We Live Here Now Summary: A Chilling Gothic Descent into Resurrection and Ruin
We Live Here Now Summary: The House That Splits the Soul
Picture an old stone house on the moors, wind howling through gaps no contractor can seal, and a smell of rot that seeps down from an empty third floor.
You have just walked into the world of We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough, published in 2026.
Emily Bennett wakes from a three-month coma after a cliff fall in Ibiza.
Her husband Freddie moves them to Larkin Lodge, a remote Dartmoor estate, promising a fresh start. But the house does not feel empty.
Cold drafts target Freddie alone.
Sooty footprints lead to the bedroom.
Scratching sounds echo from above.
What Emily does not know is that the biggest threat may not be the house—but the man who brought her there.
▶ Listen to We Live Here Now Recap On Youtube
TL;DR
After a near-fatal accident, Emily and Freddie relocate to an isolated Gothic house on Dartmoor.
The marriage conceals gambling debts, infidelity, and betrayal.
The house conceals something stranger: a third-floor room that resurrects the dead—but splits them into their “best” and “worst” selves.
When Freddie murders Emily and uses the room to hide his crime, she returns as her perfect version.
Together, the “best” versions escape to France while the “worst” versions remain trapped in the attic forever.
- Core Premise: An isolated estate with a supernatural resurrection room that fractures the soul.
- Central Tension: A marriage rotting from gambling addiction and lies, accelerated by Gothic horror.
- Final Outcome: The protagonists achieve a dark victory—but only by leaving half of themselves behind.
We Live Here Now Summary: The Full Story
SPOILER WARNING: This section details the complete plot, including the ending.
Emily Bennett survives sepsis and a three-month coma following a fall from a cliff during an Ibiza holiday. Her husband Freddie sells their London flat and purchases Larkin Lodge, a stone house isolated on Dartmoor, without consulting her.
The house is built on a “suicide crossroads.” It sits alone on a hill surrounded by rock and mist. Inside, an icy draft targets Freddie. Emily finds sooty footprints leading to their bedroom.
She hears scratching sounds. A stench of rotting meat drifts down from the unused third floor.
Freddie and Emily’s doctor attribute her experiences to “post-sepsis syndrome”—hallucinations caused by brain trauma. Emily grows convinced the house is haunted.
The couple hosts their four closest friends—Mark, Iso, Russell, and Cat—for a “January Christmas.” During a drunken Ouija board session, a presence spells out “FIND IT.”
Books fly off shelves. Emily later catches Mark and Cat in a sexual encounter in the boot room.
Financial reality crashes in. Freddie has secretly gambled away the proceeds of their flat sale and owes dangerous gangsters.
Emily, discovering this, blackmails Mark for £150,000 after witnessing his affair.
Emily finds a hidden ledger written by Christopher Hopper, the 19th-century surgeon who built Larkin Lodge.
The ledger documents a chilling discovery: if a dead body is placed in the third-floor primary suite, the person resurrects as their “best version.”
Their “worst version”—anger, addiction, cruelty—remains trapped in the room as an ethereal essence. Burning items containing the person’s DNA merges the two halves, restoring memories of death and negative traits.
Emily realizes their neighbor Sally was murdered by her husband Joe and resurrected. This explains Sally’s radical personality shift and the cryptic messages she sent Emily from her trapped side.
Freddie discovers Emily’s blackmail and her past infidelity with her boss. Consumed by rage, he stabs Emily in the kitchen. Desperate to avoid prison, he drags her body to the third-floor room.
Emily resurrects the next morning as her “best” self, with no memory of the murder.
The trapped “negative” Emily communicates with her new self through the house.
Understanding that Freddie is too weak to be a good father to their newly conceived baby, the “best” Emily drugs Freddie and forces him to crawl into the third-floor room as he dies.
The novel ends with two sets of protagonists.
The “best” Emily and “best” Freddie—vibrant, loving, debt-free—move to France to raise their unborn child.
The “negative” essences of Emily and Freddie remain trapped together in the third-floor room, filled with mutual hatred.
As new owners Russell and Cat move into Larkin Lodge, the trapped couple prepares to haunt them, noting that “marriage is teamwork, after all.”
Read Also: The September House Summary: A Clever Haunted House Story That Rewrites the Rules
Summary by Chapter
SPOILER WARNING: The following grouped chapter summaries reveal plot developments.
The Cold Homecoming (Chapters 1–11)
Emily and Freddie arrive at Larkin Lodge, an isolated estate on the moors Freddie selected for Emily’s recovery after her coma.
Emily wrestles with the house’s oppressive, chilling atmosphere and persistent physical pain. Beneath his caretaker facade, Freddie drowns in guilt and fear over a secret he hides from his wife.
The section establishes Dartmoor’s unsettling environment and the widening rift in the couple’s relationship.
The January Christmas & The Ouija Board (Chapters 12–21)
The couple’s four closest friends visit for a delayed holiday celebration, dragging their shared history of secrets into the house.
During a drinking-fueled Ouija board session, a mysterious force commands Emily to “FIND IT.”
Strange physical phenomena—books flying off shelves—begin. Freddie and the friends dismiss Emily’s experiences as “post-sepsis syndrome,” questioning her mental stability.
The Search for Truth & The Blackmail (Chapters 22–48)
Emily investigates Larkin Lodge’s history, meeting eccentric neighbors Joe and Sally and discovering an 1864 obituary of the original owner.
After catching Mark and Cat in an affair, Emily executes a calculated blackmail scheme to secure financial survival. Freddie’s secret gambling addiction is exposed.
The section ends with Emily finding an acrostic message hidden in the study books: “YOU WILL DIE HERE.”
The Ledger & The Resurrection (Chapters 49–74)
Emily finds Christopher Hopper’s hidden journal explaining the third-floor room’s resurrection power and how it splits the soul.
She deduces that neighbor Sally was murdered and uses DNA-burning rituals to free the “negative” Sally trapped in the house.
The revelations culminate in Freddie murdering Emily in the kitchen and placing her body in the magical room to conceal his crime.
The Teamwork Finale (Chapters 75–85)
Emily returns to life as her “best self” while her negative essence remains trapped. The trapped version warns her new self through a letter from Sally.
In a final act of dark collaboration, the best-version Emily murders the “negative” Freddie to ensure their child is raised by their optimal selves.
The two “worst” versions of the couple remain trapped in the attic, preparing to haunt the new owners.
Characters In This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Emily Bennett | A former marketing director recovering from a coma who becomes a blackmailer and architect of her husband’s forced transformation. |
| Freddie Bennett | Emily’s husband, a gambling addict drowning in debt who murders his wife in a fit of rage and later becomes her victim. |
| Sally Carter (Freemantle) | A neighbor and former resident of Larkin Lodge, accidentally killed by her husband Joe and resurrected by the house. |
| Joe Carter | A charismatic artist who killed Sally and resurrected her, later dying in a suspicious shower accident. |
| Christopher Hopper | The 19th-century surgeon who built Larkin Lodge and documented its resurrection properties through experiments. |
| Mark | Emily’s wealthy friend having an affair with Cat, blackmailed by Emily for £150,000. |
| Cat | Emily’s bookish friend having an affair with Mark, who eventually moves into Larkin Lodge with Russell. |
| Iso | Emily’s glamorous, high-maintenance oldest friend, married to Mark. |
| Russell | Cat’s husband, a psychology teacher fascinated by the house’s phenomena. |
| Paul Bradley Carr | The local vicar who unwittingly fuels Emily’s paranoia about the house’s history. |
| Mrs. Tucker | The local cleaner who witnessed a death at the lodge during her childhood. |
| The Raven | A constant observer of the house whose mate is resurrected in the third-floor room. |
Themes The Book Presents
| Theme | How It Appears in the Story |
|---|---|
| Secrets and Lies in Marriage | Both Emily and Freddie conceal infidelity, financial ruin, and ultimately murder from each other while maintaining the appearance of a loving partnership. |
| The Duality of the Self | The third-floor room physically splits individuals into their “best” and “worst” versions, forcing characters to confront their own natures. |
| Addiction and Self-Destruction | Freddie’s gambling addiction drives every catastrophic decision, from the move to Larkin Lodge to Emily’s murder. |
| The Gothic “Hungry” House | Larkin Lodge actively draws inhabitants toward death and resurrection, feeding on the cycle of violence it creates. |
| Betrayal and Infidelity | Multiple affairs—Emily with her boss, Mark with Cat—erode trust within the friend group and the central marriage. |
| The Cycle of Guilt and Punishment | Christopher Hopper’s original experiments mirror the Bennetts’ fate, showing how the house traps successive generations in identical patterns. |
| Class and Financial Insecurity | The Bennetts’ downward mobility and debt to gangsters create the desperation that makes the house’s dark promise appealing. |
| Resurrection and Its Ethical Cost | Returning from death requires leaving behind a sentient, suffering fragment of oneself, raising questions about identity and sacrifice. |
Read Also: The Last House on Needless Street Summary | Catriona Ward
Frequently Asked Questions
What is We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough about?
The book, published in 2026, follows a couple who move to an isolated Dartmoor estate where a third-floor room can resurrect the dead by splitting them into their best and worst versions.
Does We Live Here Now have a supernatural element?
The supernatural mechanism is central: a 19th-century surgeon documented that placing a corpse in the third-floor primary suite resurrects the person, but traps their negative traits in the room as a sentient essence.
Who dies in We Live Here Now?
Emily is stabbed by Freddie and resurrected; Freddie is later poisoned by Emily’s “best” version and also resurrected; neighbor Sally was previously killed by her husband Joe and resurrected by the house.
What happens at the end of Sarah Pinborough’s We Live Here Now?
The “best” versions of Emily and Freddie escape to France to raise their unborn child, while their “worst” essences remain trapped together in the third-floor room of Larkin Lodge, preparing to haunt the new owners.
Is We Live Here Now connected to Sarah Pinborough’s other books?
The 2026 novel is a standalone story, but it shares thematic DNA with Behind Her Eyes—marital deception, a massive twist, and a dark supernatural mechanism driving the plot.
What genre is We Live Here Now?
The book blends Gothic fiction, psychological horror, and domestic noir, set in a classic haunted house framework on the Dartmoor moors.
What is the significance of the third-floor room in We Live Here Now?
The room functions as a resurrection chamber that splits souls, creating a “perfect” resurrected person while imprisoning their negative traits as a separate, conscious entity within the house.
Books Similar to We Live Here Now
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough: The author’s breakout thriller, sharing astral projection, marital deception, and a notorious final twist that reframes the entire story.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: The quintessential Gothic novel about a sentient house that preys on the psychological vulnerabilities of its inhabitants.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: A decaying mansion in 1950s Mexico conceals a supernatural secret tied to its original builder, blending body horror with Gothic atmosphere.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: A foundational Gothic novella that blurs the line between supernatural haunting and psychological breakdown.
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware: A modern Gothic mystery centered on a crumbling estate, a disputed inheritance, and long-buried family secrets.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: Explicitly referenced in Pinborough’s novel, this classic provides the template for isolated moor settings and destructive, all-consuming love.
