We're Safe When We're Alone (Paperback)
Staff Reviews
Nghiem Tran's thrilling debut novel reads like a mix of Shirley Jackson, Ryu Murakami, and with a dash of Henrik Ibsen, with an isolated son, mysteriously controlling father, and ghosts all around. This new take on the haunted house/coming of age story is an exciting introduction to this new author.
— Rebekah Rine
A spare, eloquent novel with twists and turns that pulls you in and keeps you guessing right until the last page. An excellent debut!
— Melissa FoxSon is real. Son was saved from a life he cannot remember. Son is a human in a mythical world of ghosts. This is what Father tells him.
Son has lived his entire life inside the mansion. He is a good child. He reads, practices piano, studies, and watches ghosts tend the farmland through a window in the attic. When Father decides it is time for Son to venture outside, Son's desire to please Father overpowers his fear, and he must contend with questions he never wanted to face. What are the relentlessly grinning ghosts hiding? Has a ghost taken control of Father? What answers or horrors lie in the forest? And who will stop the mysterious encroaching shadows? Nghiem Tran's debut inverts the haunted house tale, shaping it into a moving exploration of loss, coming of age in a collapsing world, and the battle between isolation and assimilation.