Imaginary Friend, by Stephen Chbosky

"Twenty years after his smash hit novel, 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower,' Stephen Chbosky returns... an ambitious tale narrated through multiple perspectives, mashing together horror, fairy tales and the (rewritten) Bible... But Chbosky's true skill is in turning a book of absolute horrors - both fantastical and real - into an uplifting yarn. [This is] a book about so much - fate, destiny, redemption, power... Chbosky has his eye firmly on humanity."―New York Times Book Review

"Most impressive.... [Chbosky uses] the baroque, hallucinatory imagery of horror fiction to tell a very human story with universal implications. A page-turning meditation on human suffering whose spiritual dimension does not become fully apparent until the entire story has been told. Absorbing, original and genuinely surprising."―Washington Post

"Chbosky's horror writing stands on its own...a gleeful meditation...the nine years Chbosky reportedly spent writing the book shows in his well-crafted scares, snappy pacing and finely tuned plot. Imaginary Friend is well worth the time for those who dare."―TIME magazine

Single mother Kate Reese is on the run. Determined to improve life for her and her son, Christopher, she flees an abusive relationship in the middle of the night with her child. Together, they find themselves drawn to the tight-knit community of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It's as far off the beaten track as they can get. Just one highway in, one highway out.

At first, it seems like the perfect place to finally settle down. Then Christopher vanishes. For six long days, no one can find him. Until Christopher emerges from the woods at the edge of town, unharmed but not unchanged. He returns with a voice in his head only he can hear, with a mission only he can complete: Build a tree house in the woods by Christmas, or his mother and everyone in the town will never be the same again.

Twenty years ago, Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower made readers everywhere feel infinite. Now, Chbosky has returned with an epic work of literary horror, years in the making, whose grand scale and rich emotion redefine the genre. Read it with the lights on.

October 1, 2019