Book Review: A Box Full of Darkness

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This is my book review of A Box Full of Darkness, by Simone St. James. This author writes moody, mysterious, and scary novels.

I read her book The Sun Down Motel back in 2022, and can still recall how frightening it was!

The book is set in 1989.

As the novel states early on, strange things happen in Fell, New York. Strange and baffling things. Things beyond the law of nature.

There was the puzzling drowning at the town’s roadside motel. Then there was the unexplained death of a young girl whose body was left by the railroad tracks.

The Esmie Siblings:

The Esmie siblings, Violet, Vail, and Dodie, hated growing up in their house in Fell. Their parents seemed remote and indifferent. They were almost left to raise themselves.

There were never any other children in their neighborhood to play with, so they had only each other. They had a younger brother named Ben, but were unable to remember how he came to be in their family.

When they all think back, they realize that he came on the scene suddenly, as a baby. But they do not recall their mother being pregnant.

However, they loved him very much. Doted on him. Their parents were mere shadows in their lives, almost disconnected from them. But Ben was a special little boy, and they were all devoted to him.

Then, one day, while playing Ben’s favorite game, Hide and Seek, he disappeared. They counted to ten, and Ben ran to hide. And they never saw him again.

The police found no forensic evidence. It was as if he were lifted straight up from the earth.

The three children were haunted by visions. Frightening things happened in that house. Violet, the oldest, saw dead people. There was someone named Sister, a voice she heard, who was menacing and terrorized her. These things followed her even after she left the Esmie household.

Violet, Vail, & Dodie as Adults:

As adults, the Esmie siblings inherited trust funds from their mother’s estate.

Violet

Violet was the Esmie sibling who hired lawn maintenance over the years for the house their parents had owned. But no one had lived there in all the time they’d been gone.

Violet got married and had a daughter. But her visions of dead people led her husband to think she was mentally ill, and she was sent to a hospital.

After that, he got custody of their daughter, Lisette, and she was left on the sidelines of her child’s life. Violet felt that she must have been a terrible mother; it wasn’t as though she had a proper role model.

Vail

Vail went his own way. He worked for VUFO (Volunteers who studied houses where UFOs were sighted or heard from). These volunteers were told baffling stories by the aggrieved people who lived in these menacing, haunted houses.

He took photos of unexplainable phenomena and heard stories of strange encounters. Vail tried to help the residents of these homes reach some sort of peace with the spirits, or move away.

Dodie

Dodie, the youngest, became a model. She didn’t want to be the kind of model who was famous and recognized. She just wanted to model her hair or her hands. And she was good at it.

But it wasn’t as though it was her passion. It wasn’t important to Dodie to be “seen.”

She was a failure in the relationship department, as were the other siblings. Their strange upbringing did not prepare them for closeness with another person. They lived solitary lives.

Violet cleaned the houses of the dead, Vail followed troubled spirits, and Dodie modeled parts of her body.

This was a homecoming they never wanted. They were not excited about it. But they did it because they needed answers about Ben. And Ben’s spirit had “asked” them to reunite.

Violet

“I opened my eyes and looked back at the house. A bird was perched on the roof, large and plump, its silhouette black against the sky. As I watched, it ruffled its inky feathers out, then preened the feathers with its beak. Was it a raven? A crow? I didn’t know the difference. Maybe it was something else. I wondered if it had a nest up there, if it was part of a flock, or if it was alone. If it lived there or was just passing through.

“I had never seen the ghost of an animal, I realized. Not ever. Maybe they knew better than we did how to let go.”

It was the spirits of people who couldn’t seem to find peace that had been unable to let go and move on.

My Review:

I found the book to be engaging. This writer is adept at creating characters who distinguish themselves through their individual foibles and personality traits. Each chapter is about one of the siblings and is told from their point of view.

I have read books by this writer before, and the stories have stayed with me. So I’ll likely read her future novels.

If you like mysterious, unexplainable, and haunting occurrences, you will like this book.

About the Author:

Simone St. James is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of A BOX FULL OF DARKNESS, MURDER ROAD, THE BOOK OF COLD CASES, THE SUN DOWN MOTEL, and THE BROKEN GIRLS.

Simone spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time. She lives just outside Toronto, Canada, with her husband and a spoiled rescue cat. She is addicted to sushi, rainy days, coffee, and My Favorite Murder.

Disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.