Model Home

A Novel

By: Rivers Solomon

Narrated by: Gabby Beans

Welcome to Rivers Solomon's dark and wondrous Model Home, a new kind of haunted-house novel.

The three Maxwell siblings keep their distance from the lily-white gated enclave outside Dallas where they grew up. When their family moved there, they were the only Black family in the neighborhood. The neighbors acted nice enough, but right away bad things, scary things—the strange and the unexplainable—began to happen in their house. Maybe it was some cosmic trial, a demonic rite of passage into the upper-middle class. Whatever it was, the Maxwells, steered by their formidable mother, stayed put, unwilling to abandon their home, terrors and trauma be damned.

As adults, the siblings could finally get away from the horrors of home, leaving their parents all alone in the house. But when news of their parents' death arrives, Ezri is forced to return to Texas with their sisters, Eve and Emanuelle, to reckon with their family’s past and present, and to find out what happened while they were away. It was not a “natural” death for their parents . . . but was it supernatural?

Rivers Solomon turns the haunted-house story on its head, unearthing the dark legacies of segregation and racism in the suburban American South. Unbridled, raw, and daring, Model Home is the story of secret histories uncovered, and of a queer family battling for their right to live, grieve, and heal amid the terrors of contemporary American life.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Critic reviews

“[A] startling reimagination of the haunted-house genre . . . In evocative prose, Solomon harnesses and recasts classic horror tropes to tell an original story of race and class, family, trauma, and grief. Each character . . . is finely rendered, with the dynamic among the siblings illustrating the ways loyalties shift and change, in constant renegotiation, and dramatizing the ruptures activated by traumatic events. The novel’s construction is elliptical, with past and present alternating from chapter to chapter [and Solomon’s] twists and turns are carefully drawn, with the tension mounting toward a shocking end . . . With this exhilarating and unforgettable work, Solomon proves to be a formidable writer.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“ A profoundly haunting work of true horror from one of the greatest writers working today.”
—Sarah Gailey, author of Just Like Home and Magic for Liars

“Intense, original, and wonderfully unpredictable—those adjectives describe Rivers Solomon as much as this novel. Model Home is a story of a haunted house and haunted people; profound family secrets lie at the heart of this book as well as, surprisingly, blessedly meaningful touches of love and hope. Rivers Solomon is an astonishingly talented writer.”
—Victor LaValle , author of Lone Women and The Changeling

Five star all the way

An electrifying book beautifully performed! I was captivated from the opening words. Terrifying and heartbreaking and yet I was so happy at the affirming ending.

love the story but not performance

stopped listening with 5 hrs left to go & bought the ebook to finish that way instead. maybe if i were curled up under a blanket with absolutely nothing else going on (ok maybe a thunderstorm) then i wouldn't have had such a hard time following the narrator when they dramatically slowed down or murmured etc. as it was, i got tired of continually having to go back and relisten or adjust the volume instead of getting lost in the story. the story was phenomenal. love this author.

interesting

although this book had a unique story line I couldn't stay glued but I will definitely give it another read because I did enjoy this book put together well

Solid good, but not great

I like that it was a unique story but the narrator’s main character voice didn’t work well for me. It was fine but I think I would’ve enjoyed this more if I read vs listened to it

Perfection

I’m in awe. The author and performer both did an absolutely amazing job. This book will stay with me for a very long time.