Since he does away with the omniscient third person narrator, he resorts to monologues by certain characters, which are very obviously meant to fill the reader in. Being a supernatural tale, Mitchell has some explaining to do if he is to give his novel an internal logic. Unfortunately, without denying that this is a haunting and quite scary yarn, my initial enthusiasm dampened somewhat as the novel progressed. If there is such a thing as a postmodern ghost story, this would be it. Nominally a “haunted house” supernatural tale, Slade House also has elements of psychological horror, noir (including a detective “anti-hero” in its second part), time-travel (of sorts), crime fiction, “missing person” thriller, Harry-Potter-like dark fantasy, all (ironically) played out against a very realistic backdrop and featuring very credible characters. In reality, Mitchell taps into several common tropes of genre fiction, managing to blend them into one gripping book. Some critics have hailed the originality of Slade House. The structure necessitates a degree of repetition, but this never annoys – rather it gives the novel the feel of a dark ritual. Mitchell’s genius in conveying different narrative voices is as brilliant as ever and, in each case, the period and the setting are masterfully evoked.

Each segment (except for the last) is narrated by the “guest” lured to Slade House. The book takes us from 1979 to 2015, with each of its 5 sections set in October at intervals nine years apart. Slade House is a much slenderer and less ambitious work and yet it shares certain elements with the earlier novel. Reading that novel, I had been impressed by Mitchell’s ability to combine wildly diverse genres and to convincingly give voice to different narrators, all within a grand, perfectly controlled structure. Prior to reading this book, I only knew David Mitchell through his. Even if you’re looking for it! But now you’re here, let us keep you company during these blissful hours. And if you manage to find its entrance, it’s so easy to miss the little door to the sumptuous garden.

Slade Alley does have this habit of disappearing into thin air, you know. Soooo glad you managed to make your way here.

Slade house