“The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.” Piranesi, the protagonist of Susanna Clarke’s novel of the same name, says of his House.
Like humans, houses have their own personalities, all wrapped up in the way they were designed and built by the architect, the way they’re decorated and reconstructed by their inhabitants, the way they’re maintained or neglected by their owners. They’re not just Kind and Beautiful, like Piranesi’s house, but also Sad and Infinite and Scary and Chatty, as in the stories below…
“Do Houses Dream of Scraping the Sky?” by Jana Bianchi
What happens when someone who has lived in a house for decades passes away? Our narrator’s Grandma is no more, but it’s easier to process the loss because the House that Grandma shared with Grandpa is grieving her too. There is frustration and miscommunication between the narrator and the House—rude words are spoken, doors refuse to open or close, things stay put—but, as both need to learn, there are many ways to grieve, and it is okay to take time to do so.
A heartwarming, bittersweet story with a happy ending.
“In the House of the Seven Librarians” by Ellen Klages
When the Carnegie Library gets abandoned for a better library elsewhere, its seven librarians bring tea and soup and rugs and couches and make it their home. A baby shows up on their doorstep, and they each look after the child—called Bitsy by one, Polly by another—in their own ways. Harriet takes care of her diapers and reads her Goodnight Moon, Olive is in charge of her education, and so on.
When the girl learns to read, she finally understands magic and makes her first wish upon the Library, which answers. It not only opens up an entire world of possibilities for her, literally, but also gives her places to hide from the Librarians, offers spaces to have adventures in, a safe place to cry, and, most importantly, a way to seek out more of the world. Klages weaves a magical story about family and choices and delivers a wholesome ending.
“The House of Linear Change” by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe
Ada lives in a house where things—and people—keep changing, never returning to what they used to be. Every change is linear, transforming things and people into something new, like the wand she used to have that turned into a knife she used to kill her father. She’s tied to the house—she was born there and is destined to die there, too. But she’s tired and looking for a different kind of change now, one that will let her leave the house. Will she be able to, given the binding?
“In a Field of Bone-Bonnets” by Aimee Picchi
The hut loves its witch. It stokes the fire to keep her warm and opens its windows to keep the place well-ventilated. As the old witch returns from another day of saving the women who need her services, she tells the hut her time is up. She has borrowed three days for it to find another witch once she dies—if it doesn’t, the house will, in a way, die too. The hut doesn’t want to go on without her, but its love for the witch prevents it from quitting. And so it sets out to find its next occupant, a task that would have been easier had the witch not left it with mystifying riddles to solve…and if the townsfolk weren’t terrified of a chicken-footed hut traveling through town.
“A House Full of Voices Is Never Empty” by Miyuki Jane Pinckard
Chi and her family moved across the ocean after the war ended. Their aunt died on the way, leaving Chi with a scarf she’d been wearing, a scarf that promised to support her. It wasn’t the only thing that talked to Chi—everything around the house, including the house itself, did. These objects, some of them holding memories of the dead, kept her afloat growing up, especially when her parents fell sick and only Chi remained to take care of them, while Em, her little sister, avoided being home.
When she finally does visit, all Em can see is Chi living in a messy house. She suggests getting rid of it all and moving on, but Chi can’t do so. She wants Em to understand the voices, while Em wants to see her sister happy. How will they work it out, in a house that holds so much of their loved ones’ spirits?
