Model Home
by Rivers Solomon
Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted October 27, 2024
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Rivers Solomon's third novel is an atypical "ghost" story. I hope to be vague about why I used quotes there. Sometimes ghosts are not entities outside of ourselves, but rather the haints of our memories, our fears, anxieties, desires, and of previous actions. It was appropriate they used an amalgam of first, second, and third-person narrative form, since if it was all first-person, Ezri Washington Maxwell could be considered the most unreliable narrator you are ever likely to read. Born in Brooklyn, their parents moved to Dallas, Texas when they were five. Two siblings came later; Eve and Emmanuel. Their parents were Eudora Washington and Edward Maxwell. It wasn't until late in the book we learn how he gained his wealth. He was a bio-tech engineer and inventor, who had also invested wisely in other companies and properties. Why they chose to relocate to an exclusive gated community in North Dallas, one for which they were the only black family, is puzzling, as is why they stayed so long given the fact their house may have been haunted. But haunted by what, or by whom? They had lucked into the house at a reasonable price, mainly because other potential buyers were put off by the fact it had been the original model home for Oak Creek Estates, thus deemed already too lived-in.
It is usually a mistake to read too much of the author into their work, but Ezri does share some traits with Rivers. Rivers is non-binary and intersex; Ezri may be the same, or at least gender-fluid. At the beginning of the book Ezri is living in England, which is also the case for Rivers. They both have a child, but Ezri's is older by at least ten years. Rivers was born in California, but did live in Dallas for a time. I dearly hope the reasons Ezri emigrated don't apply to the author. All three siblings had been estranged from their parents since adulthood. Emmanuel was the youngest, and since she had been sent to a boarding school when she was eight, she did not have the same memories of 667 Acacia Drive as Ezri and Eve. Ezri returns to Dallas after receiving cryptic messages from their mother's phone, although they suspected they actually came from Nightmare Mother, aka The Woman Without A Face. On multiple occasions in their childhood and teen years, Ezri had blackouts, fugue states, which they explained away by saying they had been under the spell of Nightmare Mother. At one point Emmanuel had been scarred by sulfuric acid when Ezri was bathing her, Ezri claiming the clear, odorless liquid came from the faucet, suspecting the Nightmare Mother was to blame. Now Ezri has been calling their parents but they are not answering. They learn why on return to their childhood home. Both Eudora and Edward are dead. It appears to be either a murder/suicide, or a mutual suicide pact, and that is the conclusion drawn by the police, but Ezri has serious doubts. Nightmare Mother must still be stalking 667.
Ezri loved their mother, and their father too, except he was rarely around, too busy with his work. Even though separated by thousands of miles, they had talked to their mother by phone at least once a week, so was sure their parents had no problems in their relationship, and not financially either. When they later learn how much they might be inheriting, and of the many other homes the family could have moved to when problems arose at 667, they are both furious, and understanding. They always referred to their mother as God, a force of nature, one who would never back down from adversity. Eudora Washington would not let societal pressures, racism and discrimination, veer her off the course for the future she wanted for her family. Even though Eudora's children shared some of her traits, they also had distinctly different personalities. They had been as estranged from each other as they had been from their parents, but eventually come together for mutual support. I will not reveal the secrets of 667, the not so model home, other than to say Eudora Washington was NOT the Nightmare Mother. The story is weird, and creepy, full of profanity and sexual situations, although not all come to fruition, or if they are not all are detailed. It will not appeal to everyone, but I liked it, and can recommend it.
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