Review: A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll.
Macmillan, First Second, August 2023. 256 p. ISBN 978-1250255525 (h/c), $27.99.
Reviewed July 2024
by Stephanie Jacobs, Librarian for The College of the Arts, University of South Florida Libraries, sajacobs@usf.edu
Eisner award-winning graphic artist and author Emily Carroll’s newest work, A Guest in the House, follows Abby, an introverted woman in her early thirties who has recently married a widower about ten years her senior—a nice dentist with a tween daughter, Crystal, who is still grieving her mother. The marriage isn’t especially romantic; it’s more an attempt on Abby’s part to propel her life forward. Abby battles feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem and struggles to fit into her new life even as darker aspects to her husband’s backstory and personality begin to emerge. Why does he keep the attic locked, why won’t he let his daughter have pictures of her late mother, and why is he so concerned with keeping Crystal away from the lake near their new house?
This is a gorgeously drawn book, and Carroll’s use of color is deliberate and striking. The main narrative is rendered in black, white, and gray, while vibrant splashes of color are reserved for the fantastic – pages in a children’s book, Crystal’s drawings, Abby’s imaginary worlds and fantasies, and her increasingly intense interactions with a spirit that she begins to believe is her new husband’s late wife.
This book is aimed at adult audiences but could be of interest to older teen readers who may connect with the book’s themes of loneliness, grief, trauma, fantasy, and sexual identity. It would be a worthwhile addition to a graphic novel collection at both public and academic libraries and could be used as a teaching and discussion tool for book clubs or classes on subjects such as graphic storytelling and narrative structure.
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