Tinfoil Butterfly was my first pick for the Ladies of Horror Fiction 2 year anniversary readathon. This book hit the prompt ‘Something Short.’
Although it also could have been used for the prompt ‘Been on Your TBR Forever.’ I’ve had this book sitting around staring at me for SO LONG. And I only recently noticed that it was literally staring at me. There’s a big creepy eye on the spine!
Synopsis:
Emma is hitchhiking across the United States, trying to outrun a violent, tragic past, when she meets Lowell, the hot-but-dumb driver she hopes will take her as far as the Badlands. But Lowell is not as harmless as he seems, and a vicious scuffle leaves Emma bloody and stranded in an abandoned town in the Black Hills with an out-of-gas van, a loaded gun, and a snowstorm on the way.
The town is eerily quiet and Emma takes shelter in a diner, where she stumbles across Earl, a strange little boy in a tinfoil mask who steals her gun before begging her to help him get rid of “George.” As she is pulled deeper into Earl’s bizarre, menacing world, the horrors of Emma’s past creep closer, and she realizes she can’t run forever.
Tinfoil Butterfly is a seductively scary, chilling exploration of evil—how it sneaks in under your skin, flaring up when you least expect it, how it throttles you and won’t let go. The beauty of Rachel Eve Moulton’s ferocious, harrowing, and surprisingly moving debut is that it teaches us that love can do that, too.
Edition:
Paperback
Award Nominations:
- Shirley Jackson Award Nominee for Best Novel (2019)
My Thoughts:
This story is a fucking wild ride. It was at no point quite what I was expecting. I 100% think that the Shirley Jackson nomination was warranted. This is another one of those debut novels that I have trouble reconciling as a debut. Moulton’s writing feels very experienced. I almost said polished, but this story has too much of a grindhouse sort of vibe for that. It’s like literary grindhouse, pretending that is a thing. It’s dirty and gritty, but also very well written.
“I just think this place isn’t what you think it is. It’s sad here. Dangerous.”
Tinfoil Butterfly is a pretty special book. I read it in 2 sittings (I started reading it pretty late on the 1st, and wrapped it on my meal break from work on the 2nd). It’s really strange, and surprisingly deep. This one will make you think about some shit – I promise.
It is written in a way that makes it feel more like you’re watching a movie than reading a book. I can picture so much of what I read so clearly that it I’d swear I saw it somewhere. It even persuaded me to do another mood board!
About the Author:
Rachel Eve Moulton earned her BA from Antioch College and her MFA in fiction from Emerson College. Her work has appeared in Beacon Street Review, Bellowing Ark, Chicago Quarterly Review, and Bryant Literary Review, among other publications. Tinfoil Butterfly is her first novel.
Rating:
This book was never quite what I thought it was going to be, but it was very, very good. It’s brutal, bizarre, and beautiful – sometimes all at once. I highly recommend giving this one a read.
Tinfoil Butterfly By Rachel Eve Moulton MCD X FSG Originals ISBN: 0374538301 Published: September 10, 2019 Paperback, E-book, Audiobook 264 Pages
