I read this book many years ago, but in a graphic novel format. I recall it being a bit confusing- I think because as a graphic novel itself, it was hard to tell what was going on sometimes when it also included pages of a comic book within the story, that told part of the story. It felt a lot more straightforward in novel format, and I think I enjoyed it more, too. Even though the type of story is not quite my thing- a mystery with a bit of horror element to it (perfect for a read that I finished up on Halloween night, though!)
The story is about two sisters, living with their withdrawn mother who’s barely home (or sleeping when she is), working all hours to support them after their father died in an accident that nobody talks about. Margaret (the oldest sister) only knows it was from drowning, even though her father was a champion swimmer. One day her mother takes them on a sudden ferry trip to an old creepy-looking mansion on an island, where she sticks a for-sale sign in the ground, but won’t answer any questions. Do they own this house? why? what has it got to do with their past? Margaret can’t get any answers out of their mother, but she sneaks away from home (leaving her little sister home alone to cover for her) later and goes back to the old mansion, determined to get some answers. She’s got clues in the oddest of places: a hand-painted comic book about a man turning into a rat, featuring a house on the cover that looks just like the one her mother seems to have inherited. She meets a boy who lives next door to the old house (and is obsessed with the rest of that comic book series), a strange librarian who only shelves unpublished books and manuscripts (where have I seen that idea before?) and starts to wonder how everything is connected. It all is, in a far more personal way than she ever would have imagined or guessed.
This story is a tad convoluted, with some parts told by Margaret, others by the boy, by an omniscient narrator, or even presented as pages of the Ratt comic itself. There’s a chase through the dark woods, a ghost in the water, and an old family secret that must be explained. Also much more detail about these kids than I remember in the graphic novel version. They’re all lonely in different ways. Margaret hides in the bathroom at school to eat her lunch, but then makes friends with a girl on the baseball outfield, who believes strongly in Fate and encourages her to solve the family mystery. The boy next door to the mansion is trying to avoid bullies and gets teased constantly about his interest in the Ratt comics, but after an eventful encounter with dark characters out on the water and a huge search-and-rescue party, kids at school suddenly take a more positive interest. The mother is barely conscious of her children at all (seemingly) drowning in her own unhappiness. And the little sister is always working on this difficult jigsaw puzzle (refusing to look at the reference picture) which made me chuckle this time around, because I myself am very much into jigsaws right now, but I also felt a tad pointed at, like the author was making dissectologists out to be eccentric and obsessed. Certainly a very unique book!
