Title: The Return
Author: Rachel Harrison
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: March 24, 2020
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Horror
Source: Purchased
Rating:

I first fell for Rachel Harrison’s writing when I read her 2nd published novel, Cackle. Since then, I’ve devoured each new book, and have loved them all. Clever plotting, exceptional character development, and generous helping of gruesome, scary horror all add up to terrifyingly satisfying reads. I’ve been meaning to go back and read her debut novel, The Return, for quite a while… and now I’ve finally done it!

The Return is just as creepy and scary as I expected, and I enjoyed every bit of it, even while feeling grossed out and completely on edge.

At the heart of The Return is a group of four women who have been best friends since their college days. Now scattered and living separate lives, they still represent the truest connections they’ve ever had, despite distance often keeping them apart.

When Julie disappears on a hiking trip, the friends are shocked, but Elise — our main character — is the only one of the remaining three who simply doesn’t accept that Julie might be dead. As more and more time passes, and Julie’s husband eventually holds a memorial service for her, the other two friends, Molly and Mae, urge Elise to seek therapy to deal with her denial and grief. Elise pretends to agree, but in her heart-of-hearts, she feels that Julie, wherever she might be, is still alive.

And then, two years after her disappearance, Julie simply shows up back at the home she shares with her husband. She has no memory of the past two years, and just wants to carry on with her life — and most of all, to reconnect with her best friends. Mae decides that what they need is a girls’ trip — time alone, someplace remote, where they can unplug from the outside world and just focus on being together.

As the four friends arrive at the hotel where they’ll be staying, it’s clear that this place is just weird. Each room is an over-the-top experience, with bizarre, extravagant themed decor. Elise is uncomfortable right from the start, but she tamps down her unease for the sake of the group. Things only get worse once Julie arrives and the other three get their first look at her since her return: She’s emaciated, falling apart, and her teeth are a disaster. But she’s Julie, and they love her, and most of all, they want her to feel how happy they are to be with her again.

As the story unfolds, the group dynamics inform how the friends interact, how much they share and what they choose to hold back. Through Elise’s first-person narrative, we come to understand her unhappiness, how she feels judged by the others, and the role that Julie plays in her life.

At the same time, we see that something is very, very wrong. Is it the hotel itself? Why is the manager so stressed out? What’s that weird smell? Why does Elise think there’s something on the balcony outside her room? And what, exactly, is wrong with Julie? Why does she seem better some days? Why is formerly vegetarian Julie now bingeing on meat? WHAT IS GOING ON?

If all of this sounds like a lot to unpack — well, it is, and yet, it works beautifully. As the book progresses, it becomes clearer that Elise herself is not the most reliable of narrators. We may think she’s being straightforward, but there are a couple of big bombshells that she drops later in the book that make us reevaluate everything she’s told us so far. At the same time, there are clearly some truly icky things happening, and as the book progresses, the gore gets worse and worse.

The Return is fascinating, scary, and unusual. It’s not for the squeamish — but I happened to love it. The mounting horror is just so well constructed — and beyond that, I loved the insights into women’s friendships, how they change and evolve, and how loneliness and dissatisfaction creeps into lives as people grow up and face the world after college.

You can’t erase your past when there are pieces of it scattered inside other people.

I will say too that I love Rachel Harrison’s way with words. Little descriptions that could just be stage-setting made me stop to reread them and savor what they evoke:

It’s a colorless day. The kind of fall day not advertised. The trees shiver in the wind.

Toward the end of the relationship, when my resentment congealed and my love peeled like a sunburn to reveal the sneering face of reality underneath, I called her to confess.

Overall, The Return is a fast, absorbing, chilling read. Not quite on a par with some of her later books (such as Such Sharp Teeth and Black Sheep, which are brilliant!), but a terrific horror read none the less. I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything that happens in this book… and I’m afraid that from now, I will be refusing all opportunities to visit remote, extravagant rural resorts.

Want to know more about Rachel Harrison’s books? Check out my reviews of her other books:

Cackle
Such Sharp Teeth
Black Sheep
So Thirsty