The Daughters of Block Island: A Novel

(Paperback)

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In this ingenious and subversive twist on the classic gothic novel, the mysterious past of an island mansion lures two sisters into a spiderweb of scandal, secrets, and murder. Two sisters, strangers since birth yet bound by family secrets, are caught up in a century-old mystery on an isolated island. After arriving on Block Island to find her birth mother, Blake Bronson becomes convinced she's the heroine of a gothic novel-the kind that allowed her intermittent escape from a traumatic childhood. How else to explain the torrential rain, the salt-worn mansion known as White Hall, and the restless ghost purported to haunt its halls But before Blake can discern the novel's ending, she's found dead, murdered in a claw-foot tub. The proprietress of White Hall stands accused. Summoned by a letter sent from Blake before she died, Thalia Mills returns to the island she swore she'd left for good. She finds that Blake wasn't the first to die at White Hall under suspicious circumstances. Thalia must uncover the real reason for Blake's demise before the forces conspiring to keep Block Island's secrets dead and buried rise up to consume her too.

Reviews

Christa Carmen celebrates the gothic in this twisty, spooky tour de force that ticks all the boxes with panache and style! This love child of Barbara Michaels and John Harwood has written a chilling page-turner guaranteed to keep you up all night. The Daughters of Block Island is a top-notch read! Nancy Holder, Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, Horror Writers Association I have been a Christa Carmen fan since reading her collection, Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked. I knew she could tell a hell of a short story and her novel, The Daughters of Block Island, does not disappoint. The mystery leaves the reader feeling like they are trying to escape a twisted haunted dollhouse without knowing what is real or imagined. Lovers of gothic fiction should pick up this book that contains a wealth of nods to the genre, but also discusses personal horrors like addiction, abuse, and mental health. V. Castro, Bram Stoker Awardnominated author of Goddess of Filth and The Queen of the Cicadas Christa Carmens The Daughters of Block Island is a tantalizing love letter to gothic fiction, imbued with rain-soaked atmosphere and scandal-ridden mysteries that unravel to reveal the dark beating heart at the center of a mysterious island mansion. Readers of gothic novels will delight in nods to classic works and the way the past continues to haunt the present in White Hall. Filled with intrigue, this book is the perfect addition to your bookshelf, tucked in beside Radcliffe and du Maurier! Jo Kaplan, author of It Will Just Be Us With its lush and exquisite language, Christa Carmens The Daughters of Block Island honors and explores the great gothic novels of the past, but here the rules are rewritten. Be prepared to find yourself in White Halls spiders web. Cynthia Pelayo, Bram Stoker Awardnominated author of Children of Chicago The Daughters of Block Island offers an atmospheric, harrowing plight of ghosts and murder. Christa Carmen paints an island of vivid and unsettling imagery, where every claustrophobic twist leads deeper into an underworld of dread. A compelling mystery, with arresting characters ready to engulf you. Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Awardwinning author of The Worm and His Kings Christa Carmen has long been one of my favorite horror authors, and The Daughters of Block Island is further proof that shes among the most important voices in the genre today. A clever inversion and exploration of gothic tropes, this is a debut novel unlike any other. A true macabre masterpiece, this book is a must-read. Gwendolyn Kiste, Bram Stoker Awardwinning author of The Rust Maidens and Reluctant Immortals

Author Bio

Christa Carmen lives in Rhode Island and is the Bram Stoker Awardnominated author of the short story collection Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked. She has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA from Boston College, and an MFA from the University of Southern Maine. When shes not writing, she keeps chickens; uses a Ouija board to ghost-hug her dear, departed beagle; and sets out on adventures with her husband, daughter, and bloodhoundgolden retriever mix. Most of her work comes from gazing upon the ghosts of the past or else into the dark corners of nature, those places where whorls of bark become owl eyes and deer step through tunnels of hanging leaves and creeping briars only to disappear. Visit her at www.christacarmen.com.