Inspired by the fall of a real-life aristocratic family during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and their subsequent mistreatment at the hands of the Bolsheviks, Olesya Salnikova Gilmore’s The Haunting of Moscow House quickly establishes that the horrors of the past are just as frightful as any shadowy apparition—even those that reveal dark family secrets. This juxtaposition of gothic horror and revolutionary history serves as an effective backdrop to the novel’s moving portrait of sisterhood, ultimately celebrating the incredible strength women can summon to hold together their families in the face of otherworldly challenges.
The novel begins in post-revolutionary Moscow in 1921, where the formerly aristocratic sisters Irina and Lili Goliteva, appearing as “two wraiths instead of countesses,” head to the local bazaar to barter priceless family heirlooms and jewels for food. Unlike many of their neighbors and acquaintances of noble blood who fled Russia after the revolution, Irina and Lili have stayed with family in their ancestral mansion, making the best of their present circumstances rather than leaving the entirety of their old life behind. As Salnikova Gilmore notes in a historical post-script, during this period women were often left to take charge of their households after the men left for war, were killed in the revolution, or imprisoned, exiled or murdered by the Cheka secret police (a precursor to the KGB). It is refreshing to read an account of revolution that centers the voices and stories and enduring bonds among women, in this case the Goliteva sisters and their aunt and grandmother.
Soon the women are forced to move to the attic by a threatening group of Bolsheviks who take over a wing of the main floor as their impromptu shelter and command center. Irina and Lili begin working for a U.S. humanitarian organization—based on the real-life American Relief Administration—to put food on the table for their family as well as avoid the frightening atmosphere at home, which increasingly includes nechistaya sila, the “unclean force” of their dead relatives’ awakened spirits. (A particularly memorable dinner scene brought to mind the ghostly banquet in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth writ large.) When one of the unwelcome Bolos is killed, the Goliteva sisters wonder if perhaps the spirits are friendly to their cause—until one of their own is unceremoniously taken from them as well.
The horror-mystery of what the ghosts want from them runs parallel to Irina and Lili’s efforts to unearth the truth of their family’s past, namely why their beloved Uncle Pasha was killed in a raid on their home at the start of the revolution. Although I was unfamiliar with the specifics of the Russian Revolution and rise of the Soviet government prior to reading this novel, I found The Haunting of Moscow House to be both educational and easy to follow, a testament to Salnikova Gilmore’s extensive research and deft weaving of historical details into the sisters’ narrative. The only aspect that didn’t quite work for me was the incorporation of old journal entries into the exposition late in the novel, used to revive the voice of a deceased family member and resolve a key plot point. But this is a quibble and personal preference, as other readers may appreciate the epistolary asides.
The novel is not all death and ghosts: both Irina and Lili grapple with newfound love, one with an American aid worker, the other a childhood friend who is also a “former person” under the new Soviet regime. I loved the nuanced portraits of these relationships, which address the very real reservations both sisters would have given their recent traumas, while also allowing Irina and Lilli and the reader to feel moments of joy and reprieve from the dark undercurrent of the novel. Significantly, Salnikova Gilmore avoids the damsel-in-distress trope, with the sisters taking the safety and future of their family into their own hands, the men playing supporting roles to the women’s heroics. Without giving anything away, both sisters show in a spectacular manner that their courage is not to be underestimated.
Despite the horrors of the revolution, there is a hopeful tone ringing through the novel, of the possibilities of love, of family, of a better future. As Lili considers at one point: “The fucking past. What to do with it? Maybe the answer isn’t to put up walls and ignore it; nor is it to completely let it in. Maybe it is to use it to make a better present for herself, her family.” Even without a perfect fairy tale ending, there is a path forward for the Goliteva sisters, for anyone who has experienced great loss. It just might require facing a few ghosts along the way.
FICTION
by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
Berkley Books
Published on September 4, 2024
