Congratulations, You’re Going to Be a Mommy
04/29/2006
Pampellonne, Terese. The Unwelcome Child. New York: Pinnacle Books, 2005. 318 p.
When a barren woman moves into an historic New England mansion with a sordid past and suddenly becomes pregnant, the developing bundle of joy is probably not such joyous news. Whether it is a case of possession or reincarnation, the proud parents are in for a hellish ordeal.
In fact, if horror novels and films have taught us anything at all, readers will realize that the parents in Terese Pampellonne’s The Unwelcome Child are no exception to the rule.
The story begins in Martha’s Vineyard in 1919, with a scared young woman being restrained on a cot. Her mother has delivered her to Sybil Clayton’s home for “good girls gone bad” to end an unwanted pregnancy. It would seem like another Cider House Rules, except for the fact that this girl was not frightened because she was pregnant, but rather because her pregnancy was being terminated against her will. As she whimpered, “Don’t take my baby” it became clear that this house, the setting of the novel, was ripe for ghostly occurrences. In short, this did not bode well for the young couple that would eventually buy the house in the hopes of transforming it into a charming bed and breakfast by the sea.
The story then fast-forwards to 1995. Annie Wojtoko, a thirty-something slasher film actress living in a dank New York City apartment, decides to take a break from her life as a “buxom victim” to visit her pregnant best friend in Martha’s Vineyard. Jan and Kevin Hostetter had, as previously suggested, purchased the historic diamond in the rough in the hopes of converting it into a classic bed and breakfast on the Cape. Their plans were, of course, put on hold when conception became apparent. Unsurprisingly, with the twisted history of the house, the pregnancy had some unusual corollaries and Jan needed her dear childhood friend by her side.
Annie arrives to find that Jan, though in the late stages of pregnancy, is severely underweight and clinically phobic. She refuses to leave the home, fearing that setting foot off the property would lead to the prompt death of her unborn child. She has forgone the attention of an OB-GYN, instead putting all of her faith—and her medical care—in the hands of an eccentric anti-abortion crusader. Everyone but Jan can see that there is something unwholesome about Gale Rusker. Her interest in Jan’s pregnancy and the house is alarmingly unnatural.
As Jan’s behavior becomes more peculiar and unpredictable, Annie begins a quest to discover the history of the house and the true story of Gail Rusker in an effort to save her friend from ruin. With the help of some colorful locals, she finds that the house was indeed the site of an abortion clinic, but also the place in which Sybil Clayton went mad and murdered a nursery full of infants after the “disappearance” of her teenaged daughter. Through this research, Gail’s connection to the both Jan’s womb and her home become readily apparent.
Pampellonne weaves brief glimpses of the past into the story to allow the reader to piece together the history of the house. She flashes back to Sybil Clayton’s clinic, as well as the insane asylum that she later occupies. The author skillfully introduces eerie occurrences throughout the story, hinting at possession, haunting, and foul play on the part of a human being, without prematurely divulging the outcome of the novel. The Unwelcome Child is an entertaining and relatively quick-read for horror fans, but perhaps not the best selection for nervous mothers-to-be.