The Bog Wife

A ΓÇ£haunting,brilliantΓÇ¥ Appalachian folktale evoking the Southern gothic suspense of Sharp Objects and the eco spine-tinglers of Jeff Vandermeer (Paul Tremblayauthor of A Head Full of Ghosts) Five siblings in West Virginia unearth long-buried secrets when the supernatural bargain entwining their fate with their ancestral land is suddenly ruptured Since time immemorialthe Haddesley family has tended the cranberry bog. In exchangethe bog sustains them. The staunch seasons of their lives are governed by a strict covenant that is renewed each generation with the ritual sacrifice of their patriarchand in returnthe bog produces a ΓÇ£bog-wife.ΓÇ¥ Brought to life from vegetationthis woman is meant to carry on the family line. But when the bog failsΓÇöor refusesΓÇöto honor the bargainthe Haddesleysa group of discordant siblings still grieving the mother who mysteriously disappeared years earlierface an unknown future. Middle child Wennasummoned back to the dilapidated family manor just as her marriage is collapsingbelieves the Haddesleys must abandon their patrimony. Her siblings are not so easily persuaded. Eldest daughter Edade facto head of the householdseeks to salvage the compact by desecrating it. Younger son Percy retreats into the wilderness in a dangerous bid to summon his own bog-wife. And as youngest daughter Nora takes desperate measures to keep her warring siblings togetherfledgling patriarch Charlie uncovers a disturbing secret that casts doubt over everything the family has ever believed about itself. At once a gothic eco-horrora psychological dramaand a family sagaThe Bog Wife is a propulsive read for fans of Shirley JacksonKaren Russelland Matt Bell that speaks to what is knowable and unknowable within a family history and how to know when it is time to move forward.