Starve Acre

A Novel

By: Andrew Michael Hurley

Narrated by: Richard Burnip

An atmospheric and unsettling story of the depths of grief found in an ancient farm in northern England—now a major motion picture starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark.

The worst thing possible has happened. Richard and Juliette Willoughby's son, Ewan, has died suddenly at the age of five. Starve Acre, their house by the moors, was to be full of life, but is now a haunted place. Convinced Ewan still lives there in some form, Juliette seeks the help of the Beacons, a seemingly benevolent group of occultists. Richard, to try and keep the boy out of his mind, has turned his attention to the field opposite the house, where he patiently digs the barren dirt in search of a legendary oak tree. But as they delve further into their grief, both uncover more than they set out to.

Starve Acre is a devastating novel by the author of the prize-winning bestseller The Loney. It is a novel about the way in which grief splits the world in two and how, in searching for hope, we can so easily unearth horror.

©2023 Andrew Michael Hurley (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"[Hurley] ably captured the vibe of the era’s demon-spawn novels like Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist. . . Top-shelf gothic-folk horror."—Kirkus (Starred Review)

“Hurley has a slow and steady hand in establishing a gloomy, nearly gothic atmosphere, allowing his characters’ grief room to breathe even as he tightens the noose in ways readers won’t see coming until the chilling and memorable conclusion. This is folk horror that knows how to take its time.”—Publisher's Weekly

“A tour de force of physiological fantasia . . . Writing of this quality - sensuous, exact, observant - ensures that other scenes, too, pulse with vitality . . . Hurley's gothic storylines send specters of deathliness through his fictional world. His prose brings it vividly alive”—Peter Kemp, Sunday Times (UK), Fiction Book of the Year pick

Atmosphere

It’s kinda just not as scary pet semetary
The way the final scene ends is so predictable that it takes away slightly from the good atmosphere

Eerie

Well-written, almost comfy story despite its creepiness. Narrator has a calming voice. I was drawn into the characters’ lives, and the haunting Starve Acre.

Image Mood Voice & Subject Matter

Narration - Richard Burnip has an accent and inflection that painted this story into my mind in lovely layers of intrigue, charm, and dark turbulence. His voice is a perfect match for Starve Acre's characters, setting, and tone.

Style - I am enchanted with Andrew Michael Hurley's style. His vocabulary and composition combine with relatable characters, rich folklore, and bleak settings to create scenes that feel like paintings birthed by Francis Bacon, Winslow Homer, and Theo Major. Hurley is a talented author who I hope is just beginning his journey to mastery.

Story - As much as I admire Hurley's writing, this story is not as well constructed as some of his other work. This story was adapted for the screen, and in this case I actually feel like the screenplay was a more appropriate arrangement for this story.
***MILD SPOILER ALERT***
Starve Acre begins by examining the lives of a couple in the aftermath of the loss of their only child. Hurley uses a familiar construction that sets up the manner and events of the child's death as a mystery and plots to and fro in time down a slow-burn folk-horror path to eventually reveal to the reader the circumstances of the child's death. This creates a sense of mystery around the death that I feel gummed up the works of the story engine.
For me, the elements of the story that propelled me through it were the terrible effects of grief on the couple's relationship, the guilt of having a "bad" child, the guilt of losing a child, the gravity of the dark supernatural forces being intensified by the loss, and the mystery of Jack Grey and the old tree. The manner of the child's death and the "reveal" around the mother's guilt were elements unnecessary to highlight. This just slowed down the ratcheting up of the tension for me though, it did not ruin the experience of a GOOD story.

I want to be clear that I did enjoy this book. It is well written, well voiced, and is a touching and terrifying story about parenting and loss and guilt and evil and blood debts being attached to a family and their land. Hurley is top of his class in modern folk horror. I have not found a contemporary of his that I like more.

I saw the reviews full of complaints about the build-up with no bang. Hurley's works are not fast-paced page turners full of scares. He doesn't pepper his stories with many tension relieving moments. He slowly ratchets up the tension in an unrelenting and very relatable way, artfully revealing a raw and ancient human darkness that pushes his characters into the most uncomfortable and complex situations. There is no ta-da moment that wraps up the story in a satisfying way. The payoff is the reveal of the beastly and tortured human masterpiece that you sympathize with, despise, and fear. It's like pulling the drape off an uncanny self portrait where all the worst and darkest things in you have been distorted and magnified by a talented painter, but you can still clearly see yourself in there.

Starve Acre is a very good book that could have been great with a little restructuring. Go check out Devil's Day and The Loney. If you liked this one you will love those. I can't wait to see what Hurley does next!

Beautiful Language, Haunting Story

Starve Acre is a hypnotic story of a family dealing with tragedy. It is trance-like and disturbing. Both the author and the narrator do an amazing job bring this unusual story to life.

delicious

A fresh and engrossing execution of of classical ghost story goodness. Thrilling and uneasy even as it feels like an old friend.

Pointless book

No answers, all lose endings. Even though this book has good atmosphere and characters are just plain unlikable especially the wife.

Boring

Very boring don’t waste your time. You int bit of creepiness mostly boring and a little weird.