“Everything done for the second time is a copy of when it was done for the first time, and an attempt to bring back something lost.” Nell Stevens The Original (W.W. Norton & Company 2025) is a delicious, queer historical fiction, laced in a Victorian gothic tradition that rendered it un-put-down-able. As a young girl,Continue reading “THE ORIGINAL – Nell Stevens”
Tag Archives: Gothic
STUDY FOR OBEDIENCE – Sarah Bernstein
“November brought the trouble.” In continuing with the rather lackluster 2023 Booker Prize longlist, I read Sarah Bernstein’s Study for Obedience (Knopf 2023). The novel was shortlisted for the prize, and the winner will be announced in a few weeks. (I’m still rooting for Western Lane.) While Berstein’s slim offering is well-written and interesting, itContinue reading “STUDY FOR OBEDIENCE – Sarah Bernstein”
THE HOUSE IN THE ORCHARD – Elizabeth Brooks
“On closer inspection it’s obvious that every single one of the apples is rotten, whether they’re brown and speckled with mould, or green-gold and riddled with holes.” October is the perfect month for a slow burning gothic, and Elizabeth Brooks’s The House in the Orchard (Tin House 2022) is a quick read that hits theContinue reading “THE HOUSE IN THE ORCHARD – Elizabeth Brooks”
THE CHERRY ROBBERS – Sarai Walker
Sarai Walker’s The Cherry Robbers (Harper 2022) is a slow burn of a classic Gothic ghost story that just misses the mark. I wanted to love it, and there are some fantastically crafted sections, but the overall feeling I was left with was “meh.” That is due in large part to the lackluster and unsatisfactoryContinue reading “THE CHERRY ROBBERS – Sarai Walker”
PLAIN BAD HEROINES – Emily M. Danforth
I don’t DNF (Do/Did Not Finish) books for assorted reasons. (I can count on one hand the number of books I’ve abandoned after starting, and they still haunt me.) A few hundred pages into Emily M. Danforth’s Plain Bad Heroines (Harper Collins 2020), I wanted to stop. I had such high hopes for this sapphicContinue reading “PLAIN BAD HEROINES – Emily M. Danforth”
WE WENT TO THE WOODS – Caite Dolan-Leach
I probably wouldn’t have picked up Caite Dolan-Leach’s We Went to the Woods (Random House 2019) had I seen the comparison to Donna Tartt. I don’t know if Dolan-Leach studied the literary brat pack from Bennington, but her work is certainly reminiscent of that particular group of writers and their self-absorbed and unlikeable characters whoContinue reading “WE WENT TO THE WOODS – Caite Dolan-Leach”
MEXICAN GOTHIC – Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This one is likely going to be long and full of spoilers. If you intend to read Mexican Gothic (2020 Random House) by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and don’t want spoilers, just tiptoe on out. I’ll wait. Okay. Mexican Gothic was one of the most anticipated reads of the summer, and its gorgeous cover was everywhere;Continue reading “MEXICAN GOTHIC – Silvia Moreno-Garcia”
The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova
How is it that I had not heard of one of America’s most bestselling female authors in the literary genre and only stumbled across her first novel by accident when perusing the bargain bin at Borders? I suppose I was too deeply entrenched in my thesis in 2005 to do much outside reading. Whatever theContinue reading “The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova”
A Girl Named Tommi 