Bbrown's Reviews > The Uninhabited House

No doubt there are great works of literature lost to time, but for the most part when I read a largely forgotten book like The Uninhabited House I understand why it has slipped from public consciousness. This short book from 1875 is part haunted house story, part mystery, with a romance and elements of a legal thriller thrown in as well, and none of its constituent pieces are particularly good. The book largely doesn't even attempt to be scary, and the solution to the mystery is arbitrary and delivered in an unsatisfying manner. The romance is cute enough, but it's by-the-numbers, and the effectiveness of the legal practice pieces are undercut by the fact that the Blake sisters are grossly unsympathetic (I was hoping that Miss Blake, in particular, would die a grisly death at the hands of a vengeful ghost). While none of the book's constituent parts were particularly strong, I did appreciate their variety, which kept The Uninhabited House from becoming one-note. Charlotte Riddell's writing is functional but none of it impressed. I do think that one thing about it deserves criticism, though: The Uninhabited House is a terrible title. Surely Riddell could have thought up one that was at least a little bit more creative or evocative? Anyway, this book is so mediocre that I can’t recommend that anyone check it out even with it being free, and I give it a 3/5.