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Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro for Readers' Favorite
The Violin begins with a visit to the home of the reclusive and elderly Elise Knight. When Lucy arrives to check on Elise, she strikes up a conversation with a fellow Chapel Grove resident and hears a tale unlike any she’s heard before. In 1871, Elise Knight is mourning the unexpected loss of her fiancé, William. Since William’s passing, Elise has been mired in grief and is isolated from the outside world. Her cloud of suffering begins to lift the day her father brings her a violin to play, the music serving as a balm for her wounded soul. Despite the immediate lift of the violin, Elise longs for William and would do anything to see him again. When the mysterious showman/entrepreneur Cassius McCalmont offers this intriguing possibility, Elise is eager to oblige his demand without considering any consequences.
The Violin by Odella Howe is a spellbinding horror novel full of passion, mystery, and drama. The anguish that steals Elise’s days and nights is palpable, and her inability to overcome her loss is understandable, which makes her decisions appear easy to reconcile. Elise’s difficulty in letting go of William and her willingness to ponder unspeakable actions evoke thoughts of the protagonist in Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, and how the loss of a loved one can rob a human being of their rationality. Howe’s gift for narrative is in drawing the dread out slowly and building the terror until it reaches its frightening peak. This book is a smashing success that will keep readers hooked until its magnificent conclusion and up for more than a few nights afterward.
