She Is a Haunting

This house eats and is eaten . . .

A House with a terrifying appetite haunts a broken family in this atmospheric horror, perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic.

When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She’s always lied to fit in, so if she’s straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough, she can get out with the college money he promised.

But the house has other plans. Night after night, Jade wakes up paralyzed. The walls exude a thrumming sound while bugs leave their legs and feelers in places they don’t belong. She finds curious traces of her ancestors in the gardens they once tended. And at night Jade can’t ignore the ghost of the beautiful bride who leaves cryptic warnings: Don’t eat.

Neither Ba nor her sweet sister Lily believe that there is anything strange happening. With help from a delinquent girl, Jade will prove this house--the home they have always wanted--will not rest until it destroys them. Maybe, this time, she can keep her family together. As she roots out the house’s rot, she must also face the truth of who she is and who she must become to save them all.

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing.

Book club questions for She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

What is your relationship to the horror genre? Did you go into this book being familiar with the horror genre, and how did that inform your expectation?

Under the jump scares and horror imagery lies a more cerebral fear: Jade’s feelings about her identity as a queer woman and as a Vietnamese American, and her relationship to her family and their generational trauma from colonialism. Why do you think her story was told through this haunted house narrative?

What elements of the story did you find scariest?

The author uses the meals Ba cooks for his family as both a bonding agent for the family, and a medium through which the house can enact violence on them. What did you think of the descriptions of food? Have you tried cooking any Vietnamese recipes?

In the story, there’s a strange symmetry between the parasitic nature of the bugs, and the relationships people have to the houses they live in. The author has spoken about being inspired by the idea that houses could tell stories about what they’ve seen. What did you think of the house’s chapters? If you could hear the perspective of one house, which would it be?

Did you know anything about the French colonization of Vietnam prior to reading this book? What surprised you most about Jade’s family history?

Who is your favorite character? What do you think of the ghosts?

If you were in Jade’s place, would you stay at the villa for the full five weeks in order to get money for college?

There’s a tradition in Gothic literature about dramatic climaxes in which the house (or other central setting) is destroyed, often by fire. Did you see the ending coming in this book? Why do you think the author wrote the final act to play it out this way?

Will you read more horror after this?

She Is a Haunting Book Club Questions PDF

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Instant New York Times and Indie Bestseller!
“A riveting debut from a remarkable new voice! Trang Thanh Tran weaves an impressive gothic mystery in which Jade's father is determined to restore a decrepit home to its former glory and Jade is the only person who feels the soul-crushing devastation of colonialism lingering within its walls.” —Angeline Boulley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Firekeeper's Daughter

“She Is a Haunting is a beguiling feast of a book that drew me in immediately with its exquisitely unsettling atmosphere, vivid prose, and creeping horrors—both supernatural and all too human.” —Kate Alice Marshall, author of I Am Still Alive and Rules for Vanishing

“Electric and unsettling with a deliciously rich theme readers will sink their teeth into, She Is a Haunting is my absolute favorite new entry in the gothic genre. Layers of identity, fright, and heartfelt romance are tenderly laid one over the other, creating a richly complex story that questions the very nature of a haunting. Trang Thanh Tran is a force to be reckoned with.” —Courtney Gould, award-winning author of The Dead and the Dark

“This exquisitely disturbing tale of identity and colonialism and intergenerational trauma will eat its way under your skin and live there forever. Read this one with the lights on. I'm ready to be haunted by whatever Trang Thanh Tran writes next.” —Emily X.R. Pan, New York Times bestselling author

“She Is a Haunting is exactly the kind of book I love—gorgeous prose, a deliciously terrifying atmosphere, incisive thematic resonance, and a gloriously complex heroine. Jade is an unforgettable character, all tender longings and sharp edges, and readers everywhere will root for her just as hard as I did. Put it on your shelf next to Rebecca and The Haunting of Hill House. An incredible, riveting debut.” —Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn and Sawkill Girls

“A welcome addition to the quickly growing canon of culturally diverse, queer horror . . . The result is an atmospheric horror novel that teens with a penchant for the grotesque will delight in unfolding, bit by rotting bit.” —BookPage

“An opaque and delicate ghost story for strong readers.” —Booklist

“This is a multi-layered exemplar of the horror genre, as the terrifying supernatural aspects of this story combine with the equally horrific colonialist history of this home . . . All of that is then topped off with a compelling exploration of the dynamics of estranged families and how culture, identity, and feelings of what is home can vary dramatically from generation to generation.” —BCCB

"Purchase for high school libraries where horror is popular and recommend this title to teens that like a heavy dose of melancholy with their scares.” —School Library Connection

“Hair-raising supernatural horror debut . . . Tran smartly weaves Vietnamese culture and real horrors of French imperialism to deliver an eerie tale overflowing with deeply unsettling atmosphere.” —Publishers Weekly

“A satisfying blend of traditional horror with modern themes and concerns. Both the ghosts and the humans in this richly layered work are alluring and deadly.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"She Is a Haunting is a satisfying Gothic coming-of-age novel in which a house, a heritage, and the uncertain future threaten to consume a college-bound woman.” —Foreword Reviews