Sunday Books & Culture

This week's reviews include the thriller "There Should Have Been Eight" and banned young adult novel "Sold." Vanessa Sekinger edits Sunday Books & Culture.

THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN EIGHT
By Nalini Singh

Published by Berkley (November 21, 2023)
Hardcover $25.20
Kindle $14.99

Reviewed by Ashley Riggleson  

If you loved Ruth Ware’s novel One by One and would like to know where to go next, allow me to suggest Nalini Singh’s new novel, There Should Have Been Eight. This locked room mystery set in a creepy house in New Zealand’s Southern Alps does not disappoint. 

There Should Have Been Eight tells the story of a group of friends who, after years apart, all converge in a run-down mansion where, it soon becomes apparent, something is not right. To complicate matters, Luna, the novel’s narrator, is rapidly losing her eyesight, which calls her reliability into question. And, although this group seems normal enough at first, there are secrets lurking under the surface.  The group is still reeling from their friend Bea’s apparent suicide some time earlier. Luna, who loved Bea more than anyone else, struggles with the fact that she was not able to say goodbye and has suspicions that the story she has been told about Bea’s last days is incomplete. 

Meanwhile, in the novel’s present, strange things begin to happen. A life-like doll made in Bea’s image shows up in different areas of the house, and sinisterly, people soon end up sick, maimed, or dead. A bad snowstorm ensures that this group of “friends” is stranded in this gothic mansion with a dark history. As Luna struggles to understand what is happening in the present, she also learns about one of the mansion’s past occupants, Clara, an ancestor of one of the friends (a woman named Darcie, who now owns this dilapidated house). 

The further readers get in this twisty thriller, the more muddled things become, and readers will find that, until the appropriate moment, they have more questions than answers.

I read most of There Should Have Been Eight while on a plane, and this compulsively readable novel kept me engaged the whole flight. Seemingly throwaway lines hint at big reveals, even as Singh continues to mislead the reader. While not everything in this novel was unpredictable, there were a lot of surprises in store. Singh skillfully plants many red herrings, and as the book progresses, no one is safe from suspicion. 

There Should Have Been Eight is a contemporary thriller set close to the present moment, but it also pays homage to the classics of the genre. This pacey and chilling novel about obsession, envy, and encroaching darkness is sure to be a popular fall and winter read.

Ashley Riggleson is a free-lance book reviewer from Rappahannock County. When she is not reading or writing book reviews, she can usually be found playing with her pets, listening to podcasts, or watching television with friends and family. 

SOLD
By Patricia McCormick

Published by Hyperion (April 1, 2008)
Paperback $7.63
Kindle $8.99

Reviewed by Gina E. Terry

Patricia McCormick’s account of a 13-year old girl sold from poverty in Nepal into sexual slavery in India is a quick read. A slender volume of a bit over 200 pages, Sold carries the weight of a heavier tome. We encounter the story through a child’s eyes, and short sentences, sparse paragraphs, and a poetic use of imagery and metaphor create a narrative that lingers long after the last page. Upon finishing the novel, I wanted to reach into the book and hug the heroine. 

Lakshmi’s early-childhood is spent in horrific poverty in Nepal, but despite her family’s hardship, she retains the imaginative hope of youth. In evenings, when “the brilliant yellow pumpkin blossoms will close, drunk on sunshine,” Lakshmi looks to the Himalayan mountains as symbols of a future without worry. 

With limited access to school due to her family’s needs, Lakshmi seeks companionship with the family goat, Tali. Tali is a source of comfort, but also a reminder of the precariousness of Lakshmi’s situation. Afterall, “a son will always be a son, they say. But a girl is like a goat. Good as long as she gives you milk and butter. But not worth crying over when it’s time to make a stew.”

When illness, drought, and monsoon exacerbate the family’s poverty, Lakshmi is told she will begin work as a maid in the city to help support the family. Her step-father sheds no tears when he completes the transaction that begins Lakshmi’s journey to a brothel in India. 

The sale is short. Soon Lakshmi is on a disorienting journey into a bustling city in India. Overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, and smells of an unfamiliar setting, Lakshmi remains unaware of the horrors that await her. The dramatic irony that builds as the reader understands Lakshmi’s plight before she does adds to the tragedy of the book. 

The novel’s juxtaposition of childhood innocence and sexual exploitation is discomforting–as it should be. The initial rape scene is brief, recounted through the eyes of a child forced to consume drugged lassis and comply with brothel customers. Lakshmi’s emotional and physical pain are clear, but McCormick handles the scenes with care. The narrative relies on inference, and it never delves into graphic description. Nonetheless, it is the brothel scenes that got the book removed in Spotsylvania schools–despite a unanimous vote to keep the book by review committees.

Despite the gravity of the topic, Sold is a beautiful book. Strands of strength and hope thread through Lakshmi’s narrative too, and the novel reminds us of fiction’s ability to garner empathy for others. 

Early in the novel, Lakshmi asks her mother why women must suffer; her mother responds that women’s fate has always been such, but “simply to endure…is to triumph.” McCormick asks more of the reader than to settle with the endurance of those who suffer in sex trafficking: the novel asks us to care, and ideally, as her afterward encourages, to act.

For more on the novel and its removal from Spotsylvania Schools, check out Forbidden Pages: A Podcast about Spotsylvania’s Removed Books. 

Gina Terry is a professor and parent who will read almost anything; when not exploring literature and language, she enjoys hiking and biking with her family.

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