The Homecoming: A Haunting Mystery Review

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About The Book 📚

Title: The Homecoming

Author: Zoë Apostolides

Publication Date: July 7, 2025

Publisher: Salt Publishing

Genre: Gothic Mystery

Pages: 256

Setting: England

Three Words That Describe This Book: Memoir, Manor, Mystery

About The Author

Apostolides was born in south London in 1990. She began her career in magazine and newspaper journalism after graduating from the University of Oxford, and has written for a variety of print and online media including the Times Literary Supplement. She has written several works of non-fiction including End of Innocence, published by independent Mardle Books in 2022. The Homecoming is her first novel.
https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/salt-lands-zoe-apostolides-folk-horror-debut

My Review

› I requested an advance copy of The Homecoming because of this stunning cover. The eels, the orange colour, the mysterious woman…everything just caught my eye. When I saw it was a horror book, I thought, “A horror book with eels on the cover? Oh yes, I must read this.” Then I realized it was a debut, so that made me even more curious.

› First Line: “Elver House had seemed funny on Saturday night when we sat over dinner.”

› Ellen is a 30-year-old ghostwriter. Laura, her editor, booked a job to interview Miss Catherine Carey and write her memoir. Ellen agrees to stay at Miss Carey’s house for five days. The plan was to get 20 hours of interview time, then return home to write the autobiography. It’s quite the trek to reach Miss Carey’s English manor in the middle of nowhere at the end of a rough road. Elver House is impressive, yet dilapidated. When Ellen arrives during a storm late at night, no one answers the door. She tries the door and finds it unlocked. Struggling to find reception on her phone, she manages to reach Laura. They decide the dates must have been mixed up, and Ellen will stay there overnight and get a cab in the morning. A short while later, Miss Carey shows up, saying she had been out for a walk. And so begins Ellen’s stay at Elver House.

› There’s a mysterious person that Ellen talks about. She says things like, “When we were children and we were apart, I missed you with a kind of physicality I’d never known before and haven’t known since”. She refers to this person as “you” throughout the book. Who is this person?

› “In medieval times, the word ‘haunt’ simply meant ‘to go’, or ‘to reside’. In Old French, it meant ‘to visit’ or ‘to frequent’. But its roots are likely far older, dating right back to the Vikings. In its most ancient form, a haunting is a return, a homecoming. A cohabitation.”

› The elvers (baby eels) are a symbol of change and homecoming. Did you know they’ve been around for 50 million years, but now the European Eel is a “critically endangered” species? Every year, elvers leave the salty sea and swim up freshwater rivers. Some people used to catch the elvers and cook them to eat. It’s fascinating how they turn into silver eels as they become adults and return to the sea.

› The characters and atmosphere are compelling, but I wanted more development of the side characters. The writing quality is outstanding. I can’t believe this is a debut. I didn’t know that Apostolides had ghostwritten several memoirs, but that explains why Ellen’s character felt so authentic. The plot has some pacing issues in the middle, but overall, the pages were turning because I just had to know what was going on. I felt frustrated with the plot holes/tropes, such as withholding information for plot convenience and miscommunication. Overall, The Homecoming is a mysterious and well-written debut, and I look forward to seeing what Apostolides writes next.

APPEAL FACTORS
Storyline: character-driven, unconventional
Pace: slow
Tone: angsty, moody, suspenseful, dark, mysterious, creepy, haunting
Writing Style: conversational, compelling
Character: authentic, complex, snarky, strong female

Read Alikes:
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
The Blue Maiden by Anna Noyes

› In the past, I have given a rating out of ten and converted that to a star rating, but I’m no longer giving a star rating here on my blog. I will continue to do that on Goodreads and The Story Graph.

› Final Thoughts
• The Homecoming is a mysterious, emotional, and thought-provoking debut about feminism, motherhood, and loneliness. This slow-paced, character-driven story gave me goosebumps multiple times. Although this is marketed as a horror, I recommend this novel to fans of Gothic mysteries.