The House of Madelaine

From the cult-favorite feminist author of The Princess of 72nd Street, a classic novel about a captive woman who must use unorthodox methods to reclaim her fractured mind

The dimensions of this house have already shaped your response. Did you think you could hide forever from the violence inside you?

This fever dream of a novel features a protagonist who shares the same name as its author. Elaine first entered the house as moral support for her friend and fellow schoolteacher, Florence, but now there are no exits in sight. All the inexplicable residents of the space--Florence’s beguiling brother, her inattentive lover, distant mother, wizard father, and even her and Elaine’s school principal--are under the control of the mysterious Madelaine. Elaine knows that Madelaine is out to get her, she just doesn’t know who is colluding with Madelaine as she forces Elaine to commit harmful, evil tasks. As Elaine attempts to regain agency, she begins to remember glimpses from her painful past with her gynecologist husband, causing her to question exactly who and what is binding her in place.

The House of Madelaine reveals the frenzied mind of a broken poet trying to put herself together again. As Elaine reckons with countless uncanny challenges all taking place under one roof, she begins to rediscover who she truly is.

Elaine Kraf (1936-2013) was a writer and painter. She was the author of four published works of fiction: I Am Clarence (1969), The House of Madelaine (1971), Find Him! (1977), and The Princess of 72nd Street (1979)--as well as several unpublished novels, plays, and poetry collections. She was the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts awards, a 1971 fellowship at the Broad Loaf Writers’ Conference, and a 1977 residency at Yaddo. She was born and lived in New York City.