In The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts, Kim Fu (Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century) provides a bleak vision of an American dream that leaks, sags, and buckles under the weight of its own shoddy construction. The novel is part chilling real-estate horror and part somber requiem for lost potential and lost loves, woven together in an unforgettable work of literary fiction, whose adroit, incisive prose presents as a kindred spirit to that of Rachel Cusk and Shirley Jackson.
The novel centers on Eleanor, whose recently deceased mother, Lele, commanded her to use her inheritance to buy a house and stabilize her life. Though employed as a therapist, Eleanor is ill equipped to deal with the realities of life without her mother, who coddled her well into adulthood and shielded her from basic tasks and responsibilities. Eleanor complies with her mother's instructions, as she always has.
All too quickly, the house that was meant to be a sanctuary reveals itself to be a nightmare with a gruesome history. Eleanor's psychological state dissolves as the rain pours through her leaky windows. She begins to see the ghosts of her mother and the ill-fated builder of her house. She finds even her dreams haunted by her struggling clients, who include a new mother trying to regain access to her child, a young woman with a shopping addiction, and a husband grappling with an unyielding premonition of impending doom.
Eleanor's ultimate reckoning strikes readers with the ferocity of a deluge; is it one she can survive? Fu explores the possibilities with dexterous ambiguity. --Elizabeth DeNoma, executive editor, DeNoma Literary Services, Seattle, Wash.