Friday, June 26, 2020

July Readalong: Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

The Ladies of Horror Fiction team is excited to announce our July readalong of Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas. Catherine House was selected by the members of the Ladies of Horror Fiction Goodreads group. All of the details for joining the readalong are posted below. Catherine House sounds amazing, and we are looking forward to some great discussions throughout the month of July!

Catherine House by Elizabeth Thomas

A seductive, gothic-infused tale of literary suspense — the debut of a spectacular new voice — about a dangerously curious young undergraduate whose rebelliousness leads her to discover a shocking secret involving an exclusive circle of students . . . and the dark truth beneath her school’s promise of prestige.

You are in the house and the house is in the woods.
You are in the house and the house is in you . . .


Catherine House is a school of higher learning like no other. Hidden deep in the woods of rural Pennsylvania, this crucible of reformist liberal arts study with its experimental curriculum, wildly selective admissions policy, and formidable endowment, has produced some of the world’s best minds: prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices, presidents. For those lucky few selected, tuition, room, and board are free. But acceptance comes with a price. Students are required to give the House three years—summers included—completely removed from the outside world. Family, friends, television, music, even their clothing must be left behind. In return, the school promises its graduates a future of sublime power and prestige, and that they can become anything or anyone they desire.

Among this year’s incoming class is Ines, who expects to trade blurry nights of parties, pills, cruel friends, and dangerous men for rigorous intellectual discipline—only to discover an environment of sanctioned revelry. The school’s enigmatic director, Viktória, encourages the students to explore, to expand their minds, to find themselves and their place within the formidable black iron gates of Catherine.

For Ines, Catherine is the closest thing to a home she’s ever had, and her serious, timid roommate, Baby, soon becomes an unlikely friend. Yet the House’s strange protocols make this refuge, with its worn velvet and weathered leather, feel increasingly like a gilded prison. And when Baby’s obsessive desire for acceptance ends in tragedy, Ines begins to suspect that the school—in all its shabby splendor, hallowed history, advanced theories, and controlled decadence—might be hiding a dangerous agenda that is connected to a secretive, tightly knit group of students selected to study its most promising and mysterious curriculum.

Combining the haunting sophistication and dusky, atmospheric style of Sarah Waters with the unsettling isolation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Catherine House is a devious, deliciously steamy, and suspenseful page-turner with shocking twists and sharp edges that is sure to leave readers breathless.

Catherine House Readalong Discussion

The readalong discussion will take place in our Ladies of Horror Fiction group on Goodreads: July 2020 Readalong: CATHERINE HOUSE by Elisabeth Thomas

Catherine House Readalong Schedule

The readalong will begin on July 1 and discussions will take place throughout the month of July (and beyond for anyone who wants to keep the discussion going!)

You can join in any time during the month. We often have group members who will join in mid-month or later.

We use spoiler tags to hide any spoilers so feel free to jump in when you are ready!

Sharing the Readalong

Be sure to use the hashtags #LadiesofHorrorFiction and #LOHFReadalong if you are sharing or discussing outside of Goodreads so we can share your posts!

Join the Readalong

Will you be joining us for the readalong? Let us know! We can’t wait to read Catherine House with you!

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