Lucie Babbidge's House

by Sylvia Cassedy

Lonely and unhappy Lucie is bullied at school and struggles to fit in. The arrival of a new baby brings some happiness to Lucie, and when she receives some letters from a girl in England, a mystery begins to unfold as Lucy realizes their lives are connected.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Ghost Stories

243 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

An American author of picture books, poetry, and fiction, the Brooklyn-born creative-writing teacher began her career with a few minor picture books, such as Little Chameleon (1966), but is best known today for her poetry and novels. Roomrimes (1987) and the posthumously published Zoomrimes: Poems about Things That Go (1993) were praised for their perceptiveness, humor, and unusual variety of poetic forms.

Cassedy's three novels, Behind the Attic Wall (1983), M.E. and Morton (1987), and Lucie Babbidge's House (1989) are all intricate, leisurely paced novels about troubled or difficult protagonists who gain self-esteem through the intervention of possibly magical characters.

The author's incisive characterizations, carefully wrought prose, and ambiguous endings made her a critics’ favorite.

Cassedy's early death cut short an extraordinary writing career that had yet to peak, and fans can only wonder about—and mourn the loss of—the novels that were yet to be.

Reviews

[skein · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an adult, I prefer this to Behind The Attic Wall; both are lonesome and sad and eerie, but Lucie and her house are somethin' else.

Cassedy is brilliant. Brilliant. The scope and heft of her writing ... I can't articulate it. The children in Lucy's school have names and personalities, sometimes; but again and again they act as a pack, names and differences falling away in a gaggle of speech that runs down the page without any attempt at differentiation. The little differences come out and recede again. Storks and Cranes. Emily and, most strongly, Claire. The adults walk around making noises and being difficult, but the real life goes on below their notice. And Lucie's life goes on below anyone's notice ...

What is real and what is imaginary meld together, as they do, and Cassedy says: It doesn't matter. You can lose your house and your family and your entire life, and still what's in you can rise to the top like a bean sprouting in a cup. If you want. You can return to the dark closet. You can spend your time in the circle of light writing a letter to the world or you can spend it collecting the sun in a jar to use later. You can go mad, if you want. It is all right. It is allowed. It is your choice, yours alone.

I don't know of any other book (much less, a children's book!) which sets up the rules and knocks them down so completely and with so little judgement. Oh, Sylvia Cassedy. What happened to you? Where the fuck did you go?

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to describe this story without giving away the plot. Lucy is suffering from the trauma of loss and at school she is bullied by both her classmates and teacher. She finds some comfort after school with Mumma, Dadda, brother Emmet and soon comes the arrival of a baby sister. When things get really bad, Lucy starts to receive letters from a girl in England that begins to unfold a mystery as the writer tells of her life and philosophies and Lucy begins to realise their lives are connected.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tale, which is not what it seems. Silent Lucie Babbidge is despised by classmates and teachers alike at school, but at home, she is gregarious and loved by her family. Slowly through the juxtaposition of these two worlds, we learn more about this young girl's true character and powerful ways of coping with tragedies in her own life. It's impossible not to fall in love with Lucie Babbidge, imho.

[Demi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one of the few books I read as a child and continued to pick up well into my teenage years, and even into adulthood, Lucie Babbidge's House was one of the inspirations for my imagination. Lucie, the main character, has a power to her mind that surprises all those around her, and in turn inspires all young women to find the power within themselves.

[Christiane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odd and eerie, keeps you guessing about what is really going on! I loved creepy books like this when I was a kid, and though written not that long ago (1989) it has a classic feel, especially since there are few clues as to when it is set.

[Dani · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by the cover, this book is not a ghost story, unfortunately. I say unfortunately because at least a ghost story would make sense. Instead, Lucie' Babbidge's House is like some terrible hallucinogenic experience, where everything is not what it seems and at the end you find that all your fingers look like toes and all your toes look like fingers. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? IS IT?

I didn't think so.

This book is insane. I can't comment on the plot because I don't even know what happened in the book. There's a baby made out of a bean and letters that somehow make their way from the imaginary world to the real world. Or maybe the world isn't imaginary...now my brain hurts.

Make the bad book go away.

[Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I joined Goodreads in order to rate this book. I am supposedly a middle-aged adult. I first read the book last year, and would have not noticed the book, much less understood it, had it been around when I was little - not that it would have appeared in libraries back home, likely.

I don't know if the author is a genius. I don't know what makes a good book. I think that the plot is mostly monotonous with a couple of left turns that receive foreshadowing. I think that the protagonist is not conventionally likable - and feel that the protagonist would never have a use for me, frankly, nor should she. But I believe that the book's structure, story, voice, and protagonist are appropriate for each other.

And I love this book (whatever that means).

[Courtney]

one of my FAVORITE books when I was younger! I'm not going to lie, I searched for a long time on google trying to remember the title of this book. I was very excited when I finally figured it out. I am a nerd!

[Sofia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made no sense.

[Professor Weasel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is soooo nuts!! It really blew my mind as a child! Wonderful story about the power of play and imagination. Really crazy that the author was apparently kind of a mysterious person who didn't publish much.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es muy triste y está muy, muy bien escrito. Literatura infantil cruda, my kind of tea.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second and final novel from Sylvia Cassedy, who wrote the brilliant Behind the Attic Wall. This novel seems almost unfinished, as it's a blurred recount of an orphan's fantasies with no real clarification. As an adult, I didn't find this relatable. I might have liked it more as a child. It did have Cassedy's very unique atmosphere. She was an author you would like to talk to, just to discover what made her create such deeply inspired worlds. She really got into the minds of abandoned children and showed you how it felt to be them. My daughter is too pragmatic to enjoy these books. I shall save them for a future grandchild.

[jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because as a young person I was a little bit obsessed with Sylvia Cassedy's other fine work, Behind the Attic Wall. I must have read it 50 times. Somehow it never occurred to me that Ms. Cassedy would have written other children's books about various ghostly dolls and unloved, unappreciated orphaned girls. But she did! Behold, Lucie Babbidge's House! This premise of the book is different enough from Behind the Attic Wall, but the subject matter and style are similar enough that they begin to form a body of work. It appears that Cassedy did not write any other books about this subject, sadly.

Anyway, the book! This is the story of Lucie Babbidge who lives with one foot in her harsh reality where she is an unpopular, awkward, socially challenged orphan in a decaying home for girls, and her other foot in the imaginary fantasy world of her alternate life based on a dollhouse she finds in a hidden basement storage closet of the girls' home. The narrative alternates between her daytimes in the classroom with her unforgiving teacher and taunting classmates and her evenings spent living vicariously through piano lessons, beloved parents, an annoying little brother and a new baby sister. Maybe that sounds weird enough to people who are not gothic dollhouse imaginary friend orphaned girls home fanatics, but it does become more complicated when Lucie realizes that what happens in her dollhouse affects the world of her pen pal, a real little girl who lives with her family in England. It's a little complicated to explain in a goodreads review, but I thought that Ms. Cassedy did a lovely job of letting the story unfold without over-explaining or killing the magic. A lot of people have said that they have no idea what happened in this book - I think that's fair. It's hard for the adult mind to be open to the sort of narrative in this book. For children, though, I don't think it's much of a stretch. The extra fantasy elements really made this story come alive. The only bad thing about this book is that I wanted to know more about how Lucie navigated the rest of her childhood and survived her insufferable surroundings.

[Sula · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is quite similar to the author's more well-known Behind the Attic Wall. Both feature an socially awkward orphaned girl, who doesn't get along with her peers, discovering some dolls and the world in which they live in. Both steal odds and ends to furnish the dolls worlds. Both feature a male character who make similar style dad jokes, playing with words. This time it was more annoying than vaguely amusing. These dolls thankfully are generally pleasant in character in this story, but the lives with them are rather bland.

Unlike Behind the Attic Wall which has the interesting story behind the dolls, there were no redeeming features to win me over despite the weirdness and unpleasantness. Like with Behind the Attic Wall, the main character's overcoming of trauma seems to be all too quick, although in this case the story only shows perhaps the start of this change of character. These similar stories about troubled girls are making me wonder about the author's own experiences in life.

(And why is there a ghost on the cover of the book? It makes it look like a completely different story.)

[Ruthie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well-written book, but an odd one. I loved that after reading 16 chapters and feeling "settled in" to the story, the author completely surprised me in a way that I can't explain without giving away the story. My daughter wanted me to read it aloud to the family, but I think it's more of a read-on-your-own book.

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book. Lucie is teased at school, but is very happy at home. Her family makes her feel so much happier! But then we find out that her home is a dollhouse in the basement, not a real house. She plays with them each day. Then her pen pal starts to have weird things happen to her, things that Lucie does with her dolls, and neither really know what is going on. Auryn 12 years old, 2016

[Jaimie Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as Behind the Attic Wall, but everyone needs a secret dollhouse they can play with when kids pick on them at all. We all need a secret world that can come alive at any moment.

[Tina Valenzuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Original story with a very interesting twist at the end. Definately a book you can read more than twice

[Pghbekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Behind the Attic Wall, by the same author, is still one of my favorite books. This book is as strange as that one, but sadly, not half as enchanting.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child this was one of my favorite books. I read it at least a dozen times which is unusual as I almost never read anything twice. I still remember, in vivid detail, Lucie's world(s).

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very creative! I enjoyed the twists and turns. I'm still puzzling over parts of it. I really felt for the poor little girl. I think this would be great for a discussion group.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

TPL

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was a good, unsettling read, it comes nowhere near the glory that is Behind the Attic Wall.

[Cress · Rating 1 out of 5]

What did I just read?

[Laurie Ramone · Rating 5 out of 5]

let me just start this review off by saying i was lucie in elementary/middle school. not entirely the same circumstances, but similar enough. i used to read this book so much when i was a child, nine or ten years old, because it was the first time i ever found a protagonist that was exactly like me. shy, withdrawn, entirely immersed in a fantasy world all of her own. i recently reread it as an adult for the first time and even today some of the things the girls say or do to lucie still remind me of the things my classmates said and did to me. i'm sorry this book isn't more popular and that ms. cassedy died, because i would love to hear either her opinion or other readers' opinions on what they think lucie would be like as an adult, or what exactly happened that night going home from the beach. but in any case this book remains one of the most relatable, magical things of my childhood, and consequently of my whole life.

[Ashlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I loved Behind the Attic Wall, this one has a good twist in the end. If you like Behind the attic wall I suggest reading Lucie Babbigies house.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a good book! Similar to Behind the Attic Wall by the same author. I love books with weird, maladjusted protagonists.

[Aleja:V476 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8

[Andrea C.]

Gran historia, pero no me gustó la ejecución.

[Madame Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a clever story! As charming as Behind the Attic Wall. Even a bit more mysterious. What a gifted writer Syvia Cassedy was.