Dark Sisters - by Kristi Demeester (Hardcover)

About the Book

""A BONFIRE, A BEACON, A BALM, A RALLYING CRY... A beautifully written, mesmerizing horror epic... Magnificent." - Rachel Harrison, USA Today bestselling author of So Thirsty In this fiercely captivating novel, horror meets historical fiction when a curse bridges generations, binding the fates of three women. Anne Bolton, a healer facing persecution for witchcraft, bargains with a dark entity for protection-but the fire she unleashes will reverberate for centuries. Mary Shephard, a picture perfect wife in a suffocating community, falls for Sharon and begins a forbidden affair that could destroy them both. And Camilla Burson, the rebellious daughter of a preacher, defies conformist expectations to uncover an ancient power as her father's flock spirals into crisis. Three women. Three centuries. One legacy of fury, love, and a power that refuses to die. "A hauntingly beautiful exploration of revenge, feminine rage, and the secrets that bind women across time... Frightening, subversive, and provocative." - Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author The Lost Apothecary"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

"A BONFIRE, A BEACON, A BALM, A RALLYING CRY... A beautifully written, mesmerizing horror epic... Magnificent." - Rachel Harrison, USA Today bestselling author of So Thirsty

In this fiercely captivating novel, horror meets historical fiction when a curse bridges generations, binding the fates of three women. Anne Bolton, a healer facing persecution for witchcraft, bargains with a dark entity for protection--but the fire she unleashes will reverberate for centuries. Mary Shephard, a picture-perfect wife in a suffocating community, falls for Sharon and begins a forbidden affair that could destroy them both. And Camilla Burson, the rebellious daughter of a preacher, defies conformist expectations to uncover an ancient power as her father's flock spirals into crisis.

Three women. Three centuries. One legacy of fury, love, and a power that refuses to die.

"A hauntingly beautiful exploration of revenge, feminine rage, and the secrets that bind women across time... Frightening, subversive, and provocative." - Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author The Lost Apothecary

Review Quotes

Perfect for book clubs!

A LIBRARY READS PICK

"A beautifully written, mesmerizing horror epic that sparks with compassion, insight, and righteous anger. This book is a bonfire, a beacon, a balm, a rallying cry. Fierce and unflinching, tender and profound, genuinely frightening, with swift pacing and a taught, deftly threaded narrative. Magnificent." --Rachel Harrison, New York Times bestselling author of Play Nice

"Kristi DeMeester returns with Dark Sisters, a hauntingly beautiful exploration of revenge, feminine rage, and the secrets that bind women across time. Told in three equally eerie narratives, Dark Sisters reminds us that the past and present are inextricably linked--and in the end, the women won't be silenced. Frightening, subversive, and provocative." --Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author The Lost Apothecary and The London Séance Society

"Dark Sisters is a generational epic that burns through the centuries with pure literary fury. This is an incandescent novel of white-hot heat, of scorching reclamation, where every page blazes with Kristi DeMeester's heart. The absolute rapture of this book cannot be denied because it can hardly be contained within its binding. I'm in awe." --Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes

"Dark Sisters is a righteous, eerie, triple helix feat of storytelling that's as full of fury as it is, well, bewitching." --Nat Cassidy, author of Mary and When the Wolf Comes Home

"Both a scathing criticism of purity culture and a suspenseful supernatural thriller full of willful women, wicked witches and malicious men, Dark Sisters is sure to enrage and empower in equal measure." --Johanna Van Veen, author of Blood on Her Tongue and My Darling Dreadful Thing

"A visceral, mesmerizing nightmare about womanhood and the blood that binds. Dark Sisters will haunt you and break your heart. I couldn't look away." --Hannah Morrissey, author of Hello, Transcriber

"With Dark Sisters, Kristi DeMeester cuts under the skin of our devastating era and leaves us with frightening scar tissue, line by poetic line. A painful cry of rage against the cruel greed of men and a call to arms for women to declare their worth, this necessary novel uses the lens of horror as a weapon in the hand of a warrior. As beautifully written as it is teeming with creepy imagery, you won't be the same if you make it out." --Michael Wehunt, author of The October Film Haunt and Greener Pastures

"In her latest breathtaking work of fiction, Kristi DeMeester employs the artistry of a consummate stylist to dissect the social and cultural themes of women's lives over centuries. Her stories are ferocious. Her characters are true. Woven into every scene of this book you'll find rage, but you'll also find hope as the narrative portrays a powerful rejection of the status quo and an unshakeable belief that women can and will fulfill their self-directed destiny. We need Dark Sisters and we need it right now." --S.P. Miskowski, author of I Wish I Was Like You

"Grotesque, weird, and entirely unflinching, this tale of female empowerment packs a punch." --Publishers Weekly

"Fierce and fast-paced...a tale filled with rage and terror." --Library Journal

"A deadly serious, witchy story propelled by rage against the extraordinary and everyday violence men perpetrate against women, Dark Sisters reaches out across the centuries with a terror that is all too timely." --Booklist

"Visit three different time periods as DeMeester addresses generational trauma, cult-like religious practices, and the collective power of women who are willing to take down the patriarchy." --First Clue

"Witchcraft and an ancient legend are deployed in this sprawling saga to battle misogyny, homophobia and the iron-fisted grip of a religious cult determined to render women subservient." --Atlanta Journal Constitution

"A visceral tour de force...combines horror and historical fiction to blood-chilling effect. Dark Sisters is a deeply satisfying revenge fantasy aimed at the patriarchy. A must for fans of feminist horror." --Historical Novel Society

About the Author

KRISTI DEMEESTER is the author of The Dark Sisters, Such a Pretty Smile, which was selected as a Georgia Author of the Year finalist, and Beneath. Her short fiction has appeared in publications such as The Dark, Black Static, multiple volumes of The Year's Best Horror, Year's Best Weird Fiction, and in her short fiction collection Everything That's Underneath. She lives, writes, and makes horror-themed candles in Atlanta, Georgia.