The Children's Home

November 2, 2015
British author Lambert (With a Zero at Its Heart) fuses a contemporary fairy tale with understated horror in this strange, mesmerizing novel. Morgan Fletcher—who has the “face of a monster” because his emotionally unstable mother threw acid on him when he was young—has never left his estate; his only contact is with his housekeeper, Engel. But when children mysteriously begin appearing at Morgan’s sprawling manor, he compassionately takes them in. Soon, the house is filled with dozens of children, who explore the labyrinth of abandoned rooms uncovering fascinating treasures, which reveal clues to Morgan’s dark heritage. The folkloric undertone and stylish prose, which is replete with gruesome and wondrous images, keep the reader turning the pages, though the latter chapters lack the intensity and focus of earlier chapters, and the thought-provoking conclusion isn’t as satisfying as it could have been. Agent: Isobel Dixon, Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.

August 1, 2015

An O. Henry Award winner whose memoir, With a Zero at Its Heart, was named one of the Guardian's Ten Best Books of the Year in 2014, Lambert turns up with an exhilaratingly creepy work starring Morgan Fletcher, heir to a fortune and yet disfigured, so he lives in seclusion on his estate. Then children start turning up alarmingly.

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Starred review from October 15, 2015
Morgan Fletcher is a recluse, hiding from the world at his family estate after a horrific act left him terribly disfigured. So, when seemingly abandoned children start appearing on his doorstep, it is surprising that he opens his home and his heart to them. But that's just the beginning. This genre-bending debut is by turns dread-inducing and heartwarming, a masterful exploration of whether innocence can truly sprout from ignorance. The children behave differently than one would expect, and as they discover remarkable items in the house, their presence seems more and more to have a purpose, but that purpose is a puzzle to Fletcher and his friend, a family doctor. Lambert carefully constructs the restricted sphere that Fletcher inhabits, leaving the chaotic larger world and the source of his family fortune largely a mystery. After slowly unfolding Fletcher's story, Lambert then accelerates the pace to a breathtaking climax. The Children's Home is a magical, mesmerizing tale about the courage it takes to confront the unknown.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)