Bloodfire, Baby - by Eirinie Carson (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A maternal gothic tale of new motherhood and the torment of a centuries-old haunting

Before the shadow appeared, Sofia thought mothering would be all sun-drenched light and white linen sheets, as seen advertised by the momfluencers of Instagram. In her gorgeous home anchored in a posh suburb, far removed from her origins, Sofia revels in her success.

Motherhood seems like the natural next step, but when her husband travels for a work trip, leaving Sofia all alone with their unnamed three-week-old baby, she can't quite square how mothering falls solely in her lap. Nobody seems able or willing to help her: not her husband, not her best friend, and certainly not the zealot mother she cut off long ago.

Her postpartum reality is overtaken by an ominous figure. Sleep-deprivation collides with a darkness that creeps in and begins to spread, threatening to consume her entirely. As her grip on reality slips away, Sofia learns of an insidious haunting that has plagued the eldest daughters in her family for generations. With her baby's safety on the line, Sofia realizes she must confront her murky history or risk losing more than just the veneer of perfection.

Review Quotes

"BLOODFIRE, BABY is a ferocious, hypnotic descent that burrows under your skin and refuses to let go. Carson expertly plunges us into the sleepless, paranoid depths of new motherhood where ancestral ghosts collide with the present-day terror of a negotiable reality. A fever dream, a psychological thriller, and a whip smart commentary on modern motherhood, BLOODFIRE, BABY is destined to be a novel people press into each other's hands, whispering 'you have to read this.'"
--Chelsea Bieker, author of Madwoman

"Eirinie Carson's BLOODFIRE, BABY arrives kicking and screaming with flames in its hair and lightning in its hands as it heralds a new powerful literary voice being born. Raw, honest, mysterious and ultimately courageous, BLOODIFRE, BABY is the book that will peel away your misconceptions and lay bare the power and the beauty of the feminine mystique. Not to be missed."
--S.A. Cosby author of King of Ashes

"A stunning feat of artistry--BLOODFIRE, BABY is a searing meditation on con­temporary motherhood, written with the precision of a surgeon. Carson writes with unflinching honesty, capturing both the beauty and the burden of memory and the delicate unraveling of family myth."
--Dionne Irving, author of The Islands

"The most nuanced examination of postpartum I have ever read, BLOODFIRE, BABY spans continents and generations in its kaleidoscopic portrayal of motherhood, race, and class. Rarely is a novel as propulsive as it is illuminating, but this is uncannily infused with a heavy, knowing dread that intensifies with each turn of the page. That expert pacing--along with the novel's exquisite language, depth, and scope--announces Eirinie Carson as a refreshing and essential new voice in contemporary fiction."
--Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author of On The Rooftop

"BLOODFIRE, BABY is a novel of crackling honesty, daring, and vigor that only a mother could write. Carson's relentless, page-turning plot weaves the frank, uninhibited sensualities of motherhood and body horror into a thick, powerful rope, then ties you tightly to the page right alongside our heroine. Carson's novel is a wild, transformative ride written in neon from the first page to the last. Yes, only a mother could create this haunting, mighty book, but everyone must read it."
--Savala Nolan, Don't Let it Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body

About the Author

Eirinie Carson is a member of the Writers Grotto in San Francisco and a frequent contributor to Mother magazine. Her work has also appeared in LitHub, Notre Dame Review, Mortal Mag, Electric Literature, The Sonora Review, and others. Bloodfire, Baby is her first novel.