Andy Davidson's epic horror novel about the spectacular decline of the Redfern family, haunted by an ancient evil. Nellie Gardner is looking for a way out of an abusive marriage when she learns that her long-lost grandfather, August Redfern, has willed her his turpentine estate. She throws everything she can think of in a bag and flees to Georgia with her eleven-year-old son, Max, in tow. It turns out that the "estate" is a decrepit farmhouse on a thousand acres of old pine forest, but Nellie is thrilled about the chance for a fresh start for her and Max, and a chance for the happy home she never had. So it takes her a while to notice the strange scratching in the walls, the faint whispering at night, how the forest is eerily quiet. But Max sees what his mother can't: They're no safer here than they had been in South Carolina. In fact, things might even be worse. There's something wrong with Redfern Hill. Something lurks beneath the soil, ancient and hungry, with the power to corrupt hearts and destroy souls. It is the true legacy of Redfern Hill: a kingdom of grief and death, to which Nellie’s own blood has granted her the key. From the author of The Boatman's Daughter, The Hollow Kind is a jaw-dropping novel about legacy and the horrors that hide in the dark corners of family history. Andy Davidson's gorgeous, Gothic fable tracing the spectacular fall of the Redfern family will haunt you long after you turn the final page. A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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"Whether you call it historical horror, folk horror, or southern gothic, Andy Davidson's The Hollow Kind is as beautifully written as it is chilling. The combination of dual timelines with a little-explored piece of America's past truly sets this book apart. Every page reverberates with inescapable dread."
— Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor
“Andy Davidson is quickly establishing himself as the newest master of southern gothic horror. The Hollow Kind seeps into your subconscious and waits for you in your nightmares.
— S. A. Cosby, bestselling author of Razorblade TearsA deep, dark story of family secrets and inherited horrors, Andy Davidson’s The Hollow Kind is as gripping and twisted as old tree roots—you can practically smell the creosote and longleaf pine. This one kept me up, turning pages long into the night.
— T. Kingfisher, author of What Moves the DeadThe Hollow Kind is a gloriously wild, twisted family saga with buckets of body horror and is going to mess you up good.
— Paul Tremblay, author of The Pallbearers Club, on TwitterA gorgeously written novel that mixes Southern Gothic à la Flannery O’Connor, backwoods noir, and the mythic imagination of Clive Barker . . . [A] lush nightmare [that] put an arrow through my head and heart.
— Paul Tremblay, author of Growing ThingsAndy Davidson probably wrote The Boatman's Daughter sitting at a table at home or at a coffee joint. But it reads as if he pulled it out of the wet earth of the Arkansas bayous with his bare hands on a moonless night while chanting an incantation he learned from a dying witch.
— Gabino Iglesias, NPRCombines the visceral violence of Cormac McCarthy with his own wholly original craftsmanship, weaving rich, folkloric magic with the best elements of a gritty Southern thriller. The book's lightning-fast pace doesn't come at the expense of fully realized, flawed, and achingly human characters.
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)An inverted fairytale . . . [Andy Davidson is] an extremely talented writer who goes beyond the boundaries of genres to deliver a gripping tale.
— Mystery TribuneWild and wonderful—a sentence-by-sentence delight.
— Michael Koryta, author of How It HappenedThis horror novel can claim its rightful place alongside new Southern Gothics like Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017), Daniel Woodrell's Winter’s Bone (2006), and Wiley Cash's A Land More Kind Than Home (2012).
— Becky Spratford, BooklistThe Boatman's Daughter is a greasy, magical Southern Gothic fable. Davidson pens a vivid backdrop for his colorful characters to come alive and draw the reader into an eerie supernatural thriller.
— Sadie Hartman, Mother HorrorBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Laurel Lefkow is an accomplished radio actress and winner of several AudioFile Earphones Awards for audiobook narration. Her many theater credits include Look Back in Anger, Little Foxes, The Heiress, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Boy Next Door. On television she can be seen in A Class Act, Small Metal Jacket, and The Perfect Family.