The House in the Pines

The House in the Pines (2023), a debut novel by Ana Reyes, is a psychological thriller that incorporates elements of magical realism and fairy tales. The novel began as Reyes’s MFA thesis at Louisiana State University; Reyes was inspired by her experience with Klonopin withdrawal and the mixed messages she received from various doctors. The novel also draws on Reyes’s cultural background—like her protagonist Maya, Reyes is part Guatemalan and grew up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

The House in the Pines was a January 2023 Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and a New York Times bestseller.

This guide uses the 2023 Penguin Random House edition of the book.

Content Warning: The source material features mental health conditions, drug/alcohol use disorder, and psychological abuse.

Plot Summary

The week before 17-year-old Maya starts college, she witnessed the sudden and unexplained death of her best friend, Aubrey West. Though no one believed her, Maya thought her ex-boyfriend Frank was responsible. When everyone blamed Maya’s accusations on a grief-induced psychosis, Maya was prescribed the addictive anti-anxiety drug Klonopin.

Maya also self-medicates with alcohol as she tries to move on and forget what happened to Aubrey. However, when she is 25 years old, a viral online video catches Maya’s attention and brings her trauma back to the surface.