She Is A Haunting: List 5

by Trang Thanh Tran
Needing money for college tuition, seventeen-year-old Jade Nguyen agrees to spend the summer in Vietnam with her father, who is restoring a house that is still under the control of its former French owner.

This list covers "Marrow"–"Heart."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 10 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    Apart, I sidle close to the wallpaper that deteriorates in artistic patches.
  2. emanate
    proceed or issue forth, as from a source
    A mildewy odor emanates from the wallpaper’s wide pores.
  3. unabashed
    not embarrassed
    “And I love Dad too,” Lily says, unabashed.
  4. toil
    work hard
    Darkly, Cam shares with me the rubber plantations her parents toiled in. Such great Michelin tires made under starved Vietnamese hands.
  5. grotesque
    distorted and unnatural in shape or size
    “And you deserve better than to be dragged down with him.” In her tone, him is grotesque. She’s being unfair.
  6. deftly
    with dexterity; in a dexterous manner
    “Need help?” she offers, quiet, as if something were listening and waiting for us to cross the line.
    I raise my arm in reply as Florence closes in, fingers deftly fastening the bodice.
  7. counterpart
    a person or thing having the same function as another
    French and Vietnamese cuisine are presented together: macarons next to tiny goblets of chè ba màu; delicate rice paper filled with fresh mints, noodles, and just-cooked shrimp, then their counterpart in puff pastry and cheese; and so much more slivered and arranged for a feast.
  8. clamor
    a loud, harsh, or strident noise
    This last half hour unfolds with uncharacteristic clamor. No thumping chimneys or squeaking floors, just real voices submerging Nhà Hoa.
  9. proprietor
    a holder or owner of land
    “It has a long history here in Ðà Lạt. The first proprietor of this house planted the very hydrangeas you see today,” he continues, gesturing toward the climbing blooms.
  10. glean
    collect or gather bit by bit, especially information
    On the page where our esteemed guests are meant to enter the lottery, I have instead detailed the house’s history. All of it—what I knew and what I gleaned from Cam’s memories and this house’s buzzing.
  11. dabble
    work with in an amateurish manner
    It’s rumored that during Nhà Hoa’s initial construction, a worker fell from the roof and broke his skull. The first hydrangeas grew from blood-fed seeds. The house has had its taste, and in those early years it dabbled as serial killers do: birds, cats, squirrels, dogs.
  12. unseemly
    not in keeping with accepted standards of what is proper
    Ba searches for me within the mass that’s devouring the house’s unseemly life.
  13. revel
    take delight in
    After weeks of failing to convince Ba and Lily, I revel in the guests’ disgusted gasps.
  14. disabuse
    free somebody from an erroneous belief
    No one could disabuse her of the notion that some things shouldn’t be eaten raw.
  15. sate
    fill to contentment
    One death wasn’t enough to sate their appetite.
  16. competent
    properly or sufficiently qualified, capable, or efficient
    I promised to be its host—better, calmer, and more competent than Marion.
  17. akin
    similar in quality or character
    My rage is silent, akin to grief, a body in anticipation of loss.
  18. entrails
    internal organs collectively
    Imagine a devouring in reverse. From the bowels they surge, feet undigested and through starlit entrails.
  19. tortuous
    marked by repeated turns and bends
    She stayed with the officer and his brutal family to save her own from a harder life, but she also craved home. Sometimes, she went looking for it. Asking for it in a tortuous limbo.
  20. legacy
    anything handed down by someone or something in the past
    This is a house the Nguyens made beautiful. It’s our legacy, the mark we’ll leave in Vietnam.
  21. unhinged
    affected or as if affected with madness or insanity
    I can play unhinged, hysterical teenage girl.
  22. bountiful
    producing in abundance
    She doesn’t turn around. The fear ripening at her back is too bountiful.
  23. pheromone
    a chemical that influences physiology or behavior in animals
    To find their way to one another, ants leave a pheromone trail. Lost ants, ants with bad inner compasses, and those ants that went out hungry, follow this scent.
  24. unfathomable
    resembling an abyss in depth; so deep as to be immeasurable
    The house has darkened, stretching unfathomable shadows. Underneath must be walls, but this is a monstrously gorgeous version of itself.
  25. fervently
    with strong emotion or zeal
    I say their names as fervently as a chant.
  26. unbridled
    not restrained or controlled
    It is done, which is enough, and I feel drunk from telling the truth, that unbridled joy surging through me.
  27. brunt
    the main part, especially of a force or shock
    I rub my eyes clear and catch the full brunt of the next whack by accident.
  28. pungent
    strong and sharp to the sense of taste or smell
    The house shows no other sign of life, but the pungent fuel reminds me what must be done.
  29. disdainful
    expressing extreme contempt
    It’s inappropriate to be so hungry or disdainful, when I should be remorseful instead, when I should be talking reason to a woman plagued by grief, but I have already established that I am bad at this.
  30. reprimand
    censure severely or angrily
    Ba had reprimanded me at the party, but the expressions on our guests’ faces were colder. It wasn’t only my unapologetic writing that disgusted them; it was also the tears I cried.
  31. precursor
    something indicating the approach of something or someone
    Black fumes. Gasoline. All the precursor to a burn.
  32. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    Groans bubble from her mouth, but she’s still reaching for me with gnarled hands.
  33. resuscitate
    cause to regain consciousness
    My chest plummets up and down with heavy rasps, as if there are invisible hands trying to resuscitate me.
  34. viscous
    having a relatively high resistance to flow
    The leftover trays from the party have been flung off the counters. Something has stepped on them, turning appetizers to viscous waste.
  35. simper
    smile in an insincere, unnatural, or coy way
    “What hasn’t she told you?” the Frenchwoman simpers.
  36. materialize
    come into being; become reality
    The world materializes in slow blinks: floors first with oak boards steadily shaped; sheer curtains wrinkled by rough hands; severe masts arched from bed to ceiling; and porous walls brimmed with whispers.
  37. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    Her husband is too enthralled by the flowery robe hanging from her emaciated shoulders to notice.
  38. periphery
    the outside boundary or surface of something
    Her áo dài is a gash at the periphery, ripping closer until her dead hand rests on mine.
  39. euphoric
    characterized by a feeling of well-being or elation
    I am equal parts tormented and euphoric.
  40. tenor
    the general meaning or substance of an utterance
    Does the sky not know we are hurting? How can it not hear the tenor of my scream?
Created on Thu Mar 28 15:02:22 EDT 2024 (updated Fri Mar 29 16:35:22 EDT 2024)

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