The House of One Thousand Eyes by Michelle Barker - OPTIONAL

The House of One Thousand Eyes by Michelle Barker, 334 pages. Annick Press, 2018. $19.

Language: R (30 swears, 1 “f”); Mature Content: R; Violence: R.

BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

17yo Lena is trapped in the confusing world of East Germany in 1983, a place where she has to keep her true thoughts hidden and pretend to believe the lies and propaganda of the government. Sometimes she has trouble keeping straight the truth and the lies. Four years earlier, she lost both parents in a tragic “accident” that she is beginning to see may not have been an accident at all. The accident left her traumatized and her only living relatives are her dad’s brother and sister. After a prolonged stay in a mental institution she is sent to live with her widowed aunt, a stalwart Socialist party member who gets Lena a job as a janitor at Stasi headquarters. Her uncle, who is the only one who makes her feel safe, is arrested by the Stasi police and everyone pretends he never existed at all. This event leads Lena to stop pretending everything is okay and to start investigating his disappearance and what he did to get arrested. Her investigation leads her down a dangerous path as she tries to outsmart those who have eyes everywhere.

The premise of this book was engaging and I enjoyed how the author created tension and frustration for the reader to mimic the uncertainty and fear faced by those living under the extreme surveillance and rigid rules of East Germany. The sense of foreboding, fear, and suspicion about every situation and individual, even including family members, was a powerful component of the novel. However, I had some issues with some elements of the book. The main character’s voice made her sound much younger than she actually was, which I felt would make it difficult for the intended age group to relate to. Not only that, but Lena repeatedly made illogical and foolhardy choices in spite of having grown up in East Germany and having been warned against it multiple times. Lena was overall a pretty difficult character to become invested in, even after she makes some heroic choices and after you understand that she has developed coping mechanisms for serious trauma in her life. The plot was interesting, but it took about 60 pages before I wanted to keep reading and then I was halfway through before I really kept turning the pages to unravel the mystery. The “R” ratings were for multiple descriptions of sexual abuse. 

Reviewer: Marinda