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Book Cover for: House of Beth, Kerry Cullen

House of Beth

Kerry Cullen

Reader Score

70%

70% of readers

recommend this book

Critic Reviews

Good

Based on 4 reviews on

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A haunting and seductive tale of a young career woman who slides quickly into the role of stepmother, in a life that may still belong to someone else. "Vivid, addictive, and crackling with life (yes, even the ghost), House of Beth asks us to consider how and why we make the lives we make" (Lynn Steger Strong).

After a heart-wrenching breakup with her girlfriend and a shocking incident at her job, Cassie flees her life as an overworked assistant in New York for her hometown in New Jersey, along the Delaware. There, she reconnects with her high school best friend, Eli, now a widowed father of two. Their bond reignites, and within a few short months, Cassie is married to Eli, living in his house in the woods, homeschooling the kids, and getting to know her reserved neighbor, Joan.

But Cassie's fresh start is less idyllic than she'd hoped. She grapples with harm OCD, her mind haunted by gory, graphic images. And she's afraid that she'll never measure up to Eli's late spouse, who was a committed homemaker and traditional wife. No matter what Cassie does, Beth's shadow still permeates every corner of their home.

Soon, Cassie starts hearing a voice narrating the house's secrets. As she listens, the voice grows stronger, guiding Cassie down a path to uncover the truth about Beth's untimely death.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Publish Date: Jul 15th, 2025
  • Pages: 240
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.57in - 5.90in - 0.92in - 0.72lb
  • EAN: 9781668074596
  • Categories: LiteraryLGBTQ+ - BisexualPsychological

About the Author

Cullen, Kerry: - Kerry Cullen's fiction has been published in The Indiana Review, Prairie Schooner, One Teen Story, and more. She earned her MFA at Columbia University, and she lives in New York.

Critics’ reviews

Praise for this book

"House of Beth is the ghost story I've been waiting for--steamy and audacious; terrifically paced. What begins as an unsettling tale of precipitated marriage and loneliness twists and explodes into an exquisite finale."
--Sanaë Lemoine, author of The Margot Affair
"Vivid, addictive, and crackling with life (yes, even the ghost), Kerry Cullen's House of Beth asks us to consider how and why we make the lives we make; how blurry, complicated, and misunderstood our own thoughts and yearnings can be, and where and how we might both love and be loved amidst the mess. I loved this book for its acuity, its urgency, but most of all its beautiful beating heart."
--Lynn Steger Strong, author of Flight, Want, and Hold Still