Is there anything worse than being the third wheel? Sitting there while a couple fawns over each other – “I love you, peanut” “No I love YOU, pistachio.” Perhaps worse, they fight – do you take sides? Pretend not to notice?

In the summer of ’69, Frances takes a job surveying an old, secluded estate and becomes a live-in third wheel to the very volatile Peter and Cara. Frances is shocked when she is invited down from her attic bedroom to join them for dinner. She finally has the friends she has always desired.

Frances becomes increasingly obsessed with the couple. Her infatuation is amplified by the mysterious and dilapidated mansion along with a peephole in her bedroom floor which gives hear a bird’s eye view into their private life. Creepy much? Throughout the summer, Frances learns intimate details from both Peter and Cara. However, their stories don’t seem to add up…

Bitter Orange proceeds as a slow burn but is energized by Fuller’s writing style. Lyntons Mansion is a character shaping the relationship between its three inhabitants, often thrusting them into tense situations. While the novel had fun twists sprinkled throughout, the plot ultimately felt a bit stuck in the mud, and I never got the real haunting I had hoped for.

Verdict: Skip it. 3/5 Stars
Length: 324 pages
Quotes: “Just like this place, like Lyntons. Beautiful on the surface, but look a little closer and everything is decaying, rotting, falling apart.”
Instead Try: For a classic haunted house – The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Buy Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller