Curdle Creek: From the Women's Prize-longlisted author of Remembered

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'A gorgeously written, surrealist folktale that goes bone deep. Compelling, thought-provoking, thrilling, haunting, Yvonne Battle-Felton's Curdle Creek is simply a marvel' Paul Tremblay, author of THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD and HORROR MOVIE

'A thoughtful, sinister tour-de-force' Tananarive Due, L.A. Times Book Prize-winning author of THE REFORMATORY

Welcome to Curdle Creek. We're dying to make you feel at home.

Osira, a forty-five-year-old widow, is an obedient follower of the strict conventions of Curdle Creek, an all-Black town in rural America governed by a tradition of ominous rituals designed to keep the residents safe.

Curdle Creek has one particularly strict policy: one in, one out.

And one day, it is Osira's turn.

Forced into the great unknown. The sinister reality of her birthplace unravels around her. As she comes face-to-face with those she believed were lost, Osira must reckon with all she has ever been told and confront the insidious cruelties of inheritance.

'Tautly written, utterly gripping, Yvonne Battle-Felton's novel invites the reader into a world of mystery and mythology' Carolyn Ferrell, author of DEAR MISS METROPOLITAN

Reviews

A gorgeously written, surrealist folktale that goes bone deep. Compelling, thought-provoking, thrilling, haunting, Yvonne Battle-Felton's Curdle Creek is simply a marvel. -- Paul Tremblay, author of THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD and HORROR MOVIE

Curdle Creek is a thoughtful, sinister tour-de-force. Yvonne Battle-Felton writes so convincingly that the reader is forced to ponder what unthinkable choices we mask behind our own quest for belonging, and what wrongs we must answer for.

-- Tananarive Due, L.A. Times Book Prize-winning author of THE REFORMATORY
Tautly written, utterly gripping, Yvonne Battle-Felton's novel invites the reader into a world of mystery and mythology. Ultimately, Curdle Creek is about perseverance and hope, about remembering the past while boldly embracing the future and about posing the eternal question: how and where can a Black person simply be -- Carolyn Ferrell, author of DEAR MISS METROPOLITAN
From the start, there are echoes of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, but readers who think they know where this is going will be surprised, as Osira's story has many weirder twists and turns ahead. -- Lisa Tuttle * Guardian *
With tight dialogue, elegant writing and a startling ending, this is a wonderful novel about the worst monsters of all: people. -- Gabino Iglesias * The New York Times Book Review *
Funny and terrifying. -- Caroline Leavitt * People *
Battle-Felton skilfully incorporates a lyrical flow in her writing that fuses together time travel, historical trauma, and alternative universe with great ease. Curdle Creek is a definite must read! * Essence *
Battle-Felton skilfully weaves an allegory about the intersection of racism, paranoia, and cultlike authority masquerading as tradition and safety. It's stunningly disturbing. -- Leslie Gray Streeter * Johns Hopkins Magazine *
Mind-bending . . . Battle-Felton is drawing from a deeper well of influences, including Toni Morrison's lyricism, the time-travel elements of Octavia E. Butler's Kindred and the alternative universe of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad. . . . Battle-Felton imagines this world exceedingly well. And she never loses sight of the novel's central theme: how the need for communities to protect themselves unleashes its own anxieties and traumas. * Kirkus Reviews *
Strong world-building and genre-bending action would also make [Curdle Creek] a good fit for readers who enjoyed Matt Ruff's Lovecraft Country (2016), Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad (2016), or P. Djl Clark's Ring Shout (2022). * Booklist *
This novel is perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson's classic "The Lottery". -- Emily Martin * Book Riot *

Author Bio

Yvonne Battle-Felton was born in Pennsylvania and raised in New Jersey. She moved to Maryland and is currently living in Yorkshire, England, with her family. Yvonne holds an MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University. She is an associate teaching professor and the academic director of Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education. Her debut novel, Remembered, won a Northern Writers' Award in 2017. It was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize.