{"id":10431,"date":"2021-03-31T08:50:06","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T08:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/?p=10431"},"modified":"2023-01-03T13:35:41","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T13:35:41","slug":"review-the-last-house-on-needless-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/archive\/review-the-last-house-on-needless-street\/","title":{"rendered":"[Review] The Last House on Needless Street"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Last House on Needless Street<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sarah Johnson reviews Catriona Ward\u2019s The Last House on Needless Street, a Gothic novel with a tantalising puzzle-box narrative...<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Last House on Needless Street<\/i>, Catriona Ward\u2019s third novel, begins with an unsolved crime: the abduction of Lulu, a six-year-old girl taken from her family one summer\u2019s day.<\/b> The story is initially told by Ted, who lives on Needless Street near the lake where Lulu disappeared. Ted calls Lulu the \u2018Little Girl With Popsicle\u2019 and can\u2019t forget the anniversary of her abduction, as even eleven years after Lulu\u2019s disappearance, he\u2019s a suspect \u2013 or feels like one. Certainly, Dee (Lulu\u2019s older sister) holds him responsible, and when the reader hears the story from her perspective, it appears likely. As the story progresses, however, it becomes apparent that each remembers events with a skewed point of view. This engaged me in the narrative to such an extent that I found it hard to put the book down; when I did, I was still trying to untangle the narrative threads in my mind.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0The Last House on Needless Street<\/i> is a hard read at times. Stories of human cruelty are always horrific, particularly when the perpetrator is trusted \u2013 even loved \u2013 by their victim. The book is complex in both character motivations and the underlying truth of the matter, and neither is really apparent until the end (although Ward provides numerous tantalising clues throughout). Once I\u2019d read the book, I returned to several sections and appreciated them even more in the light of my new understanding. It\u2019s very much a puzzle narrative, and structured as one. As a reviewer, I have to try to give my thoughts on the book without revealing too much, because solving the mystery of Needless Street pulled me through the story.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0This story is also narrated by Olivia and Lauren. Olivia is a cat, so has unique insight into what is happening, what has happened, and who Ted is. Lauren is Ted\u2019s daughter, and possesses important information about her father which transforms the character. The narrative is divided into chapters that focus on individuals, in turn, providing different perspectives on people and events. At first, I found the structure fragmented my understanding of exactly what was happening, but this mirrors the characters\u2019 lives: there\u2019s no omniscient narrator, no one person who guides the reader through. We are presented with scraps of memories and present lives, and it\u2019s all too easy to assemble these into the wrong shape.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0As the characters chase ghosts, so does the reader, and the Gothic is always close at hand. An early reference to Wuthering Heights<\/i> (Emily Bront\u00eb, 1847) reflects the extent to which Dee is haunted by Lulu, just as Heathcliff is haunted by Catherine. Dee sees her sister everywhere, alive and dead:<\/p>

\u2018She kneels and comes face to face with it, the child, its silver white flesh dappled in the moonlight, its mouth a black cherry, eyes gleaming like lamps, filled with the light of death, scalp stripped and wounded, where the birds have plucked the hair from her skull.
\u201cCome in,\u201d Dee whispers and puts out her hand.\u2019<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0To Dee, Ted\u2019s house \u2018smells of death; not of rot or blood but dry bone and dust; like an old grave, long forgotten\u2019, and although just a house on an ordinary street, its exterior is boarded and interior decaying. In this house \u2013 where his mother took her life \u2013 Ted is haunted: she is many years dead, yet still as loved and feared by him. The house is a prison and a sanctuary, a reliquary of agony and torment. It is only outside the last house on Needless Street that Ted finds occasional respite. Descriptions of his love of nature reveal his complex character: he takes joy in feeding birds, and the nearby forest is a source of comfort to him; at times he feels he is \u2018in its heart\u2019. As in Wuthering Heights<\/i>, vivid descriptions with sinister overtones celebrate nature \u2013 while implying it should not be underestimated. Ted draws strength from it, but to Dee the forest is full of the \u2018sliding passage of snakes.\u2019 As with everything in this novel, it is a matter of perspective.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0A puzzle narrative combined with Gothic influences makes The Last House on Needless Street<\/i> a compelling read. With her shifting points of view, Ward draws the reader on, offering occasional glimpses of the truth which is revealed in the final chapters. As Ward writes, \u2018you never know what books are going to do to you,\u2019 and in this case, where they will take you.<\/p>

Purchase a copy of The Last House on Needless Street<\/i> by clicking the image below…<\/p>

\"The<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSarah Johnson\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Sarah is a filmmaker, writer and lecturer. She\u2019s spent a lifetime pulling apart and putting films back together, and still enjoys every minute of it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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More To Explore<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTales From The Crypt (1972)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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Tales From The Crypt 1972 \/ Freddie Francis Where does one start with examining arguably Amicus\u2019 greatest portmanteau film? Well, for me, wiping away the<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t20\/09\/2023\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThe People That Time Forgot (1977)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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The People That Time Forgot 1977 \/ Kevin Connor The success of Amicus\u2019 first two Edgar Rice Burroughs-based fantasy adventures in 1975 and 1976 led<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t19\/09\/2023\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAt The Earth’s Core (1976)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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AT THE EARTH’S CORE 1976 \/ Kevin Connor Amicus\u2019 first foray into the science fiction adventure, The Land That Time Forgot (UK, Kevin Connor, 1974)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t19\/09\/2023\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarah Johnson reviews Catriona Ward\u2019s The Last House on Needless Street, a Gothic novel with a tantalising puzzle-box narrative…\u200b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2030],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/the-last-house-on-needless-street-featured-image.jpg?fit=1000%2C562&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10431"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122709,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10431\/revisions\/122709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}