White Rabbit - by Abigail Rose-Marie (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A haunting novel in which a girl grapples with her father's sudden departure and her new companion--the ghost of Sylvia Plath--in a crumbling seaside house that holds more secrets than memories.​

In a yellow house perched on the crumbling edge of Massachusetts Bay, eleven-year-old Penelope Willows is living in the shadow of loss. Her father is gone, leaving behind only whispers and shadows, while her mother drifts further away each day, lost in her own grief. Left alone in a home that seems frozen in time, Penelope clings to her routines, counting everything she can--logs by the stove, soup cans in the pantry--hoping to hold the world together.

But this is no ordinary house. It once belonged to the poet Sylvia Plath, and her presence lingers in every corner, her ghost becoming an unexpected companion to Penelope. As the days stretch on, Penelope begins to hear the echoes of Plath's poetry in the wind, feel her sadness seep into the walls, and see her ghost in the mirrors and empty rooms.

When Penelope's mother begins to withdraw further into her own world, leaving Penelope more isolated than ever, the girl's grip on reality starts to fray. Haunted by the absence of her father and the presence of a ghost, Penelope must navigate the treacherous waters of memory, madness, and the fear that she, too, will be lost to the abyss.

Review Quotes

"White Rabbit is a luminous, heart-wrenching, and wickedly funny novel about a precocious young girl whose best friend happens to be the ghost of Sylvia Plath. When her father vanishes and her mother retreats into the shadows of her red-lit darkroom--her skin slowly turning blue--she must navigate grief, love, and the desperate stories we weave to survive. At once haunting and tender, it is a tour de force of dazzling originality and voice."--Kim Taylor Blakemore, author of After Alice Fell

"White Rabbit is a poignant, redemptive tale of eleven-year-old Penelope Willows, a neurodiverse girl whose father vanishes to Minnesota, leaving her adrift in a Massachusetts Bay home once inhabited by Sylvia Plath. As Penelope's mother struggles and time seems to stop, Sylvia's ghost appears, propelling Penelope on a determined quest to reunite her family and claim her place as the heroine of her own story."--G.M. Malliet, Agatha Award-winning author

"White Rabbit is a triumph of character. In her neurodivergent narrator, Penelope, Rose-Marie has crafted a singular, standout voice that will stay with readers long after the story is told. The world of White Rabbit is assembled with pitch-perfect prose that follows Penelope's every thought as she navigates the losses and longings of her isolated life. Rose-Marie paints a picture that is hyper-real at its heart but dreamlike along the edges. The novel is a pleasure to read, and perfect for fans of Karen Russell or Laura van den Berg."--James Wade, Spur Award-winning author

"From the first page, Abigail Rose-Marie draws the reader into the fragile world of a child wrestling with unconfronted loss. Part ghost story, part portrait of a family bound by love and silence, White Rabbit unfolds its truths with rare skill--natural in its pacing, inventive in its turns, and deeply humane in its vision. The quirky, flawed, achingly real characters become like kin, making this a novel that lingers long after you have to put it down."--Jane Harrington, author of Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance

"With vivid and unsettling prose reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Abigail Rose-Marie's White Rabbit is a potent reckoning with grief from the perspective of an unforgettable child narrator. The anxious, observant voice of eleven-year-old Penelope Willows will linger for readers long after the final page."--John A. McDermott, author of The Last Spirits of Manhattan

About the Author

Abigail Rose-Marie is the author of The Moonflowers. She holds a PhD in creative writing from Ohio University and an MFA from Bowling Green State University. She currently lives with her wife and their very spoiled pets in Utah.