The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon
A genre-defying new novel, inspired by Mary Shelley’s masterpiece Frankenstein, which brilliantly explores the eerie mysteries of childhood and the evils perpetrated by the monsters among us.
1978: at her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she’s home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran—teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love.
Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris—silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral—does not behave like a normal girl.
Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything together: ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere.
2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She’s determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real—and one of them is her very own sister.
The Children on the Hill takes us on a breathless journey to face the primal fears that lurk within us all.
Review:
The moment I read the synopsis I knew I had to read this book. I remember reading Frankenstein when I was like 8 years old – far too young – and I loved it. I couldn’t wait to see what this book had in store.
The book is told in alternating chapters – some from 1978, and others forty years in the future. When we first meet Vi and Eric they are living with their grandmother who works at a psychiatric facility in Vermont. Their house is just on the other side of some woods, and while their grandmother is very loving and takes great care of the kids, they are not to bother her at work. Vi is pretty precocious, and of course she’s going to snoop and she discovers some journals where her grandmother has written about a “patient S”. When Gran brings home Iris – a young girl who is covered in scars and can barely speak – Vi agrees to treat Iris like a sister and takes great pride in helping her grandmother by reporting back any strange behavior. Vi’s curiosity eventually gets the better of her and as she digs deeper into who Iris really is, she quickly begins to wonder if maybe her grandmother is into some creepy shit and what she eventually learns will change her life forever.
Running parallel to this is the modern story of Lizzy Shelley who we figure is probably Vi 40-years-later. Something happened on when she was younger that made her change her name. She is now a monster hunter and has a popular podcast and even consulted on a popular TV show. For years she has been hunting what she thinks may be a modern monster who has been abducting young girls, but does so while posing as local urban legends around the country. When a young girl goes missing in Vermont – not far from the infamous psychiatric facility incident from years before – Lizzy knows she has to return and put an end to this once and for all.
This is one creepy, page-turning read! As I’ve mentioned before, I’m pretty good about figuring out the who in whodunnit, but this one had a nice twist that I didn’t catch until just before the big reveal, so kudos to the author for that! After the reveal, though it kind of fizzled and I was a little disappointed, but then another revelation right at the end turned it around for me. If you like a good, creepy book that will keep you guessing, I highly recommend this one!
