The Children

Released in June of this year, The Children is the latest novel from Melissa Albert. It’s a dark, gripping fairy tale that sneaks under your skin. This is the first novel I’ve read by Albert. After being deeply disturbed by it, I can promise that it won’t be the last.

Our story revolves around the main character, Guenivere Sharp. For the most part, she seems to have a good life. She’s in the middle of a press tour for her (ghostwritten) memoir. She has a handsome, loving fiancé. She’s famous all over the world.

Then, her estranged brother Ennis announces that he’s launching a new art installation called Mother. Their mother, Edith Sharp, was a world-famous children’s author. And also, not a good mother. Guinevere just published a memoir depicting a rosy, bewitching life that’s as fictional as her mother’s books. This is probably going to be a problem.

While Guin tries to track down her brother to see what the hell he’s planning, she can’t seem to escape memories of her childhood. And these are the sorts of memories that come after her with teeth bared.

Much of the story is told in flashbacks of Guinevere’s childhood. It’s a bleak one. She and her brother were left mostly to their own devices. And, you know, the devices of small children aren’t great when it comes to survival.

I have never read a book that felt more like it was written specifically for me. But of course, it wasn’t. There are a lot of kids who had lonely childhoods, turned to books for comfort, and grew up to be writers. Most of us read Chronicles of Narnia and Dragonriders of Pern. That is the sort of person this book was written for. The sort of person who kind of really wants to read the Nineth City books described in The Children.

Guinevere, the child remembers building a cottage with her brother, playing all day in the woods and reading endlessly. I recall lying on a sled in the grass, reading Goosebumps books until I got sunburn on the back of my legs. Guin describes Edith writing at all hours, the sound of a typewriter becoming the background noise of her life. She recalls her mom sitting in leggings and an oversized sweater with a manuscript and a red pen. That could be me, though I don’t neglect children to do it.

Something I didn’t notice until I finished the book is the way the horrors sneak up on you. At first, Guinivere and Ennis seem to be having a fine childhood. A little offbeat, a little eccentric. They got bumps, bruises, and scars. They ate dry cereal out of the box.

Then, the injuries get worse, and no doctor is involved. Then, you realize why they’re eating dry cereal out of the box. And things just get worse from there.

The same can be said for Ennis’s art. It’s brilliant, until you realize that there’s something wrong with it. Something has been wrong with his art for a long time.

While it’s never directly said, this book is largely about parasocial relationships. Specifically, the parasocial relationship inflicted upon children who didn’t ask for it.

I’m thinking of child actors and kids who are part of ‘family blogger’ accounts. Kids whose whole lives are put out for general display. Kids who other people think they know. Kids whose parents stole their privacy, stole their lives to sell to strangers. Look, I wasn’t expecting to find parallels to this book, and I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, but I fucking did!

In Edith’s famous children’s books, she writes her two main characters as her children. She uses their names, steals their behavior and mannerisms. She even allows the characters to look just like her kids on the cover. Then, when strangers show up and start doing things like kissing Ennis on the mouth, nothing is done to protect the kids. Ennis later rightfully points out that Edith stole their childhood for her books.

Finally, while The Children never says it, this is a story about the fei. It is a fairy tale that reminds us that the fei are not to be trusted. No deals should be made, no gifts should be taken. Because that’s at the core of this horrifying tale. The characters, one way or another, have something stolen from them. Edith has her innocence stolen. The children have their childhoods stolen. In the end, everyone loses.

Well, except one person. But you’ll have to read the book to see who that is.

I cannot recommend The Children enough. It was touching, dark, and deeply disturbing. Go check it out.

Want another creepy book recommendation? Check out my review of The Curse of Hester Gardens.

My dark science fiction book, Station 86 Volume One is coming out on October second! It contains two stories of murder and political intrigue on the space station of First Contact.