Book Review: Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Rosemary Woodhouse's husband Guy is an up-and-coming actor. They live in 1960s Manhattan and are moving from his studio apartment to someplace bigger. They want a nursery because they plan to have three kids, each two years apart. They start paperwork on an apartment in a plain, white, uninteresting building but then get offered a spot at the Bramford. The Bramford is an older, gothic building that had large living quarters on each floor, the sort with room for servants and such. The apartments have been sub-divided and the Woodhouses are offered one on the seventh floor. The Woodhouses' friend Hutch tries to dissuade them from moving in since the building has an eerie history of bad things happening there. The Woodhouses are nominally agnostic--Rosemary left behind her Catholic faith when her family objected to her marrying a Protestant. They are not phased by superstitions and decide to move in. Their apartment is right next to the Castavets, an older couple who take an interest in the Woodhouses. Guy hangs out a lot with the Castavets--they are good storytellers and know a lot of theater history. Rosemary hears strange noises through the walls. And the neighbors take an overly nurturing attitude toward Rosemary, especially after she gets pregnant under some weird and unsettling circumstances. As Guy's career takes off, Rosemary has to fend for herself as she makes unhappy discoveries.

The story is quite famous, especially due to Roman Polanski's faithful movie adaptation (though the book was a smash hit on its own). The situation seems fairly normal at the beginning but weird and creepy things keep happening. The mundane realism of Manhattan life is a sharp contrast to the strange things at the Bramford, heightening the tension. The book delves into Rosemary's psyche, showing her increasing sense that something really wrong is going on here. I liked the build-up a lot but was let down by the very ending which initially struck me as very implausible and unsatisfying. The more I think about it, the more I understand the intent but I am still not quite content, especially as more story-line problems occur to me based on the ending.

Mildly recommended.

The book is discussed on A Good Story is Hard to Find Podcast #293.