4 stars for Rosemary's Baby (Rosemary book 1) by Ira Levin.
I started reading this spellbinding suspense novel in the last week of October but am not able to finish it in time for a Halloween post. All things considered, I think three days past is not too bad either.
Rosemary's Baby is one of those creepy stories that tends to add stress and anxiety to the reading. It certainly makes me very uncomfortable and sick with worries as the story progresses and the plot thickens.
As the title goes, it is obvious who the damsel in distress is. Rosemary of course! Unfortunately, contrary to the saying, there is no hero coming to her rescue. Rosemary has to brave her way out of The Bramford, the prestigious Grand-Old-Apartment-House, a house that possesses far more than its share of ugly and unsavory happenings, a place that sensible people stay away from but where she adamantly chooses to stay in.
Moral of the story - do not judge books by their covers. In Rosemary's case, do not judge houses by their facades and do not judge characters by their faces. Secret coven aside, the more disturbing moments in the story actually have less to do with the supernatural, but more to do with the horrors of manipulation, isolation and someone battling to take back control of her life and her body.
A disturbing story with an equally freaky picture of a book cover, Rosemary's Baby makes a good wrap up of the Halloween season for me this year.
