The House of Drought

Mombauer’s eerie, disorienting debut novella explores the haunting consequences of climate change and colonial greed. In one of the story’s multiple threads, a German documentarian searches for the story behind the Dry House, an abandoned colonial mansion on the edge of a ravaged Sri Lankan forest, hoping to use the house’s history to put a human angle on climate change. A girl seeks to protect her siblings from the wrath of the local mob by hiding out in this same house—but ends up in an eerie alternate reality when the house flips upside down. Three stranded truck drivers similarly seek shelter in Dry House and awake to meet a local urban legend come to life. And a terrified mother tries to save her two boys from the wrath of the forest by entering the house. All the while, an otherworldly figure called the Sap Mother watches from the forest. At once climate fiction and gothic horror, Mombauer’s mosaic tale manages to convey a powerful message without ever feeling preachy, painting a picture of a house that is more than just haunted. Readers will be captivated. (July)