The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Gillian Flynn’s Edgar Award-winning homage to the classic ghost story, published for the first time as a standalone. A canny young woman is struggling to survive by perpetrating various levels of mostly harmless fraud. On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in. A keen observer of human behavior, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life a drama injection. However, when the "psychic" visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan’s terror and grief, she realizes she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore. Miles, Susan’s teenage stepson, doesn’t help matters with his disturbing manner and grisly imagination. The three are soon locked in a chilling battle to discover where the evil truly lurks and what, if anything, can be done to escape it. “The Grownup,” which originally appeared as “What Do You Do?” in George R. R. Martin’s Rogues anthology, proves once again that Gillian Flynn is one of the world’s most original and skilled voices in fiction.

This short story made me feel so joyous with all its creepy shit. I fucking loved the way the house is described in the beginning and the feeling the main character gets from it is projected through the pages very well. Although I feel it went through the different narratives very fast when Miles is talking to her those last few lines really make up for it. Excellent ending.

The Grownup is a mystery novelette about a scammer who ends up dealing with a family who might be living in a haunted mansion. It's very short. Why is it so short?

AAAAHHHH I LOVE GILLIAN FLYNN WHY ISN'T THIS A NOVEL?

Flynn's story got me trying and failing to second-guess everything, and it felt great. All of her characters are nasty, and I love them. It's very different from Gone Girl, and yet I can see some similarities. I can't really explain why, but I loved this book very much. I just wish it was longer, really.

Gillian Flynn has yet to let me down.This was a fun, quick read with lots of twists for a 65-page story.The homage mentions of books like [b:The Turn of the Screw 12948 The Turn of the Screw Henry James https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567172392l/12948.SY75.jpg 990886], [b:The Haunting of Hill House 89717 The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327871336l/89717.SY75.jpg 3627], and [b:Rebecca 17899948 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386605169l/17899948.SX50.jpg 46663] put it nicely in the right zone for the spooky October season.

“People are dumb. I'll never get over how dumb people are.” The unnamed main character in Gillian Flynn's short story is exactly the kind of character you would expect from the writer of [b:Gone Girl 19288043 Gone Girl Gillian Flynn https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397056917s/19288043.jpg 13306276] and [b:Dark Places 5886881 Dark Places Gillian Flynn https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1354988288s/5886881.jpg 6873353]. Having been forced to panhandle on the streets as a young child, the protagonist eventually finds herself answering an ad for a “receptionist” that turns out to be a position as a sex worker in a shady spiritualist shop. After an on-the-job injury she is promoted to “aura reader” while continuing to occasionally service some of her regulars. She's like many of Flynn's female protagonists - intelligent, from a less-than-ideal childhood, and in this case a con-artist. Even though there wasn't a lot of room for background given the short story format there was a surprising amount of character development. I wish she could be featured in a longer story...I have the feeling her life would make for a fascinating read. While in her new position, a customer, Susan, offers her an opportunity to make some extra money “cleansing” her home. Our main character jumps at the chance, despite having no experience and not actually being psychic. Slamming doors, blood stains on the wall appearing out of nowhere, and strange smells convince her that perhaps she's in over her head. With an absentee father, the uneasy relationship between Susan and her stepson Miles comes to the forefront, and our protagonist questions how much of Susan's story is true and how much is the result of a stepfamily struggling to adjust to their new circumstances. In the end the story takes a few unexpected twists and turns until finally plopping the reader down in the midst of an unresolved ending, which has gained Flynn criticism from readers looking for a tidy resolution. The ending leaves the reader unsettled, conflicted, and perhaps even a little frustrated. Some called it a cop-out. I call it the perfect kind of ending. Who wants a melodramatic villain unmasking when you can have an ending that leaves you lying awake, wondering...?