The Haunting of Moscow House
Summer 1921. Sisters Irina and Lili Goliteva are ‘former people’ in post-Revolutionary Russia: surviving members of an aristocratic family whose property has been seized. The girls, along with their aunt, grandmother, and two young cousins, live in the attic of Moscow House while the rest of the mansion is in the hands of soldiers. Although ten years apart in age, and not always close, the sisters come together in trying to support the family by starting work with the American Relief Administration. This might mean that the sisters’ fortune is changing, but ghostly disturbances are underway at home in Moscow House, and it seems that a reckoning is coming.
Olesya Salnikova Gilmore is a talented writer with an in-depth knowledge of Russian history and folklore that shines in these pages. Her writing is lush and descriptive, and the sense of the era is excellently conveyed. Her sisters are engaging, rounded characters, each with a side story of romance playing out amidst the mayhem. It’s the amount of mayhem, however, that threatens to overwhelm their story. There’s an evil doll, there’s seeping mold, and lingering scents belonging to dead relatives. Someone has been dabbling in the occult, unleashing impish forces the sisters struggle to understand or contain. Then there’s the fairy-tale elements, and referencing of Russian folktales, all deliciously described – but sometimes to the detriment of the story’s pace. Add in the ‘real-life’ story of the experiences of the Russian population, and the sum of the parts of this novel might have been better treated separately. Not to say it’s not an enjoyable read, but there really is a lot going on here.
