We Live Here Now

Emily and Freddie Bennett arrive at their new home, Larkin Lodge, in Dartmoor, on the Devon coast of England. The large, hillside house and the wintry moorlands surrounding it look uninviting. Emily immediately fears that buying the house was a mistake. She hides her disappointment from her husband, observing that she feels like a character “in a Brontë novel” (5). Freddie suggests that if she is Jane Eyre, he is her “Mr. Rochester.” However, Emily was thinking of a different book, Wuthering Heights. Emily walks with a stick because she is recovering from injuries that left her in a coma. Although she was promoted before her accident, she is now unemployed.

Freddie pretends to be cheerful, although he cannot get warm in the house. He feels guilty, reflecting on the terrible thing he has done and hoping Emily never finds out.

The primary bedroom suite is on the top floor of Larkin Lodge. Emily’s injury prevents her from accessing it when she hears a creaking noise from above.

Emily dreams about her accident, which occurred on a hike in Ibiza. She and Freddie were on holiday with two other couples, Mark and Iso, and Cat and Russell. Emily was ahead of Freddie on the cliff path when she fell, and afterward, she could not be sure if she had stumbled or if Freddie had bumped into her. Her injuries led to life-threatening sepsis, followed by the death-like state of a coma.

Emily wakes from her nightmare and hears a bird trapped in the drawing room. After letting the panicked raven out of the window, she discovers another raven, dead in the fireplace. The damage to the bird’s wing suggests that a farmer shot her. Emily wonders if the other raven came inside looking for its dead mate. She sweeps up the bird, tipping it out the window. On the way back to bed, Emily stands on an upturned nail in the floorboards. She panics when she sees her foot is bleeding, fearing she will contract sepsis again.

Freddie wakes and sees sooty footprints leading from their bedroom down the stairs. He finds Emily in the bathroom, nursing her wound. Observing that she looks “like a madwoman” (18), Freddie reflects that her state of mind might be to his advantage.

Emily recalls how she died after she caught sepsis and, after being resuscitated, spent three months in a coma. Her physician, Dr. Canning, has warned her that she may experience post-sepsis syndrome during her recovery. Symptoms include hallucinations, anxiety, and memory loss.

Freddie promises to remove the upturned nail. Meanwhile, Emily reflects on her devastation at losing her job just as she had been appointed director of marketing. The redundancy was particularly hard to accept, given what she had done to achieve the promotion.

Outside, Emily notices that the carcass of the dead raven from the previous night has gone. Observing another raven flying above, she is surprised by the appearance of a woman. The stranger quotes a line from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “The Raven”: “Ghastly grim and ancient Raven, wandering from the nightly shore” (25). The woman stares past Emily at the house. Emily begins to introduce herself, but the stranger is already walking away.

Freddie reflects that it was easier to manage his “situation” when Emily was still in the hospital. However, he considers the remoteness of the house “a godsend.” When he learned that Emily would survive her injuries, he saw an advertisement for Larkin Lodge on her iPad, realizing it could offer the solution to his problems. He remembers how Emily was in a bad mood before her accident, despite gaining a promotion. They were arguing as they hiked along the path, and before Emily fell, Freddie wished she would get out of his way.

Emily and Freddie visit the pub in the nearby village of Wiveliscoombe. Emily spots the woman she saw outside the house, sitting with two men. The older man introduces himself as Paul Carr, the vicar of Saint Olaf’s, a local church. Emily is instantly attracted to the other man, Joe Carter, who introduces his wife, Sally. Sally observes that Emily is beautiful and suggests that Joe, who is a professional artist, should paint her. Joe explains that he and Sally lived at Larkin Lodge 20 years ago.

Paul reveals that they have just concluded their book club meeting, during which they were discussing Edgar Allan Poe’s work. Giving Emily his copy of The Complete Collected Stories & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, he invites her to join them for the next meeting.

Freddie often complains that the house is too cold. However, Emily wakes up so hot that she worries she has a fever. Hearing a scratching on the floor above, she manages to climb the stairs to the primary bedroom suite. The room is empty, but Emily feels a sense of overwhelming horror and feels sure that someone died in the room. A raven taps on the window before flying away.

Freddie wakes and complains that Emily has opened the landing window, letting the cold in. Emily is sure the window was closed when she went upstairs. They return to bed, and Emily reflects on the guilt she feels over cheating on Freddie with her boss to gain a promotion. At the time of her accident, Emily was pregnant and lost the baby. Freddie grieved the loss of the baby, believing that it was his.

In mid-January, Cat, Russell, Iso, and Mark visit Larkin Lodge for the weekend. Cat intuits that Emily’s relationship with Freddie has become strained and reminds her, “Marriage is teamwork” (39).

When Emily is left alone in the library, the fire goes out and four books fall from the shelves: You by Caroline Kepnes, Will You Love Me by Mhairi Atkinson, Die or Diet by Dr. Ella Jones, and Here Come the Clowns by Armond Ellery. Emily hurriedly leaves the room. Later, when the whole party reenters the library, the fire is blazing, and the books have been returned to their shelves. Emily reflects that she “must be going mad” (42).

Over dinner, Russell, a psychology lecturer, suggests that marriages become strained due to couples’ unrealistic expectations of each other. In the early stages of a relationship, individuals are usually dishonest, presenting a carefully curated persona, but the deceit cannot be maintained long-term.

The friends laugh as they recall the hobbies they faked enthusiasm for in the early days of their relationship. Cat points out that Freddie feigned a love of reading when he met Emily. Freddie retorts that Emily claimed to want a “traditional marriage” (44), in which she would be the homemaker, and he would be the breadwinner. Russell concludes that for a marriage to work, both parties must accept the unrealistic nature of their initial expectations.

Emily admits that she finds the house eerie, while Freddie insists it is not haunted. Cat suggests that because Emily has briefly experienced death, she may be more sensitive to supernatural phenomena. Iso excitedly suggests that Emily should get out her old Ouija board.

When Emily asks the Ouija board if there is a spirit in the house, the planchette moves to indicate “Yes.” It then repeatedly spells out “FINDIT.” The candles go out, and someone hammers on the front door.

The unexpected visitor is Paul Carr, the vicar. Paul reveals that Larkin Lodge was built at a crossroads. Traditionally, people who died by suicide were buried at crossroads, as they were prohibited from consecrated burial grounds.

Freddie worries that Mark has guessed his secret. He resolves to delete any “incriminating” evidence from his phone and stop his destructive behavior.

Emily goes up to bed early after catching Freddie in the bathroom, staring at his phone. In the middle of the night, she is woken by a man and woman whispering outside the room. Sometime later, Freddie comes to bed.

The Raven retrieves his mate’s carcass from outside the house and places it in the branches of a tree. He sleeps next to her and brings her food, despite knowing she is dead.

Before departing, Russell tells Emily that he and Cat annoy each other and often argue. Emily assures him that this is normal in a marriage, admitting that the things she used to love about Freddie frequently irritate her to the point where she “could strangle him” (64). She reminds Russell that “marriage is teamwork” (64). Russell dismisses Emily’s apology for going to bed early, revealing that they all went to bed shortly after her. Emily is surprised, recalling the voices on the landing and how late Freddie came to bed. After her friends have left, Emily discovers that Iso has left her a Moleskine notebook and a Montblanc pen to keep a diary of her new life.

When Emily wakes up, the room is unbearably hot because Freddie has turned up the thermostat. Although the house is hot, Freddie is sitting by the fire. He angrily claims that Emily left the hall window open again. Emily is furious when she realizes that Freddie is burning her Ouija board in the fire. Unrepentant, Freddie insists that the board was unhealthy for Emily and suggests she contact Dr. Canning.

Freddie overheard Emily telling Russell the things that irritated her about him. The remark prompts him to think about the aspects of Emily’s personality that he once found endearing but now irritate him.

Freddie must work in London until his transfer to the nearby Exeter branch is complete. As he leaves Larkin Lodge and drives toward the city, his mood lightens. He cannot understand why he felt so angry with Emily.

Alone in the house, Emily is disturbed by a noise from the library. She discovers books strewn across the library floor as if they have been “thrown in rage” (70). Only four books remain on the shelves: You by Caroline Kepnes, Will You Love Me by Mhairi Atkinson, Die or Diet by Dr. Ella Jones, and Here Come the Clowns by Armond Ellery.

Emily is convinced the house is haunted and resolves to uncover the mystery of who died at Larkin Lodge. An internet search reveals that a previous owner, Christopher Hopper, was a renowned surgeon who rebuilt Larkin lodge but only lived there for a year. He died 15 years later in 1887, leaving his wife, Hannah, heartbroken. Emily also discovers that a glamorous actress named Fortuna Carmichael and her husband Gerald bought the house in the 1950s. However, there are no records suggesting anyone died there. Emily wonders whether Sally and Joe moved out of Larkin Lodge because they also sensed a ghostly presence.

Emily visits Sally and Joe and notices that the subject of Joe’s artwork is largely female nudes. Sally takes Emily to Joe’s studio, where two naked young women are erotically posed. On the table before them is a bottle of wine and cocaine, while Joe smokes a joint. Emily is shocked but notes that Sally seems entirely at ease with the scenario. The couple denies experiencing anything strange while living at Larkin Lodge. Sally suggests Emily could consult the church’s parish records.

Emily discovers Gerald Carmichael’s grave in the churchyard, indicating that he died in 2004. Paul reveals that Gerald’s wife, Fortuna, is now in her nineties and lives in Willow Lane House, a local retirement home. Paul also recommends his cleaner, Mrs. Tucker, to Emily.

Emily reads Poe’s short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Disturbed by the sound of a door opening and closing on the second floor, she investigates. Horrified, she witnesses the door opening and shutting, accompanied by a disturbing scratching noise.

Emily barricades herself in the downstairs sitting room, staring at the door. Eventually, she falls asleep, dreaming that her bed is “pulsing” like a heartbeat. Clinging to the underside of the bed, Freddie shivers and grins, warning Emily that the floorboards will “suck [her] in” (85).

Emily visits Willow Lane House. The retirement home manager reveals that Fortuna and Gerald returned to the area later in life, when Gerald had cancer. Fortuna was devastated after his death.

In Fortuna Carmichael’s room, Emily notices a box with a photograph of an angry-looking Gerald stuck to the top. Inside the box is a strange collection of Gerald’s possessions, including a comb, a sweatband, and a worn pair of underpants. Fortuna becomes hostile when Emily suggests that the primary suite of Larkin Lodge is haunted. As Emily leaves, Fortuna mumbles, “I found it, but I didn’t use it” (91).

Emily receives a surprise visit from Sally. She asks if Sally worries about Joe painting naked young women. Sally admits that Joe is not monogamous, but she is faithful to him. However, she does not suffer from jealousy because she knows that her husband truly loves her. Sally reiterates that she did not experience any ghostly happenings at Larkin Lodge, and then she complains of a migraine. Looking into the library before she leaves, Sally observes the four books on the table. She notes that the first word of each title spells out the message “YOU WILL DIE HERE” (97).