Synopsis:
Welcome to Chapel Croft. Five hundred years ago, eight protestant martyrs were burned at the stake here. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace. And two months ago, the vicar of the local parish killed himself.
Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent with a fourteen-year-old daughter and a heavy conscience, arrives in the village hoping to make a fresh start and find some peace. Instead, Jack finds a town mired in secrecy and a strange welcome package: an old exorcism kit and a note quoting scripture. “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.”
The more Jack and her daughter Flo get acquainted with the town and its strange denizens, the deeper they are drawn into their rifts, mysteries, and suspicions. And when Flo is troubled by strange sightings in the old chapel, it becomes apparent that there are ghosts here that refuse to be laid to rest.
But uncovering the truth can be deadly in a village where everyone has something to protect, everyone has links with the village’s bloody past, and no one trusts an outsider.
Edition:
Signed, limited edition hardcover
Awards/Nominations:
Trigger Warnings:
Hover for Trigger WarningsMy Thoughts:
The Burning Girls has made a lifelong C.J. Tudor fan of me. I mean, how can you not love a book that features a surprise exorcism kit (although thankfully for the characters, there is not a surprise exorcism)?! But in all seriousness, the real star of this book is not that mysterious exorcism kit – it’s the quality of the writing. Tudor delicately balances a cast of characters and situations that in lesser hands could have turned into an absolute mess. Despite the amount of stuff happening in the story, I was never confused. I always knew right where we were, who, what, and when we were talking about. Sometimes with layered storytelling it is a struggle, but not here.
What I find most gratifying about The Burning Girls is how it deftly straddles the line between thriller and horror. It’s a pulse-ratcheting thriller with supernatural elements. And it is genuinely creepy. It also has a strong, feminist backbone. That can be hard to find in a novel that lives in the shared space on the Venn diagram of a pair of genres that have, in the past tended to treat women as cannon fodder (thankfully this really is improving exponentially – and yes, I know, there have been exceptions – don’t be obtuse).
“Why do we hate our girls so much that history echoes with their screams and the earth is pitted with their unmarked graves?”
And you know what? Everybody seems to be noticing what a fantastic story this is. Paramount+ is apparently adapting the novel as a 6-part miniseries.
I’m ready!
Rating:
I loved The Burning Girls and I’m super hyped for the miniseries!
The Burning Girls By C.J. Tudor Subterranean Press Originally published by Ballentine Published: January 21, 2021 ISBN: 9781984825025 Hardcover, Paperback, E-book, Audio 400 Pages
OH MY GOSH! I’m obsessed with that cover!! I own a copy of this one but haven’t had the chance to dive in. I need to change that ASAP! Especially with the adaptation in the works!
It is SO good. I hope you love it!