought provoking.

Lackluster twist

had some really fun repetition and themes. in trying to make the characters' traits complex, their actions felt shallow. the twist/reveal of the book was one of the worst parts.