(2021), which received the HNS Review Editor’s Choice Award. Her work has been featured in People Magazine, The Mary Sue, Paste Magazine, and BookBub. Originally from the Missouri Ozarks, she now lives with her family and a menagerie of rescue pets in sunny Southern California, where sometimes, on the very best days, the mountains are wreathed in gothic fog.
[The Page 69 Test: Parting the Veil; The Page 69 Test: The Devil and Mrs. Davenport; My Book, The Movie: The Artist of Blackberry Grange]
At CrimeReads Kennedy tagged "seven novels [that] combine aspects of sci-fi, romance, magic, and fantasy with the traditional conventions of the Gothic genre to create something new and fresh." One title on the list:
When The Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueenRead about the other entries on the list.
In this novel of Southern Gothic horror, LaTanya McQueen tackles the problematic nature of plantation weddings, whitewashed history, and the balance between honoring the lessons of the past without erasing the violent nature of its sins.When childhood friends Mira, Jesse, and Celine reunite for Celine’s wedding at the Woodsman Plantation, old scars and grievances reemerge as the injustices and prejudices of their small, southern town coalesce. The plantation, newly renovated as an event venue, stands as a monument to its oppressive, racist history. The service staff is mostly Black, and disturbing antebellum reenactments provide guests with “entertainment.” But when Mira begins to witness horrific visions from the past on the plantation grounds, she and her friends are forced to reckon with the blood-soaked history of the Woodsman Plantation and the righteous fury of its ghosts. Important, powerful, and unforgettable, with shades of Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Octavia Butler’s Kindred, McQueen’s debut should be required reading.
--Marshal Zeringue
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