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Keeper #1
The Keeper
Some believe Bedford, Maine, is cursed. Its bloody past, endless rain, and the decay of its downtown portend a hopeless future. With the death of its paper mill, Bedford's unemployed residents soon find themselves with far too much time to dwell on thoughts of Susan Marley. Once the local beauty, she's now the local whore. Silently prowling the muddy streets, she watches eerily from the shadows, waiting for . . . something. And haunting the sleep of everyone in town with monstrous visions of violence and horror.
Those who are able will leave Bedford before the darkness fully ascends. But those who are trapped here-from Susan Marley's long-suffering mother and younger sister to her guilt-ridden, alcoholic ex-lover to the destitute and faithless with nowhere else to go-will soon know the fullest and most terrible meaning of nightmare.
Those who are able will leave Bedford before the darkness fully ascends. But those who are trapped here-from Susan Marley's long-suffering mother and younger sister to her guilt-ridden, alcoholic ex-lover to the destitute and faithless with nowhere else to go-will soon know the fullest and most terrible meaning of nightmare.
382 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
116 people are currently reading
5153 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Langan
53 books903 followersSarah grew up on Long Island, got her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, her MS in environmental toxicology from NYU, and currently lives in Los Angeles with her family, two rabbits, and three chickens.
Her next novel TRAD WIFE is due out from S&S and Tor UK in Summer, 2026.
Her most recent works include A BETTER WORLD, GOOD NEIGHBORS, PAM KOWOLSKI IS A MONSTER, YOU HAVE THE PRETTIEST MASK, "Does Harlen Lattner Dream of Electric Sheep?," "Squid Teeth," "The Devil's Children," and "I Miss You Too Much."
*I acknowledge that I have massacred the punctuation surrounding the above quotations marks. I will now resume talking about myself in the third person.*
Her books have received favorite of the year distinctions from NPR, Newsweek, The Irish Times, Publisher's Weekly, and the AARP (best of the last five years).
She is also three-time Bram Stoker award winner for outstanding novel in 2007 - The Missing, outstanding short story in 2008 - The Lost, and outstanding novel in 2009 - Audrey's Door.
Blog:https://sarahlangan.com/blog/
Her next novel TRAD WIFE is due out from S&S and Tor UK in Summer, 2026.
Her most recent works include A BETTER WORLD, GOOD NEIGHBORS, PAM KOWOLSKI IS A MONSTER, YOU HAVE THE PRETTIEST MASK, "Does Harlen Lattner Dream of Electric Sheep?," "Squid Teeth," "The Devil's Children," and "I Miss You Too Much."
*I acknowledge that I have massacred the punctuation surrounding the above quotations marks. I will now resume talking about myself in the third person.*
Her books have received favorite of the year distinctions from NPR, Newsweek, The Irish Times, Publisher's Weekly, and the AARP (best of the last five years).
She is also three-time Bram Stoker award winner for outstanding novel in 2007 - The Missing, outstanding short story in 2008 - The Lost, and outstanding novel in 2009 - Audrey's Door.
Blog:https://sarahlangan.com/blog/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 268 reviews
March 2, 2012
Back in Horror's heyday, the masters (Straub, King, et al.) would crank out 500 to 800 page apocalyptic tomes, usually set in some small town filled with secrets, that never seemed to end. At the end of these novels, everything would blow up. I was never a huge fan, not because I didn't like horror (I love it), but because for me, horror works best with a tighter, smaller focus, with an emphasis on atmosphere (I'm a Ramsey Campbell fan). Give me dread over explosions any day. Langan's Keeper is from the "tome" era. To its credit, at 380 pages, it is shorter, but around page 260 or so, I was horrified that I had a hundred pages more to go. A character I couldn't stand wasn't dead yet (squeeze harder Susan!), a giant spider had showed up out of nowhere, and it just kept raining. (Actually, I liked the steady use of rain as a mood establishing device. For some reason I was reminded of Stewart O'nan's masterpiece The Night Country. Must be that Jamie Lee Curtis time of year.) Another problem for me was that I never bought into the core cause of the horror, so to some extent, from early on, I felt I was on a long march.
On the other hand, Langan can write. She creates believable characters (I really liked Liz), though sometimes there were conversations that just went on and on without really adding momentum to the story. Langan also has, like King, a good eye for things contemporary. The teens in the Keeper are modern day versions of King's 70s kids. The music, the clothes, the talk, all seemed right to me. But hey, it's a first novel, so ignore the novel's glowing heavy weight blurbs and take it for what it is. The Keeper does have some effective moments, and to my mind is much closer to real horror than another heavily touted new writer, Cherie Priest. This may seem like an overly critical review, but in part this is due to the promise I see with this writer. She seems enthusiastic about the genre, and contemporary horror needs new blood.
[Note: I think Langan's next book, The Missing, is much better. If you like Horror, definitely check it out.]
On the other hand, Langan can write. She creates believable characters (I really liked Liz), though sometimes there were conversations that just went on and on without really adding momentum to the story. Langan also has, like King, a good eye for things contemporary. The teens in the Keeper are modern day versions of King's 70s kids. The music, the clothes, the talk, all seemed right to me. But hey, it's a first novel, so ignore the novel's glowing heavy weight blurbs and take it for what it is. The Keeper does have some effective moments, and to my mind is much closer to real horror than another heavily touted new writer, Cherie Priest. This may seem like an overly critical review, but in part this is due to the promise I see with this writer. She seems enthusiastic about the genre, and contemporary horror needs new blood.
[Note: I think Langan's next book, The Missing, is much better. If you like Horror, definitely check it out.]
February 13, 2020
THE KEEPER was my first read by Sarah Langan and it also happens to have a sequel that I now NEED immediately. This one is listed mostly as a thriller, but y’all, this is horror. HORROR. We have a small town with a metric ton of secrets, people with major issues, and some of the grossest/creepiest scenes I’ve read in awhile. Langan definitely doesn’t shy away from anything, and I am here for it. If I ever see a Susan, I’m out. All the way out.
I ended up going with a 4 for this. I loved my time with the characters and there were only a few parts where I wasn’t quite sure what was going on. I’ll be reading the sequel as soon as I can. Langan also has a new book coming this year and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.
August 29, 2007
I don't know. The story seemed good, the characters were well developed, but it just went no where and the author, in her freshman attempt does manage to create a certain tension but the transitions are way too unbelievable in a book where on one hand the supernatural is subtle and on the other it attempts to be grandiose. Oh, and the ending completely falls apart. I managed to finish it but it was a difficult task.
October 16, 2016
The town of Bedford, Maine, is slowly decaying. Bedford only has one major industry in the town and that is the paper mill. The mill pollutes, the air and poisons the water. The workers have to breath in the sulfur from the mill and it is slowly kill them. The town runs into some rough economics times and some of the workers are let go. In the end, the mill finally closes for good and town is dying a slow death. The town is concerned about Susan Marley, some folks thinks that she is a witch. Susan haunted the residents in their own dreams. All of a sudden, Susan stops talking, for no reason at all. Susan is in her twenty's and turning tricks, so that she can eat. Susan's sister Liz, is in high school and can't wait to leave this nightmare of a town. Liz, is going to college and she is never going to look back at this part of her life. Paul Martin, is a high school teacher and is also an alcoholic. He often goes to see Susan, to seek comfort from his very depressing wife. One night Susan is accidently killed. Terrible things begin to happen in this cursed town. Liz is terrified of her zombie like sister. Liz's, boyfriend Bobby, tries to help her with the fear of the unknown but is not very successful. Those who can't leave the town before the darkness takes over the city, are stuck there forever. Soon they will learn the most horrific nightmare of all. This was not bad for the author's first book. The story had a few rough spots but overall it was good. There is a sequel to this book, that I might checkout.
September 8, 2015
I read this novel as part of my quest for the best horror novels of the 21st century. Sarah Langan's name kept coming up. Each of her novels appeared, so I decided to start with her first, since there's some indication of a sequence. And I'm glad I did.
On the surface The Keeper looks like a familiar horror trope: a town to be destroyed by dark forces. (Think Peter Straub's Floating Dragon for one example) That kept my expectations down, especially as the book appeared in 2006. I was pleasantly surprised to see Langan offer a fresh take on this, offering a genuinely powerful horror novel.
Let me offer some observations before getting into spoiler territory.
The Keeper takes place in the Maine town of Bedford, a mill town having fallen on hard times. This is an important context for American horror. First, it's a form of rust belt Gothic in microcosm, especially as the mill's role becomes environmentally and historically vital. Second, it means working-class horror, still an unusual (and welcome) sub genre. The epigraph from Bruce Springsteen signals this class intent.
Langan populates the town with well-drawn characters. The horror staple of short-lived victim (the literary equivalent of gaming's NPC) is done nicely, but the main characters really shine. They are the Marley family, mother Mary plus daughters Susan and Liz. The Keeper is really their story.
That makes this a very gynocentric novel. It's mostly about women and their relationships, the latter often with each other.
At the same time all of the characters - yes, every one - are sad, sad people. Each person is heartbroken and/or defeated, ground down or self-deluded. The Keeper is mournful, almost elegiac in its tone and content. It is not cruel; Langan pays careful, indulgent, sometimes loving attention to these people. Some are tragic, while a few generate their fates on their own. One character redeems himself, but only though a futile death. There are only two villains, really, and neither receives much word count. Again, this is a novel about people in pain.
There is a terrible, monstrous force, of course, that brings about Bedford's doom. This is somewhat original. Now we must raise the spoiler shields before proceeding.
So this is terrific for a first novel. There are some weaknesses. Some of it is repetitive - too many scenes of Susan's blue eyes, Lisa ranting at her boyfriend, Paul wanting a drink. The plot at the hear of the Marleys' house is a bit oversold, especially in these post-Jerry Springer days (it's very well described, though).
That said, I recommend The Keeper to any horror reader, and look forward to reading Langan's next books.
On the surface The Keeper looks like a familiar horror trope: a town to be destroyed by dark forces. (Think Peter Straub's Floating Dragon for one example) That kept my expectations down, especially as the book appeared in 2006. I was pleasantly surprised to see Langan offer a fresh take on this, offering a genuinely powerful horror novel.
Let me offer some observations before getting into spoiler territory.
The Keeper takes place in the Maine town of Bedford, a mill town having fallen on hard times. This is an important context for American horror. First, it's a form of rust belt Gothic in microcosm, especially as the mill's role becomes environmentally and historically vital. Second, it means working-class horror, still an unusual (and welcome) sub genre. The epigraph from Bruce Springsteen signals this class intent.
Langan populates the town with well-drawn characters. The horror staple of short-lived victim (the literary equivalent of gaming's NPC) is done nicely, but the main characters really shine. They are the Marley family, mother Mary plus daughters Susan and Liz. The Keeper is really their story.
That makes this a very gynocentric novel. It's mostly about women and their relationships, the latter often with each other.
At the same time all of the characters - yes, every one - are sad, sad people. Each person is heartbroken and/or defeated, ground down or self-deluded. The Keeper is mournful, almost elegiac in its tone and content. It is not cruel; Langan pays careful, indulgent, sometimes loving attention to these people. Some are tragic, while a few generate their fates on their own. One character redeems himself, but only though a futile death. There are only two villains, really, and neither receives much word count. Again, this is a novel about people in pain.
There is a terrible, monstrous force, of course, that brings about Bedford's doom. This is somewhat original. Now we must raise the spoiler shields before proceeding.
So this is terrific for a first novel. There are some weaknesses. Some of it is repetitive - too many scenes of Susan's blue eyes, Lisa ranting at her boyfriend, Paul wanting a drink. The plot at the hear of the Marleys' house is a bit oversold, especially in these post-Jerry Springer days (it's very well described, though).
That said, I recommend The Keeper to any horror reader, and look forward to reading Langan's next books.
October 10, 2022
I read this year's ago, probably 2008 or 2009. I liked it, but I preferred her spooky, Audrey's Door and the second in this series The Missing. I'd like to reread all three and see if I get a different take on them.:)
November 19, 2023
Langan's first novel demonstrated lots of promise and I will follow up on her later work for sure. Langan's poetic prose builds an atmospheric, haunting tale, but one that also struggled with pacing issues and a bit too much melodrama for my taste. Perhaps the most haunting aspect of the novel consists in bringing to life the quickly dying town of Bedford, Maine.
The Keeper oscillates among a broad cast of characters, the leads being a drunken high school teacher and Liz and Susan Marley. Liz, younger by several years to Susan, is still in high school while her sister starts the novel roaming aimlessly around town, having moved out when she was 18. Susan was such a pretty little girl, but something is wrong with her and she has not spoken a word in years. Liz and her boyfriend Bobby live in the shadow of Susan, as indeed, the entire town does.
In the middle of one nasty winter, it seems everyone in town is dreaming of Susan, and they are not pleasant dreams at all. The paper mill, the main reason for the town in the first place, is shutting down and Bedford looks doomed. Beyond the economic aspect, however, lurks a deeper doom with Susan...
I mentioned Langan's prose and she can really turn a phrase, along with creating a sense of foreboding, and The Keeper excels in that. My biggest problem with this rests with Langan seeming to lose the plot along the way, getting lost in tangents and backstories. It felt like she tried to pack too much into this one. Straub has a glowing cover blurb and Langan cites him for his assistance on the novel, and this reminded me of Straub's work; both authors seem to aim for literary horror rather than pulp. The Keeper, despite some gruesome scenes, felt a little to allegorical for my taste. Still, I did like this, and as I wrote above, Langan has talent and I expect better things in her later works. 3.5 moody stars!!
The Keeper oscillates among a broad cast of characters, the leads being a drunken high school teacher and Liz and Susan Marley. Liz, younger by several years to Susan, is still in high school while her sister starts the novel roaming aimlessly around town, having moved out when she was 18. Susan was such a pretty little girl, but something is wrong with her and she has not spoken a word in years. Liz and her boyfriend Bobby live in the shadow of Susan, as indeed, the entire town does.
In the middle of one nasty winter, it seems everyone in town is dreaming of Susan, and they are not pleasant dreams at all. The paper mill, the main reason for the town in the first place, is shutting down and Bedford looks doomed. Beyond the economic aspect, however, lurks a deeper doom with Susan...
I mentioned Langan's prose and she can really turn a phrase, along with creating a sense of foreboding, and The Keeper excels in that. My biggest problem with this rests with Langan seeming to lose the plot along the way, getting lost in tangents and backstories. It felt like she tried to pack too much into this one. Straub has a glowing cover blurb and Langan cites him for his assistance on the novel, and this reminded me of Straub's work; both authors seem to aim for literary horror rather than pulp. The Keeper, despite some gruesome scenes, felt a little to allegorical for my taste. Still, I did like this, and as I wrote above, Langan has talent and I expect better things in her later works. 3.5 moody stars!!
October 24, 2008
This book is a hard one to describe. It's set entirely in a small city called Bedford, Maine. Its inhabitants are mostly lower middle class, small town people. They drink, they gossip, they work. Recently their main source of income, the paper mill, was shut down, leaving many of them jobless and with very little to do. Most leave, but some stay. Haunting the town is Susan Marley, a clearly crazy girl who, quite frankly, creeps everyone out. Roughly halfway through the book, Susan dies. Then, she comes back. She brings with her all the dead secrets the town has buried in the past. From there, the town slowly descends into a dark pit of madness.
The dialogue in this book is very good, though not perfect. For the most part, I wasn't jarred out of the story by awkward dialogue, but occasionally things felt forced and perhaps written in just to satisfy some desire on the author's part.
Things do not progress quickly and nothing big really happens until about 3/4 of the way through. A lot of it is slow, creeping plot development. To be honest about my personal preferences, I would have liked a different ending. This is not to say that it was a bad ending, or that it was written poorly. I just would have liked to see the author take it a different direction.
Honestly, I have no complaints about Langan's writing. She has some really great imagery, knows how to give give each character his or her own flavor. She kept up the creepy, subtly disturbing ambiance throughout the whole book. There are several scenes that are just plain unsettling and she does a really fantastic job of keeping the spider-somewhere-in-your-bed discomfort level. It's never outright threatening, but you can't help but feel rather squicked.
The dialogue in this book is very good, though not perfect. For the most part, I wasn't jarred out of the story by awkward dialogue, but occasionally things felt forced and perhaps written in just to satisfy some desire on the author's part.
Things do not progress quickly and nothing big really happens until about 3/4 of the way through. A lot of it is slow, creeping plot development. To be honest about my personal preferences, I would have liked a different ending. This is not to say that it was a bad ending, or that it was written poorly. I just would have liked to see the author take it a different direction.
Honestly, I have no complaints about Langan's writing. She has some really great imagery, knows how to give give each character his or her own flavor. She kept up the creepy, subtly disturbing ambiance throughout the whole book. There are several scenes that are just plain unsettling and she does a really fantastic job of keeping the spider-somewhere-in-your-bed discomfort level. It's never outright threatening, but you can't help but feel rather squicked.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2008
My first book of the year turned out to be entirely unplanned--an impulse purchase at Albertson's when I went down there yesterday to pick up various staples. The Keeper is apparently a debut horror/suspense novel, and the blurb made it sound halfway interesting, so I figured what the hell.
There are a lot of oft-used tropes in this book: the run-down New England town, the creepy abandoned locale where nobody wants to go, the townsfolk full of secrets and in many ways just not right, the crazy young woman who's wandering around the place and spooking everybody right out. But I'll say this for the book; it used these tropes in pretty decent ways, and at the end in ways I actually didn't expect. A couple of characters who start off fairly screwed up as part of the backstory actually get chances to redeem themselves, which was a bit of a refreshing switch for a horror novel. There were a few bits that dragged, most notably portions of long dialogue, but I think one can easily chalk these up to rough spots of style that Langan may well improve as she gets a few more novels under her belt.
All in all, not a half-bad little read. Three stars.
There are a lot of oft-used tropes in this book: the run-down New England town, the creepy abandoned locale where nobody wants to go, the townsfolk full of secrets and in many ways just not right, the crazy young woman who's wandering around the place and spooking everybody right out. But I'll say this for the book; it used these tropes in pretty decent ways, and at the end in ways I actually didn't expect. A couple of characters who start off fairly screwed up as part of the backstory actually get chances to redeem themselves, which was a bit of a refreshing switch for a horror novel. There were a few bits that dragged, most notably portions of long dialogue, but I think one can easily chalk these up to rough spots of style that Langan may well improve as she gets a few more novels under her belt.
All in all, not a half-bad little read. Three stars.
June 25, 2011
I do not believe I've ever read a horror novel that was so directionless and dull. Uninteresting characters doing pointless things resulting in an indifferent plot. If the author wasn't such a good writer I would have rated this one star. But she appears to have some promise even in this unimpressive debut. So I'll hover at two and hope she does better in the future.
April 3, 2024
3,5*
In a small town where people are really quick to judge, things are going to take a dark turn after the Mill has to be shut down.
The people in town are starting to lose their minds and becoming more violent. What is happening to them?
Reading all the different stories and hearing the voices of the different characters makes the reading experience really immersive.
It is almost like micro stories in the same town and connecting the characters slowly as well as revealing the descent into madness after the Mill closed.
The town is concerned about Susan Marley, some people think that she is a witch. Susan haunts the residents in their own dreams.
I loved hearing about Susan and how the town seems to blame her for everything and not take any accountability for their own actions. There is no way out of this place, just death.
It was the first book I read by the author but she is a really good writer. She was able to create so many different characters and give each and every single one of them so much life.
In a small town where people are really quick to judge, things are going to take a dark turn after the Mill has to be shut down.
The people in town are starting to lose their minds and becoming more violent. What is happening to them?
Reading all the different stories and hearing the voices of the different characters makes the reading experience really immersive.
It is almost like micro stories in the same town and connecting the characters slowly as well as revealing the descent into madness after the Mill closed.
The town is concerned about Susan Marley, some people think that she is a witch. Susan haunts the residents in their own dreams.
I loved hearing about Susan and how the town seems to blame her for everything and not take any accountability for their own actions. There is no way out of this place, just death.
It was the first book I read by the author but she is a really good writer. She was able to create so many different characters and give each and every single one of them so much life.
May 5, 2013
"The People in This Town Were Like Strange and Varied Songs":
Individual Autonomy vs. Communal Ties
in Sarah Langan's The Keeper
Christopher Snyder
April 12, 2013
Little Red Schoolhouse
(undergrad vers.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 1 -
¶ Under the guise of a horror novel, Sarah Langan's The Keeper
(2006) explores the horror within us all: Sartre's “other people.”
By, of, and for them, the churning unease in the face of the
“other" — any “other,” any at all — churns over in Langan's
fictional New England small town, like pots boiling over on a
stove: as the town librarian is overheard to remark at one
point, “she knew he didn't make messes in his own house, he'd
better not do it here” . . . leaving one with . . . well, where,
exactly, to “leave” one's “messes”?
¶ Susan Marley, the titular “Keeper” of the town, is where:
“When they were lost or sad, they thought of her. Though they
did not know it, in their hours of desperation, it was her name
they called.” This unwillingness of the townsfolks' mirrors
Susan's own at being the receptacle for vileness (sexual abuse,
at first by her own father, and later by other similarly-
distracted adult males) and blame (the onset of guilt, almost
immediately post-coital, and the accrual therein in her psyche
and spirit). By the time Susan Marley dies — or “dies,” as
this is a novel dealing with the “super-” (or, if you like,
“supra-”) natural — her fate is less the result of a
personal capitulation or acquiescence than the ongoing search,
performed dutifully, nonetheless, to determine why [à la
Marguerite Duras] “very early in [her] life it was too late.”
¶ This beginning at a starting point neither lily-covered nor
ambiguously shrouded in myths of American “fair dealing” is
what makes Langan's novel a work of singular daring, and
necessitates the see-saw, back-and-forth flashback structure:
the proper corners have to be turned, before the appropriate
questions can be asked, only to find . . .
¶ “His father looked him dead in the eyes in a way that had made
him feel as if he had failed on some very basic level to
understand the fundamentals of adult life.” It's Bobby Fullbright
who gets stared down in this quote, but, ultimately, it could be
coming from any adult in the town at some point or another,
left with nothing like authority or autonomy to convey to the
next generation, substituting contempt and blame for their
ineptness in its stead — as sure a case of “displacement” as
Freud could ever have documented,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 2 -
and as inevitable as a pendulum swing with no other space to
occupy, no other place for it to go.
¶ “Susan saw her own reflection … She saw the thing she had
chosen not to know. She saw that while she had always told
herself that none of the things she carried belonged to her,
same of them did.” This sort of singular self-awareness is,
ironically, what makes Susan Marley the most “responsible”
character in the novel and the, again, “Keeper” of all the
townspeople's deeper yearnings: it is not a question of earning
or virtue per se but a simple accumulation. Being
“responsible” means the suitcase is hers to hold; she “keeps”
it as one would a possession.
¶ That the townfolk — those who do not “trust their instincts”
and flee the evisceration coming, despite the hardly-subtle
signs — have all passed their own “points of no return”
without successfully transiting into upright-walking fully-
spined adult persons isn't so much the concern of the novel
(that matter is, clearly, not up for debate) but, rather:
what ensues next? Like a female friend of the titular character
in Robert Coover's John's Wife (1996) (whose perhaps-
latent intuitive abilities, invested and experienced as unwanted
and invasive, become an absorption of all the “unfinished
sentences” from the people around her that no measure of
social mores, however constraining, can keep at bay) the
Susan Marley character in the novel currently under discussion
becomes the “embodiment” of the unfinished past, which
doesn't so much stop and roll over as persist, and find its
own, however inappropriate, punctuation, venue, and terminus.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C+
Christopher: not a bad try, though I found myself wishing you'd resolved to which extent we, the reader(s) of your argument, were to take the supernatural stuff "seriously" and establishable or strictly as allegory. As it was, despite your obvious commitment to the material itself, your stance felt conveniently evasive and, I'm afraid, somewhat wishy-washy.
Again, not to sound unkind, but it's a question of, simply, biting off what you know you can chew: neither argument is "truer" in this sense — at least intrinsically; either is fair game, as a position to take — but the problems therein self-determine what you can "establish." Feel free to experiment, but don't flip-flop: if you sense you're not on solid ground, it's for you to determine why not, and what would work,instead, as a "makeable" argument, on a point-by-point basis.
And, as I've noted previously, your skills can, as here, work in your disfavor: your obvious affinity for addressing the reader directly — more Brechtian than Entertainment Weekly, and I'm not just saying that to be kind — really bristle in the context of a measured, academic work. Keep it simple.
Johnson de Johnson
Prof. Emeritus, Eng. Lang & Lit.
Univ. of Chicago
Individual Autonomy vs. Communal Ties
in Sarah Langan's The Keeper
Christopher Snyder
April 12, 2013
Little Red Schoolhouse
(undergrad vers.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 1 -
¶ Under the guise of a horror novel, Sarah Langan's The Keeper
(2006) explores the horror within us all: Sartre's “other people.”
By, of, and for them, the churning unease in the face of the
“other" — any “other,” any at all — churns over in Langan's
fictional New England small town, like pots boiling over on a
stove: as the town librarian is overheard to remark at one
point, “she knew he didn't make messes in his own house, he'd
better not do it here” . . . leaving one with . . . well, where,
exactly, to “leave” one's “messes”?
¶ Susan Marley, the titular “Keeper” of the town, is where:
“When they were lost or sad, they thought of her. Though they
did not know it, in their hours of desperation, it was her name
they called.” This unwillingness of the townsfolks' mirrors
Susan's own at being the receptacle for vileness (sexual abuse,
at first by her own father, and later by other similarly-
distracted adult males) and blame (the onset of guilt, almost
immediately post-coital, and the accrual therein in her psyche
and spirit). By the time Susan Marley dies — or “dies,” as
this is a novel dealing with the “super-” (or, if you like,
“supra-”) natural — her fate is less the result of a
personal capitulation or acquiescence than the ongoing search,
performed dutifully, nonetheless, to determine why [à la
Marguerite Duras] “very early in [her] life it was too late.”
¶ This beginning at a starting point neither lily-covered nor
ambiguously shrouded in myths of American “fair dealing” is
what makes Langan's novel a work of singular daring, and
necessitates the see-saw, back-and-forth flashback structure:
the proper corners have to be turned, before the appropriate
questions can be asked, only to find . . .
¶ “His father looked him dead in the eyes in a way that had made
him feel as if he had failed on some very basic level to
understand the fundamentals of adult life.” It's Bobby Fullbright
who gets stared down in this quote, but, ultimately, it could be
coming from any adult in the town at some point or another,
left with nothing like authority or autonomy to convey to the
next generation, substituting contempt and blame for their
ineptness in its stead — as sure a case of “displacement” as
Freud could ever have documented,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 2 -
and as inevitable as a pendulum swing with no other space to
occupy, no other place for it to go.
¶ “Susan saw her own reflection … She saw the thing she had
chosen not to know. She saw that while she had always told
herself that none of the things she carried belonged to her,
same of them did.” This sort of singular self-awareness is,
ironically, what makes Susan Marley the most “responsible”
character in the novel and the, again, “Keeper” of all the
townspeople's deeper yearnings: it is not a question of earning
or virtue per se but a simple accumulation. Being
“responsible” means the suitcase is hers to hold; she “keeps”
it as one would a possession.
¶ That the townfolk — those who do not “trust their instincts”
and flee the evisceration coming, despite the hardly-subtle
signs — have all passed their own “points of no return”
without successfully transiting into upright-walking fully-
spined adult persons isn't so much the concern of the novel
(that matter is, clearly, not up for debate) but, rather:
what ensues next? Like a female friend of the titular character
in Robert Coover's John's Wife (1996) (whose perhaps-
latent intuitive abilities, invested and experienced as unwanted
and invasive, become an absorption of all the “unfinished
sentences” from the people around her that no measure of
social mores, however constraining, can keep at bay) the
Susan Marley character in the novel currently under discussion
becomes the “embodiment” of the unfinished past, which
doesn't so much stop and roll over as persist, and find its
own, however inappropriate, punctuation, venue, and terminus.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C+
Christopher: not a bad try, though I found myself wishing you'd resolved to which extent we, the reader(s) of your argument, were to take the supernatural stuff "seriously" and establishable or strictly as allegory. As it was, despite your obvious commitment to the material itself, your stance felt conveniently evasive and, I'm afraid, somewhat wishy-washy.
Again, not to sound unkind, but it's a question of, simply, biting off what you know you can chew: neither argument is "truer" in this sense — at least intrinsically; either is fair game, as a position to take — but the problems therein self-determine what you can "establish." Feel free to experiment, but don't flip-flop: if you sense you're not on solid ground, it's for you to determine why not, and what would work,instead, as a "makeable" argument, on a point-by-point basis.
And, as I've noted previously, your skills can, as here, work in your disfavor: your obvious affinity for addressing the reader directly — more Brechtian than Entertainment Weekly, and I'm not just saying that to be kind — really bristle in the context of a measured, academic work. Keep it simple.
Johnson de Johnson
Prof. Emeritus, Eng. Lang & Lit.
Univ. of Chicago
January 23, 2020
η ιδέα ειναι καλή και η περιγραφη μεχρι ενα σημειο αρκετα ζωντανη...καπου νομιζω το παρακανει και γινεται βαρετο...
September 30, 2019
It's the time of year I turn to more horror novels. The Keeper is a good novel, but a bit of a slow burn, leaning to more mood piece than funhouse horror. It's a story told mainly through backstories and scenery building. Like going to a play and watching the set designers working instead of the actors carrying the story. That doesn't make it bad thing. I did like the book and I appreciated the idea of a town haunted by its own sins and failures. I've never lived in a factory town, but my grandparents did and their stories have stuck with me. Bedford is a factory town that has died. It's residents are haunted by the death of its factory and the brutalization of a young woman who lived there.
October 29, 2010
Having read Langan's second book (The Missing), I picked this book up soon after. After a few pages of reading I realised that I'd started the books backward & that this book was supposed to come before it. By the time I finished this book I was slightly glad that I'd read this one first. I do have to say that I prefer this book over the second one.
The book follows two sisters, the dreamy eyed Susan who wanders the town & frightens all of it's inhabitants as well as terminally depressed Liz, who is barely tolerated by her classmates & never quite believes that her boyfriend really loves her. After Susan dies, the town should rest a little easier & Liz should be able to move forward now that she's not "the sister of that witch", but unfortunately Susan's death was just the beginning & buried secrets come to the surface as torrential rains & unearthly terror spreads over the town.
I really liked this book. There were several parts that were hard to read, mostly because they went over things that were pretty horrifying. (The part I'm thinking of is when the secret between the sisters is revealed.) I do like the ending & in a way, I'm glad I read this one last- it's far better. I couldn't entirely get into the characters as far as likability, but I think that if I liked the characters I probably wouldn't have liked the book as much. A lot of the book's spark hinges on the fact that the main characters AREN'T people you want to like or befriend, yet you hope that they make it out of the book for the better. There was one part of the book that didn't entirely connect with the rest of the book (when Liz went out to the mill & got chased), but I figure that's sort of a tie-in to the next book.
The book follows two sisters, the dreamy eyed Susan who wanders the town & frightens all of it's inhabitants as well as terminally depressed Liz, who is barely tolerated by her classmates & never quite believes that her boyfriend really loves her. After Susan dies, the town should rest a little easier & Liz should be able to move forward now that she's not "the sister of that witch", but unfortunately Susan's death was just the beginning & buried secrets come to the surface as torrential rains & unearthly terror spreads over the town.
I really liked this book. There were several parts that were hard to read, mostly because they went over things that were pretty horrifying. (The part I'm thinking of is when the secret between the sisters is revealed.) I do like the ending & in a way, I'm glad I read this one last- it's far better. I couldn't entirely get into the characters as far as likability, but I think that if I liked the characters I probably wouldn't have liked the book as much. A lot of the book's spark hinges on the fact that the main characters AREN'T people you want to like or befriend, yet you hope that they make it out of the book for the better. There was one part of the book that didn't entirely connect with the rest of the book (when Liz went out to the mill & got chased), but I figure that's sort of a tie-in to the next book.
May 1, 2008
Rain and zombies come to a small town in Maine. Scary stuff. But why do things like this always happen in Maine? I tell you what... I read this book while on vacation in Utah. Someone should write a horror novel about a small town in that state. Snow and zombies in Park City. That would really be scary.
November 8, 2010
I've read two of Langan's books--Audrey's Door and The Missing--and thought they were excellent. I just couldn't get into The Keeper. There was not one character that I felt was genuine, and I hated them all.
The characters are two-dimensional, and even the town drunk and dedicated sheriff couldn't make me care for them.
The characters are two-dimensional, and even the town drunk and dedicated sheriff couldn't make me care for them.
February 11, 2024
Love love loved this story. Being a companion book to The Missing but can be read as a stand alone too. The bleak and heart wrench town and people within really stuck with me. Fantastic horror and would recommend 100% https://youtu.be/lrquISsUnV8?si=B9_mm...
June 21, 2025
Dark. Bleak. Nihilistic.
Those are a few of the words I'd choose to describe The Keeper. This is not the kind of book you "enjoy", it's one that drags you through a nightmare and challenges you to confront everyday awfulness.
You won't meet any particularly likeable characters — there is perhaps one person who struck me as even slightly sympathetic. Despite that, you feel connected to these people. A lot of them are pathetic, in a way; others are possibly reflections of people you've met in life, perhaps people you're glad to be rid of.
Throughout the entire book, there is a heavy atmosphere of despair. We occupy the dying, decaying town of Bedford along with all the characters, and we see how they are extensions of the hopelessness that encapsulates the town's future.
In many ways, this feels like a commentary on the disadvantages we face based on where we grow up. If you live in a depressing place, you're going to live a depressing life, perhaps. This takes it to another level, implying that the place is holding onto people; that it is a bad place, and nothing good can come of it.
The ending — not to spoil anything — seeks to challenge this. To suggest that there is good even in the bad (a worthy lesson). There's a heartwarming quality to the final chapters, though a moroseness lingers over it all, and the nihilism cannot be entirely dispelled.
I certainly could not say I enjoyed this. As I said, it's not a story that can be enjoyed, in that objective sense of the word, as it is so dire and dreadful in atmosphere and themes, but, for me at least, it was something I wanted to continue with. The dark secrets and urges of characters were explored, brought to the fore, and I had to know whether they would succumb or overcome, and in what form that may take.
There's enough early on to tell you where it's all headed, but the how, the why, the who, these things are a mystery. This locks you in. It doesn't matter how pathetic, or horrible, the characters are, you need to know what's going to happen.
It's depressing in a way only psychological horror can be — and yes, I would certainly consider this psychological horror. But, dare I say, that's some catharsis in that, especially in coming out the other side, with an ending that says, "It's not all bad". Sometimes that realistic expectation means a lot.
Those are a few of the words I'd choose to describe The Keeper. This is not the kind of book you "enjoy", it's one that drags you through a nightmare and challenges you to confront everyday awfulness.
You won't meet any particularly likeable characters — there is perhaps one person who struck me as even slightly sympathetic. Despite that, you feel connected to these people. A lot of them are pathetic, in a way; others are possibly reflections of people you've met in life, perhaps people you're glad to be rid of.
Throughout the entire book, there is a heavy atmosphere of despair. We occupy the dying, decaying town of Bedford along with all the characters, and we see how they are extensions of the hopelessness that encapsulates the town's future.
In many ways, this feels like a commentary on the disadvantages we face based on where we grow up. If you live in a depressing place, you're going to live a depressing life, perhaps. This takes it to another level, implying that the place is holding onto people; that it is a bad place, and nothing good can come of it.
The ending — not to spoil anything — seeks to challenge this. To suggest that there is good even in the bad (a worthy lesson). There's a heartwarming quality to the final chapters, though a moroseness lingers over it all, and the nihilism cannot be entirely dispelled.
I certainly could not say I enjoyed this. As I said, it's not a story that can be enjoyed, in that objective sense of the word, as it is so dire and dreadful in atmosphere and themes, but, for me at least, it was something I wanted to continue with. The dark secrets and urges of characters were explored, brought to the fore, and I had to know whether they would succumb or overcome, and in what form that may take.
There's enough early on to tell you where it's all headed, but the how, the why, the who, these things are a mystery. This locks you in. It doesn't matter how pathetic, or horrible, the characters are, you need to know what's going to happen.
It's depressing in a way only psychological horror can be — and yes, I would certainly consider this psychological horror. But, dare I say, that's some catharsis in that, especially in coming out the other side, with an ending that says, "It's not all bad". Sometimes that realistic expectation means a lot.
August 17, 2024
This may appear to be a horror novel at first superficial glance. (it is, BUT.) If a horror novel was written beautifully, lyrically, creating a whole town of characters that you believe in, (even the dead ones) by an extremely intelligent and sharp-witted modern author, what would it look like? I posit this one. After Good Neighbors, I had to read more by this author and I'm very glad I did.
April 3, 2016
This is my second Langan read, after Audrey's Door, and I do think Langan's stories have a particular flavor. Troubled young women struggling with mental illness are featured in both. Both books are quite dark and can be difficult to read at times. There are definitely moments in both of them that are gut-wrenchingly sad. But Langan writes in a readable style that keeps me going throughout no matter what. She shines at character development. People in her books are very realistic and many times, sympathetic. She will be an auto-buy author from now on.
You know the general idea from goodreads already, that this book centers on a small town called Bedford and a girl named Susan Marley. Susan was born different. Something about her attracted the darkness of others, and she could hear their worst nightmares. This would drive anyone mad, and she becomes the tragic figure of the 'town crazy'.
What happens during the course of the story makes Susan both horrifying and sympathetic to the reader, a great combo. Universally feared and hated, even by her own family, only friend to speak of is a drunken disgrace who takes advantage of her sexually. Her character kind of reminds me of Kirie and Reika from Fatal Frame, for you gamers out there. Langan really builds the tension during the first half, and unleashes hell for the second. I could picture the happenings quite vividly, and in a few parts even wished this could be a movie. Not that I think the feeling could be captured too well that way.
The ending is just what I wanted out of this novel. No "everything will be ok" kind of crap some horror novels like to wrap up with. It was kind of abrupt though, so I am going to have to read The Missing soon and see if anything from The Keeper is further mentioned.
You know the general idea from goodreads already, that this book centers on a small town called Bedford and a girl named Susan Marley. Susan was born different. Something about her attracted the darkness of others, and she could hear their worst nightmares. This would drive anyone mad, and she becomes the tragic figure of the 'town crazy'.
What happens during the course of the story makes Susan both horrifying and sympathetic to the reader, a great combo. Universally feared and hated, even by her own family, only friend to speak of is a drunken disgrace who takes advantage of her sexually. Her character kind of reminds me of Kirie and Reika from Fatal Frame, for you gamers out there. Langan really builds the tension during the first half, and unleashes hell for the second. I could picture the happenings quite vividly, and in a few parts even wished this could be a movie. Not that I think the feeling could be captured too well that way.
The ending is just what I wanted out of this novel. No "everything will be ok" kind of crap some horror novels like to wrap up with. It was kind of abrupt though, so I am going to have to read The Missing soon and see if anything from The Keeper is further mentioned.
June 25, 2017
Have I ever told you I hate stupid endings? In case you missed it previously - I hate stupid cliffhanging endings. And in this case, I'm not even sure I want to read the next one. I felt like I was in the middle of an LSD high through much of this book. Many, if not all, of the characters were very unlikable. The only thing I learned is if you died in this small town, you may not necessarily stay dead. And all dreams are bad.
March 10, 2018
Saw this on a list for best horror of 21st century. While I found it to be well-written (only reason I’m giving it 3) it was awfully repetitive in places (blue eyes, she had blue eyes, guys, Susan’s eyes were blue). I also felt like the link between the “ghosts of the town” and Susan’s “weirdness” wasn’t developed enough for me. I like small towns with deep, dark secrets and a past but the supernatural aspects could have used a little refining.
December 13, 2010
I'm writing this after having finished it in a single sitting; yes: it's late - and yes: it was worth it. This is an excellent horror tale, with mystery that made me want to keep reading, and weird and terrible stuff that actually made me feel scared, at times. I enjoyed every moment of reading it.
January 30, 2014
Interesting small town horror novel gave me some goosebumps but left me a bit uninterested towards the ending.
August 31, 2016
Pfft. Yep, that's a fart noise. I didn't like this book.
September 19, 2019
3.5 stars
Has an early King feel, but heavier on atmosphere than plot.
A little overstuffed, but it would be a good prestige TV series.
August 26, 2019
Sarah Langan's bleak debut horror novel is, at its best, a story of two sisters--one, Susan Marley, who suffers all the worst torments of the world, and the other, Liz Marley, who walks a luckier path. "It should have been you," says Susan. And Liz can't escape the haunting words. She lives under the shadow of Susan's horrible fate.
I loved this core of the book, and I thought the oppressive atmosphere of Bedford, Maine was so well-drawn that it was enough to make me wonder if Langan was at all familiar with my own hometown (itself a small mill town in Maine).
What can I say? This book took me back.
I also appreciated how another sentiment in the novel--that no matter how terrible something is, there's always a little bit of good somewhere--was woven into the characters. Langan's characters are not nice or good, but she always puts in enough grace notes, enough light, to make them perhaps not seem all terrible. Liz's rich boyfriend Bobby Fulbright is a good example of how well Langan walks the line in her characterizations: is he a rich tool? Well, kind of. But also not. He's earnest and sweet and self-sacrificing at times. But never so much that he tips the scales to being a character you're going to really love. Langan doesn't sell out her characters' humanity, but she doesn't let them off the hook, either.
Her gift for characters drives a lot of the book, which is good, because overall there isn't a ton of plot. This is a sad walk down a rainy street in a cursed town. You know where you're going most of the time (home), and you know you've had your ups and downs with your companions and the people waiting for you, but nevertheless you're drawn onward, toward whatever end.
Brooding and punishing, but evocatively written--I didn't know it was part of a series, but I'm looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how Langan handles a sequel.
I loved this core of the book, and I thought the oppressive atmosphere of Bedford, Maine was so well-drawn that it was enough to make me wonder if Langan was at all familiar with my own hometown (itself a small mill town in Maine).
What can I say? This book took me back.
I also appreciated how another sentiment in the novel--that no matter how terrible something is, there's always a little bit of good somewhere--was woven into the characters. Langan's characters are not nice or good, but she always puts in enough grace notes, enough light, to make them perhaps not seem all terrible. Liz's rich boyfriend Bobby Fulbright is a good example of how well Langan walks the line in her characterizations: is he a rich tool? Well, kind of. But also not. He's earnest and sweet and self-sacrificing at times. But never so much that he tips the scales to being a character you're going to really love. Langan doesn't sell out her characters' humanity, but she doesn't let them off the hook, either.
Her gift for characters drives a lot of the book, which is good, because overall there isn't a ton of plot. This is a sad walk down a rainy street in a cursed town. You know where you're going most of the time (home), and you know you've had your ups and downs with your companions and the people waiting for you, but nevertheless you're drawn onward, toward whatever end.
Brooding and punishing, but evocatively written--I didn't know it was part of a series, but I'm looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how Langan handles a sequel.
July 10, 2022
This was all over the place. Too many characters to remember. I was confused for most of it.
A lot of randomness in the beginning that could have been left out. More suspenseful than horror.
The ending was okay, but left so many questions unanswered. I liked the authors writing style, but this just didn't do it for me.
A lot of randomness in the beginning that could have been left out. More suspenseful than horror.
The ending was okay, but left so many questions unanswered. I liked the authors writing style, but this just didn't do it for me.
October 19, 2025
Would recommend this book! Reminiscent of Stephen King which is an immediate win for me, but the characters within this book were so complex and cleverly written. Beware some of the topics which come up in this book however...
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