Starling House

Written by Hugo Award–winning author Alix E. Harrow in 2023, Starling House is a Southern Gothic work of speculative fiction about finding a place to call home. The story focuses on Opal, an impoverished woman struggling to free herself and her brother from their prejudiced small town. When she accepts a job as a housekeeper at the mysterious Starling House, she begins to fall for its equally mysterious inhabitant, Arthur Starling, as the property’s deeper secrets begin to reveal themselves. Exploring themes of truth, power, and choice, Harrow uses the novel to examine how the very act of storytelling can be used to grapple with the effects of the past.

This study guide refers to the Tor Macmillan Kindle edition of the text.

Content Warning: This text features discussions of enslavement, sexual assault, suicide, self-harm, domestic abuse, racism, sexism, classism, anti-gay bias, alcohol abuse, and violence.

Plot Summary

In the small town of Eden, Kentucky, rumors and legends surround the supposedly haunted property of Starling House and its enigmatic former residents. With the exception of Opal, the citizens of Eden are also fearful of the Starling land and its current inhabitant, Arthur Starling. Struggling to support herself and her younger brother,

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