Sharply Sublime: Jennifer Thorne’s Newbourne Park

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Horror fiction cuts deep. Sharp, exacting, and severe, the genre dissects the human condition within pages. The most perfect (in my opinion) example of this is Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, in which a sheltered woman, Eleanor, who was her mother’s caregiver for years, finds herself invited to the notorious Hill House. What seems like a gleaming opportunity for a life outside of familial obligation is soon revealed to be monstrous, deconstructing Eleanor’s psyche one event at a time until a disastrous conclusion. Jackson’s fiction, and horror fiction more generally, is lethal, a fact I was reminded of not in rereading Hill House, but in reading Jennifer Thorne’s Newbourne Park.

Newbourne Park

From the USA Today bestselling author of Diavola comes a darkly funny, blood-soaked horror novel about the terrifying seduction of unlimited power.After years of caring for her dying mother, Martha Shaw feels empty, exhausted, and far older than her twenty-six years. So when her brother invites her to a weekend getaway at the opulent, two-hundred-acre country estate where his friend works, Martha reluctantly agrees. After all, what’s the harm? The owners and all their staff will be gone. Security cameras will be off. The house will be theirs. For the first time in years, Martha might actually have fun. And it is fun, taking advantage of the historic mega-mansion and its vast grounds. Martha begins to feel human again. But when night falls, the rightful master of Newbourne Park returns—and she’s not alone. Suddenly, being caught trespassing is the least of their worries, because what steps out into the moonlight is something vicious. And hungry. What began as a lark becomes a bloody battle for survival, where greed and morality collide—and a woman must choose to bow, break, or bite back.

G.P. Putnam's SonsJennifer Thorne

The setup echoes Hill House: Thorne’s main character, Martha, finds herself afforded an opportunity to live the life of the wealthy at the esteemed Newbourne Park, even if only for a few days, and through, well, illicit means. What seems like a new life unfolding before her ends in blood, gore, and irrevocable change not totally dissimilar to beloved Eleanor Vance in Hill House. But here’s where Thorne treads new ground: what happens if you survived such an event? Who are you really when you’ve made it to the other side?

Horror affords an unique opportunity for character development, given that the circumstances these characters find themselves in are almost always severe; there is, at times, nowhere to turn amongst the horrific, only towards yourself. And the truths uncovered from such circumstances never fail to stun. It is the best example of the age old adage, “Wherever you go, there you are.” Jennifer Thorne fully grasps this sentiment and absolutely revels in the bloody, gruesome fallout of such an epiphany. Sometimes the things people discover about themselves aren’t all sunshine and rainbows – sometimes it’s all sharp teeth and ruthless calculations.

Beyond the stellar character work at play in this novel, Thorne writes with a signature style that is nuanced. Penned with a sense of glib humor, snark, and deeply relatable reactions, Newbourne Park is immensely sophisticated, timely, and an unabashedly, darkly fun read. This is a book that doesn’t hesitate to examine classism, abhorrent social norms, and learned helplessness through such a unique lens that feels, ultimately, unforgettable.

Carving its way into the canon of timely, stylish, and wildly entertaining horror fiction, Newbourne Park by Jennifer Thorne cuts deep with precision, fully frolicking in all that the genre has to offer.

Newbourne Park by Jennifer Thorne is on shelves now from Putnam in the US and Titan in the UK.

Publisher's Synopsis

After years of caring for her dying mother, Martha Shaw feels empty, exhausted, and far older than her twenty-six years. So when her brother invites her to a weekend getaway at the opulent, two-hundred-acre country estate where his friend works, Martha reluctantly agrees. After all, what’s the harm? The owners and all their staff will be gone. Security cameras will be off. The house will be theirs. For the first time in years, Martha might actually have fun.  

And it is fun, taking advantage of the historic mega-mansion and its vast grounds. Martha begins to feel human again. But when night falls, the rightful master of Newbourne Park returns—and she’s not alone. Suddenly, being caught trespassing is the least of their worries, because what steps out into the moonlight is something vicious. And hungry. 

Read more on the publisher's website here.

And if you'd like to hear Jennifer speak about the novel more, you can listen to Anna's interview here.

A review copy of the above title was sent to us from the publisher. Opinions are our own.