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The Birthing House
The Birthing House
Author: Christopher Ransom
It was expecting them. — Conrad and Joanna Harrison, a young couple from Los Angeles, attempt to save their marriage by leaving the pressures of the city to start anew in a quiet, rural setting.  They buy a Victorian mansion that once served as a haven for unwed mothers, called a birthing house.  One day when Joanna is away, th...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780312385842
ISBN-10: 0312385846
Publication Date: 8/4/2009
Pages: 320
Rating:
  • Currently 2.6/5 Stars.
 61

2.6 stars, based on 61 ratings
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Chocoholic avatar reviewed The Birthing House on + 291 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 16
I picked this up on a whim at B&N. I have seen some pretty critical reviews of this book elsewhere on the WWW. This is not one of them. I am a big fan of horror novels, Stephen King, Dean Koontz and the like, so it takes quite a bit to scare me.

This book scared me so much that I had to put it down and walk away from it for a bit. I have never been so creeped out by a book before, ever. If you are a horror aficionado like I am, then I can definitely recommend picking up this book. Likewise, if you like haunted house books. This is one of those books that should not be read while home alone, or late at night. Or both.

With that being said, the book is about a married couple, Conrad and Jo, who move to a small town in Wisconsin to reconnect with themselves and work on their troubled marriage. They buy an old Victorian house that was previously used as a birthing house for unwed mothers around the turn of the century. And that is where the real fun begins...
drgldy76 avatar reviewed The Birthing House on + 125 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
This is a dark and tragic book. It had a flat ending. I wish I could press rewind and not have read it.
reviewed The Birthing House on + 636 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
Bizarre -that's my one-word summary/reaction to this strange, strange book. It was a ghost story, but not really the type I was expecting. And I certainly did not predict how much of this book would be devoted to rather graphic (and at times just revolting) sex scenes. These types of scenes are sometimes so obviously written by a man, and this book is a perfect example of the more "stereotypic" male perspective of writing sex scenes. The dogs, I must admit, were the most realistic characters in the entire book (and at the end of the novel, I felt they were left unresolved... poor things). The book was well-written, but I the strange, sad and rather senseless ending was just a bit too over-the-top. I really don't see myself keeping up with this author, which is a shame, because from the initial description that I read, I had really been looking forward to reading it.
reviewed The Birthing House on + 34 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
This was the type of book that you read and read, thinking it will get better. Unfortunately, it did not! There were lots of weird scenes that had nothing to do with the plot. I like good mysteries but this was not one of them!
reviewed The Birthing House on + 146 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I was not happy with this book. I had high hopes of digging into a great ghost story. It did not happen. The book was confusing at times and not everything made sense. I would have prefered that the author had stuck to one story line and not leave so many loose ends.
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libraian avatar reviewed The Birthing House on + 13 more book reviews
i really liked this book...it was an easy read and i finished it in just a couple of days...
spiritedbabe59 avatar reviewed The Birthing House on + 106 more book reviews
What a disappointment this book was. I was never frightened and most of the time I was just confused. The potential for this to be a great scary book was in the premise, but Ransom never delivered. It was though he had all of these ideas thrown at him and he tried to tie them into one book.


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