Book review: "The Other Child" by Joanne Fluke

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Author Joanne Fluke has been much read and discussed by several members here so I decided to give her a whirl. I did not select an entry from her Hannah Swensen Murder She Baked series but the older novel “The Other Child” (1983, Kensington, 296 pages) because something supernatural sounded appealing. Fluke establishes an excellent set up with an 1892 prologue. A disgraced and upset Dorothea Appleton is traveling to California after again being spurned by family in Cold Spring, Minnesota. She dies. Her 10-year-old out of wedlock son Christopher was left behind in Cold Spring and emotionally distraught. He is accidentally locked in storage cellar and bitterly dies vowing vengeance. The reader must suspend belief the cellar has been abandoned and forgotten in the passing decades or that the Appleton mansion is on the market with original furnishings and chock full of valuable antiques. Flash to 1972 and photographer Mike Houston, his pregnant interior designer wife Karen and her 9-year-old out of wedlock daughter Leslie from a previous relationship. They fall in love with the place and buy it cheap. The realtor is glad to unload it and fails to mention the stories of ghost hauntings or strange circumstances befalling previous occupants. Karen is entranced by the house and commences a restoration to its original state albeit with modern conveniences. Mike uses the house as a photo project series for his magazine. Leslie makes friends with Christopher’s presence. Fluke succeeds in engaging the reader in developing characters and situation. Karen’s obsession with the Appleton family and house slowly consumes her sanity. Recovering alcoholic Mike is also a compulsive gambler so he has weaknesses to exploit. Leslie morphs from prissy little fashion plate into Christopher. Fluke has deliberately drawn similarities between Dorothea and Christopher and the Houston’s. An effective aspect is Fluke’s portrait of narrow minded Cold Springs community. The women are judgmental gossips disliking Karen and picking her apart at every turn. Leslie is bullied and shunned by the local kids. These people are so despicable the reader feels no sympathy when Christopher wreaks havoc on them. “The Other Child” maintains interest throughout and surprisingly swift reading. Fluke stays on a direct path without straying into offshoot romances or anything else not directly pertaining to premise. A nice entertaining read.