Back in Arkansas with a stolen name Genevieve Charbonneau has had quite a life so far, escaping a predator with help from the ghosts who speak to her, finding out she has a certain 'hold' over rattlesnakes, to dancing at a hoochy kootch by way of an Alabama mental hospital. Now on home ground a chance meeting with a shell shocked Vietnam vet throws her into the path of a family mired in abuse. Genevieve knows she is the one the family needs to rid themselves of their overbearing brute of a patriarch and will stop at nothing to free them.

A vivid portrayal of a survivor who knows that no matter how far we run, we are bound to our home place and it's ghosts of the past.

this was a good book! I enjoyed reading it. I like the secrecy of it all, the suspense and the wonder. Our main character is using a false name, what are they hiding??? I think the themes were good, and the writing was also good. It kept me engaged throughout the whole story


Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

I really tried to get into this book. I set it down and came back to it.
The storyline was OK, going from the present to the past. I think that is where I got lost. I understand that some stories need the back story in order to get what is going on in the future. I just couldn't finish all the way. I pushed myself to get where I was in the book, before I said "OK no more"

A powerful novel, beautifully written, this is the story of Genevieve, a young girl who sees and hears spirits. When her grandmother dies she’s sent to live with a cruel family member , the head of a horrible church that uses snakes and speaks in tongues. Abused by him, and saved by the snakes, she spends her teenage years in an asylum, then works in a circus where she takes care of the boas. She meets up with Mercer, a troubled Vietnam Vet who carries ghosts of his own. Tagging along as he travels home Gennie discovers she’s going back to her grandma's town and Mercer is family.
His father however is a despicable head of his church operating under the premise women should be beaten as well as sexually abused. With ghosts and snakes a constant presence in her life Gennie and Mercer stay in town as she tries to find a way to help her aunt and female cousins.
Beautifully written with complex characters I won’t soon forget, this is a novel I will recommend to everyone. Reminds me of Where the Crawdad Sings.

This book kind of reminded of the TV show Ghost Whisperers/Twighlight Zone.
The one thing I really liked was that the pacing setting was in the 1960 era and Arkansas for the background. We hardly ever get to read a book with an Arkansas setting.
A Gothic kind of feel most definitely.
Some places in the book were really longwinded which almost turned me off from finishing it.
Turns out I'm glad that I did.
Book doesn't really pick up until about 50% so be patient. It really does get better.
I will recommend this book to others
Many thanks for the opportunity to read this book.
I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.

This is a fun read perfect for fans of women's fiction. While the title is marketed as a gothic story, I think that is not 100% accurate. This is a lighter, voicey read that is more like southern fiction with elements of magical realism. The novel does not carry the heaviness or gravitas that generally mark gothic novels.

At times the voice gets in the way of the narrative. This is most evident in the early pages. There's a lot of explaining to wade through as the author establishes the narrator's voice. I wish the author trusted the reader more and didn't feel the need to be so heavy-handed.

Overall, however, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. While slightly predictable, the novels ends up being about southern hospitality, which readers will no doubt appreciate.

The time period of the 1960s is expertly conveyed.

Recommended for fans of light southern fiction with elements of magical realism.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

I really enjoyed the premise of the story, but I thought that the storyline wandered a bit too much. Everything felt a bit too longwinded.

In 1960s, Arkansas, Genevieve is a woman who has traveled the back roads of the south. She has the unique ability to talk to ghosts and has come back to the side of her grandmother’s home to pay her respects. It’s her intention to stay only for a short time, but Faith has other plans, when she meets the inhabitants of the town who need her special brand of help. A little magical realism, a little down home, southern hospitality, and of the Gothic make this a delightful read.