Disclaimer: This book has some ideas and words that are considered offensive, especially pertaining to race and gender. It is therefore necessary to consider the time in which the book was written (originally published in 1967). Should you be sensitive to these topics, it might be best to skip this one.
Rosemary’s Baby follows the story of a young couple, Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, who move into The Bramford, a luxurious apartment building in New York City. Before the couple move in, they are warned by their friend, Hutch, that the building is allegedly cursed and a little haunted due to it having housed witches and murderers in the past.
Guy and Rosemary move in anyway, swayed by the apartments’ large rooms and elegance. It doesn’t take long before they meet Roman and Minnie Castavet, an elderly couple living next door. Guy takes an interest in them, and soon they become so woven into Rosemary and Guy’s lives that Rosemary begins to feel wary. Strange things start happening around Rosemary, but she’s the only one who seems to notice—not even Guy takes her seriously. When she becomes pregnant, she can’t help but feel everyone is working against her.
The story was entertaining, the prose flowed elegantly, and the story was well-paced. I raced through this book, barely able to put it down! The clues were well planted, weaving a wonderful web for the reader to untangle. While not being terrifying in the guts-and-gore horror film sense, this book leaves behind a feeling of discomfort that is hard to shake, and suspicion of the potentially harmful people living around us. It shows the horrors people are willing to inflict unto others to meet their own needs. Rosemary’s dream on ‘baby night’ left me feeling a little nauseous and angry on Rosemary’s behalf! The writing was truly powerful.
The main characters were well fleshed out—especially Rosemary. Her intentions are clear and her flaws feed well into the plot to tell a believable story. It draws empathy from the reader as she goes through her ordeal. Levin effectively wrote her naivety and gentle nature to be her downfall. It shows the reader that the same could easily happen to anyone if they place too much trust in the people they consider to be their protectors.
Guy was a truly dislikable character (intentionally so). His narcissism drove a big part of the plot. He was always around to put Rosemary down, or to tell her she’s being paranoid. Well done to Levin for creating a character almost as dislikable as Jeoffrey Baratheon!
Some negative points on the book: the plot was a little predictable—the book cover gave away the big twist at the end (so that wasn’t great). The ending also fell a little short. While it shows the unconditional love that mothers have for their children, the shift was a bit sudden. There might have been ways to resolve the story more smoothly.
Overall, this book was great and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys ‘old-school’ horrors. I give it 3.5 stars. It didn’t make a 4-star for me mainly because of the ending. If you enjoy this sort of book, you can also check out Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson—a book I loved and found to be informative for those who want to write their own thrillers and horrors. I’ve recommended it before, and I probably will again!
Maan Atelier 