The Haunting of Falcon House by Eugene Yelchin (review)

Prince Lvov has always known his destiny was to succeed his forefathers as master of Falcon House and become a distinguished general in the tsar’s army. Therefore, although it means leaving his beloved widowed mother behind, the twelve-year-old bravely boards the train to St. Petersburg and takes up residence with his paternal aunt Olga Lvovna, who will groom him for greatness. He arrives to find the house perplexing and his aunt both terrifying and solicitous about his care. His first night is spent in his grandfather’s suite, and if the portrait of the grim general looming over him isn’t enough to unnerve him, the ghost of a young boy appears and a mysterious force commandeers Lvov’s arm and hand and compels him to draw. As the ghost boy Vanyousha seeks Lvov’s aid in helping him return to his mother, Lvov discovers that his aunt had more than one purpose in bringing him to Falcon House and that the proud family legacy is built on cruelty and shame. Readers who follow the axiom “Nobody reads intros or endnotes” will settle right in for a great, creepy story, sigh with relief as Falcon House’s real demon is purged, and close the books with a contented smile. However, those who follow the total immersion route—from the faux title page, to Yelchin’s introductory remarks on the document he discovered as a child in Russia, to the notes that play it close to straight, commenting on relevant bits of Russian history—will appreciate the bonus delight of clever craftmanship. Additionaly, those already familiar with Yelchin’s work (Arcady’s Goal, BCCB 12/14, etc,) will discern the implicit indictment of an imperialist system entrenched far too long and unwilling to go out graciously.