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Memories in the Ashes of Death

Author: Blaine Daigle

A gloomy old mansion in an ash lined forest where an old man, an evil man many say, is dying. A strange phone call, a chance at escape through just one last dance with death. A secret, a history of sacrifices, and faces in the ash – August Manor supposedly has it all, yet despite the atmosphere of a waking nightmare, the story fails to capture the heart and ultimately even the imagination. At least, for me. Now, I seem to be the lone voice in the wilderness. Judging by Goodreads, Ashes of August Manor is a much-beloved book, but even now I have trouble conjuring just what this serpentine, seemingly actionless story was actually about. And what was the ultimate explanation – the bugbear that was a catalyst of so much death and the living horror of the ashes? Well . . . I’m still not quite sure.

It starts with Noelle, a lugubrious character who is clearly haunted by something, making restitution by forcing herself into a soul-shattering career. Her job – a hospice nurse. Her secret dedication: to always be there when her patients die to walk them from one world into the next. One senses it is more penance than calling, and even Noelle is thinking maybe she has suffered enough. Yet, one last job, the one that comes from left field and involves some mystery manor with a rich lady, lures her on. This one will set her up with enough money and enough independence to leave her life of death behind.

But, of course, you should beware of outlandish offers from rich strangers in creepy houses. It’s kind of horror 101 – but Noelle is not savvy in the ways of the world and walks right into this trap. That’s when the story slows and morphs, trying to build atmosphere but ultimately creating a blur. There’s some post-apocalyptic like forest with raining ashes and some creepy townspeople who do everything but bust out the evil eye. It’s supposed to be descriptive and creepy and all about the bad juju, but it’s just slow, slow, slow! And, ironically, completely bland enough to be difficult to picture. We get what the story is wanting to create, and it succeeds with many people who lovingly summoned words like Lovecraftian, but for me, it just felt bland, like a story struggling to emerge from its creative chrysalis and getting stuck on the words and foundations of the structure instead.

Image by RaniRamli from Pixabay

Finally, after very little action and a heck of a lot of sitting around, things just start to happen. Noelle is not the catalyst. It seems more that time is, and we do finally get a bit of a creature feature, which doesn’t exactly fit. Instead, it wrenches us from the slow-burn haunted mansion motif to a weird supernatural cult vibe. It’s definitely cooler, and I appreciated some of the explanations (which just feel into Noelle’s outstretched hands because the villain gives up on her figuring it out), but none of it really makes a lot of sense.

Now, this little twist has some very good bones. This could be a super cool cult story with those Cthulhu vibes, but it’s not earned, and it is also presented more like an outline than a story. It has potential, and I liked this part of the story, but it still leaves me with so many questions.

In the end, the story fades almost as soon as the book rustles closed. We have the sense of a good idea that was never really seen through, strung together with vignettes that rely more on descriptive atmosphere than story cohesion. It’s ok, but not fantastic. Ashes of August Manor is neither offensive nor memorable. Just ehhh. But don’t listen to only me. It seems that I am in the minority on this one.

– Frances Carden

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Frances Carden
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