The novel begins as an eerie meditation on grief, family dysfunction and things that go bump in the night. But about halfway through, Gnuse’s masterfully crafted slow burn ignites into a hair-raising thriller that is as unnerving as it is unexpected.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Girl in the Walls poses the question — how well do we really know where we live? . . . Gnuse tugs the seemingly insignificant into the spotlight and holds it there. He makes the forgotten and easily brushed away threads of the story crystal clear, while entwining a narrative of growing up and learning to live with, while not clinging to, trauma. It is a story focused on the psychological without prescribing itself as such; it entertains while providing a mirror to analyze the fears that make us leave our lights on just a little bit longer each night.” — Southern Review of Books
“Clear your calendar. Once you start reading Girl in the Walls , you won’t want to do anything else. Read it first for the thrill ride. Then read it a second time, slowly, to savor language that drips and swells with the terrifying beauty of a Gulf Coast hurricane. A riveting, astonishing, and flat-out gorgeous debut.” — Nina de Gramont, author of The Christie Affair
“A young girl hides in her childhood home in Gnuse’s disquieting debut. . . . Gnuse builds a good deal of tension as the story reaches its climax, involving a dangerous Jonah and even more dangerous hurricane. . . . Vivid.” — Publishers Weekly
“After a tragedy, a young Louisiana girl returns to her former home, though there's another family already living in it. . . . a coming-of-age tale with a twist.” — Kirkus Reviews
“A grieving, orphaned girl lives inside the walls of the last place where she felt love in this disquieting coming-of-age story. . . A.J. Gnuse's first novel, Girl in the Walls , gathers a damaged, plucky tween and an angst-ridden family and throws a hellacious storm at them, but still lets a little hope peek from behind the darkest clouds.” — Shelf Awareness
"Strange, outré—this remarkable debut novel is both of these and more... Gnuse has done a brilliant job of making the implausible plausible and of creating characters, especially Eddie, who are simply unforgettable. The Louisiana setting is evocative and a marvel of verisimilitude. The sui-generis result is haunting and, like the characters, unforgettable." — Booklist (Starred Review)
"Girl in the Walls meets the test as literary fiction. (Some people might be reminded of Donna Tartt's The Little Friend. ) Yet it also works as a solid commercial thriller." — Starnews
"Girl in the Walls is A.J. Gnuse’s debut novel and an astounding one at that." — Girly Book Club
“Tense and terrifying, with echoes of Shirley Jackson, Girl in the Walls is a spectacular debut. An elegant meditation on grief, love, and family, this truly extraordinary novel is a page-turner with deeply imagined characters, and A. J. Gnuse’s prose is as sharp and precise and muscular as any I’ve seen." — Elizabeth Wetmore, author of Valentine
“Ever been deep underwater, holding your breath, wondering if you will make it to the surface? OK. Remember that famous scene in the movie, 'Wait Until Dark?' Remember that feeling while reading 'The Tell-Tale Heart?' Remember the evil character in the movie, 'No Country For Old Men?' Remember the most terrifying nightmare you’ve ever had? OK, so now: Here’s your book, Girl in the Walls, by Adam Gnuse. It’s really scary, and literary to boot, going way down deep, and way up high. Gnuse’s first novel says that he is the real thing, out of the gate.” — Clyde Edgerton, author of The Night Train and Killer Diller
"Gnuse's debut is bold and compelling, subtle and sublime, with writing so good that you're torn between racing ahead and lingering. I found myself holding my breath and never wanting to leave, despite the darkness. A uniquely gothic tale about grief, belonging and hiding in plain sight." — Jess Kidd, author of Mr. Flood's Last Resort
“Gnuse is a writer of vision, who builds up his novel like the most exquisite music box. It plays out perfectly, and will leave you entranced long after its covers are closed.” — Ali Shaw, author of The Trees
"Girl in the Walls is as much about willful Elise, who haunts her childhood home after losing her parents, as it is about the two boys who are afraid of her. Gnuse deftly explores the challenge of boyhood, the cost of appearing brave—of 'manning up.'" — Maria Reva, author of Good Citizens Need Not Fear
"From her place inside the walls, the heroine of this enthralling novel describes and grasps the world outside—a place so naturally beautiful and terrifying she fears and longs to re-enter it. This is a book about grief and childhood, about the glory of the physical world, the flight patterns of birds, about how it feels to be locked inside time, and inside the beautiful body and inside a bustling, heartbreaking family. I've never seen a young writer burst onto the stage with this much holy brilliance and vivacity." — Rebecca Lee, author of Bobcat and Other Stories
A grieving, orphaned girl lives inside the walls of the last place where she felt love in this disquieting coming-of-age story. . . A.J. Gnuse's first novel, Girl in the Walls , gathers a damaged, plucky tween and an angst-ridden family and throws a hellacious storm at them, but still lets a little hope peek from behind the darkest clouds.
"Girl in the Walls meets the test as literary fiction. (Some people might be reminded of Donna Tartt's The Little Friend. ) Yet it also works as a solid commercial thriller."
Tense and terrifying, with echoes of Shirley Jackson, Girl in the Walls is a spectacular debut. An elegant meditation on grief, love, and family, this truly extraordinary novel is a page-turner with deeply imagined characters, and A. J. Gnuse’s prose is as sharp and precise and muscular as any I’ve seen."
The novel begins as an eerie meditation on grief, family dysfunction and things that go bump in the night. But about halfway through, Gnuse’s masterfully crafted slow burn ignites into a hair-raising thriller that is as unnerving as it is unexpected.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Girl in the Walls is A.J. Gnuse’s debut novel and an astounding one at that."
“Girl in the Walls poses the question — how well do we really know where we live? . . . Gnuse tugs the seemingly insignificant into the spotlight and holds it there. He makes the forgotten and easily brushed away threads of the story crystal clear, while entwining a narrative of growing up and learning to live with, while not clinging to, trauma. It is a story focused on the psychological without prescribing itself as such; it entertains while providing a mirror to analyze the fears that make us leave our lights on just a little bit longer each night.”
"Strange, outré—this remarkable debut novel is both of these and more... Gnuse has done a brilliant job of making the implausible plausible and of creating characters, especially Eddie, who are simply unforgettable. The Louisiana setting is evocative and a marvel of verisimilitude. The sui-generis result is haunting and, like the characters, unforgettable."
Booklist (Starred Review)
Clear your calendar. Once you start reading Girl in the Walls , you won’t want to do anything else. Read it first for the thrill ride. Then read it a second time, slowly, to savor language that drips and swells with the terrifying beauty of a Gulf Coast hurricane. A riveting, astonishing, and flat-out gorgeous debut.
Ever been deep underwater, holding your breath, wondering if you will make it to the surface? OK. Remember that famous scene in the movie, 'Wait Until Dark?' Remember that feeling while reading 'The Tell-Tale Heart?' Remember the evil character in the movie, 'No Country For Old Men?' Remember the most terrifying nightmare you’ve ever had? OK, so now: Here’s your book, Girl in the Walls, by Adam Gnuse. It’s really scary, and literary to boot, going way down deep, and way up high. Gnuse’s first novel says that he is the real thing, out of the gate.
The novel begins as an eerie meditation on grief, family dysfunction and things that go bump in the night. But about halfway through, Gnuse’s masterfully crafted slow burn ignites into a hair-raising thriller that is as unnerving as it is unexpected.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Girl in the Walls is as much about willful Elise, who haunts her childhood home after losing her parents, as it is about the two boys who are afraid of her. Gnuse deftly explores the challenge of boyhood, the cost of appearing brave—of 'manning up.'"
"Gnuse's debut is bold and compelling, subtle and sublime, with writing so good that you're torn between racing ahead and lingering. I found myself holding my breath and never wanting to leave, despite the darkness. A uniquely gothic tale about grief, belonging and hiding in plain sight."
Gnuse is a writer of vision, who builds up his novel like the most exquisite music box. It plays out perfectly, and will leave you entranced long after its covers are closed.
"From her place inside the walls, the heroine of this enthralling novel describes and grasps the world outside—a place so naturally beautiful and terrifying she fears and longs to re-enter it. This is a book about grief and childhood, about the glory of the physical world, the flight patterns of birds, about how it feels to be locked inside time, and inside the beautiful body and inside a bustling, heartbreaking family. I've never seen a young writer burst onto the stage with this much holy brilliance and vivacity."
Strange, outré—this remarkable debut novel is both of these and more... Gnuse has done a brilliant job of making the implausible plausible and of creating characters, especially Eddie, who are simply unforgettable. The Louisiana setting is evocative and a marvel of verisimilitude. The sui-generis result is haunting and, like the characters, unforgettable.
Booklist Online (Starred Review)
06/01/2021
DEBUT Elise lives in the Masons' house. It used to be her house; now it is theirs, but Elise lives there anyway, secretly, inside the walls. Mr. and Mrs. Mason don't know she's there, but their two teenage boys suspect as much. As Elise evades detection while spooking the boys, questions arise: Is she real? Is she the figment of someone's imagination? Is she a ghost? Gnuse's debut novel is an examination of place and belonging, among other things. It's challenging on several levels and leaves many loose ends: What's the meaning of the house that Elise can never leave, but that, over the course of the story (and partially because of her presence), comes apart, wrecked beyond repair? Who is the mysterious Mr. Traust, the deranged exorcist who, hammer in hand, deconstructs the house in an effort to capture the girl in the walls? And what exactly should we make of the relationship between Elise and Eddie, the Masons' 13-year-old? VERDICT Gnuse's writing is certainly artful and bodes well for future efforts, but readers may be puzzled or even annoyed that the work leaves them empty-handed.—Michael Russo, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge
2021-03-17
After a car accident leaves 11-year-old Elise on her own, she finds herself wandering off from the foster home where she's been placed and back to the beloved house she grew up in, a mazelike structure that her parents were always working on. She finds an unlocked door and makes herself at home again. The only problem? Elise's family had moved out a few months earlier, and the house is now owned by the Mason family: Laura, Nick, and teenagers Marshall and Eddie. While the parents seem oblivious to anything going on, Eddie notices a presence in his room while Marshall tries to track down who ate the food he put aside for himself. How long can a girl secreted in the walls keep her presence hidden, and who might seek her out? Split into five parts, Gnuse’s debut tale is tense but not a thriller. There is always the threat of discovery hanging in the air, but the story focuses more on meandering meditations on Elise’s coping (or lack thereof) with the loss of her parents, Eddie’s vague differences from others his age, or Nick and Laura’s marital problems. Gnuse explores interesting ideas about masculinity as Marshall and Eddie attempt to “man up” and take care of their hidden-person problem in the face of their parents’ disbelief. As the situation spirals out of control for them, there are some genuinely frightening moments. However, despite the anxiety induced by the title, the plot is quite stagnant, mostly revolving around the fact that there is, indeed, a girl in the walls. A reader looking for more of a cat-and-mouse game will be disappointed.
More meditation than page-turner, a coming-of-age tale with a twist.
