Just Jennifer

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay (William Morrow, June 2015)

Is fourteen year old Marjorie Barrett mentally ill, possessed or just a spoiled teenager manipulating her family?  At first, Marjorie’s parents, her father recently unemployed, think she is acting out and the suspect her of being mentally ill.  As her father turns back to his Catholic faith, he becomes convinced that Marjorie is possessed and that an exorcism is their only salvation.  A reality show, The Possession, offers the Massachusetts family a large sum of money for the privilege of following Marjorie, her younger sister Meredith and their parents.  Fifteen years later, Meredith is sharing the family’s story with a journalist who is going to write the family story, but Meredith’s recollections differ a bit from what was documented in the television show and recalls one important detail that was left out of the show, one detail that changes how everything is viewed, tilting reality on its side, making the reader uncertain what is real and what is drama.  Each member of the Barrett family is carefully portrayed and the older Meredith may be the most cunning of all.  A hard novel to characterize, Tremblay’s latest novel delves into the supernatural, psychological thriller and even a little social commentary, but when you come right down to it is an old-fashioned, deliciously creepy horror novel.