The Cuckoo Girls

by Patricia Lillie

Overview

Mothers and daughters. Sisters. Legacies and prophecies. The inevitable and the avoidable. The sixteen stories of Weird fiction and horror in The Cuckoo Girls, Patricia Lillie's debut collection, feature female protagonists of various ages. Young or old, they must deal with the expectations of their twisted worlds. Some can't escape their fate, some accept it—and some will burn it down.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781950305247
Publisher:	JournalStone
Publication date:	04/24/2020
Pages:	204
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.47(d)

About the Author

Patricia Lillie grew up in a haunted house in a small town in Northeast Ohio. Since then, she has published picture books, short stories, fonts, and two novels. As Patricia Lillie, she is the author of The Ceiling Man, a novel of quiet horror, and as Kay Charles, the author of Ghosts in Glass Houses, a cozy-ish mystery with ghosts. She teaches in Southern New Hampshire University's MFA program. She also knits and sometimes purls. Find her on the web at www.patricialillie.com or on Twitter @patricialillie.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/13/2020

The 16 short, female-centric tales in this brief but haunting collection from Lillie (The Ceiling Man) offer dark, evocative glimpses into a series of otherworldly experiences. In the deeply disconcerting title story, two sisters both mysteriously become pregnant after being followed by a well-meaning, pregnant stripper at the laundromat. The deliciously dark “The Robber Bridegroom,” based on the Brothers Grimm tale of the same name, tells of a young country girl named Nessa whose love for a demon only grows after he becomes betrothed to her sister. Other retellings include “Alyce-with-a-Y,” which draws from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and “Mother Sylvia,” which recasts Hansel and Gretel as the villains of the story as they slowly steal the life force from a witch whose house they invade. By pulling from both mundane and supernatural fears, Lillie makes the unreal feel all too possible. The gentle lyricism of Lillie’s writing belies the unease lurking just beneath the surface. This grim, witchy collection will grab anyone looking for a subtle fright. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Lillie makes the unreal feel all too possible.... This grim, witchy collection will grab anyone looking for a subtle fright. —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the Publisher