THE HOUSE OF QUIET

A girl seeks her sister at a facility for young people struggling with psychic abilities.

Sixteen-year-old Birdie has been working since she was 10 so her family could afford a procedure that unlocks special abilities for her younger sister, Magpie. But when Magpie doesn’t come home, Birdie manipulates her way into a position as a maid in the House of Quiet, hoping to find her there, receiving help with her newfound power. But everywhere Birdie looks, she finds more questions. The patients aren’t as expected—they’re from families who are too wealthy to need the procedure, rather than the ones seeking social mobility whom she expected to find, and fellow new maid Minnow is keeping secrets. The plot moves slowly in the first half, which introduces the gaslight-era setting with its oppressive class structure, a country involved in a mysterious geopolitical conflict, and the isolated House of Quiet, which is surrounded by a peat bog. White unveils magical abilities and sinister mystery in dreamy, disorienting passages. The third-person narration occasionally follows other residents of the house. Once the teens start building relationships—Birdie develops a friendship with Minnow, and each has a love interest among the upper-class residents—the intrigue picks up and the fragmented clues come together in an explosive, satisfying finale. Birdie presents white, and Minnow has light brown skin; Minnow’s same-sex relationship is framed as remarkable only for crossing the class divide.

Atmospheric, trippy, and loaded with empathy.