Tinfoil butterfly : a novel / Rachel Eve Moulton.

Title:

Tin foil butterfly

Author:

Moulton, Rachel Eve, 1975-

ISBN:

9780374538309

0374538301

Edition:

First edition.

Publication Info:

New York :

Description:

264 pages ; 19 cm

Summary:

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.

Subject(s):

Hitchhiking -- Fiction.

Single women -- Fiction.

Holds: Copies (not including on-order items):

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Shelf Location	Status	Item Holds
Searching... East Library	Book	MOUL	Fiction	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable
Searching... Penrose Library	Book	MOUL	Fiction	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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On Order

Summary

" A brutal, incredibly bizarre exploration of insanity, guilt, love, and the darkness inside all of us . . . This novel is a hybrid monster that's part Lovecraftian nightmare and part literary exploration of evil."
-- Gabino Iglesias, NPR

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.

Author Notes

Rachel Eve Moulton earned her BA from Antioch College and her MFA in fiction from Emerson College. Her work has appeared in The Beacon Street Review , Bellowing Ark , Chicago Quarterly Review , and The Bryant Literary Review , among other publications. Tinfoil Butterfly is her first novel.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Unrelenting and artfully crafted, this haunting debut and its tortured protagonist easily cement Moulton as a must-read writer in the horror genre. Running from addiction and the tragic death of her stepbrother, Emma hitchhikes to the Black Hills with Lowell, a man in search of his ex and their child. When Lowell attempts to kidnap her, Emma robs him of his gun and van, leaving him with a bullet wound alone in the middle of the Badlands with the threat of snow. Soon out of gas, Emma finds herself stranded in a mostly abandoned community; its primary resident is a little boy named Earl who wears a tinfoil mask over his scarred face. Earl, in immediate danger after poisoning his violent father, refuses to help her until she finishes off his abuser. As the pair conspire to escape, the purity of Emma and Earl's relationship stands in stark contrast to their isolated setting and the darkness of their traumas. Readers will be heartsick at the thought that either one might not survive. The narrative, both disturbing and irresistible, is propelled by these two well-imagined characters and their need for each other. This is a gripping tale of terribly human horrors. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

A creepy locale and a terrifying, larger-than-life villain give this debut novel its chills, while terrors of the human kind abuse, drug addiction, self-harm give it heft. Hitchhiking her way to the Badlands, Emma ends up with Lowell, a desperate man planning to kidnap his daughter from his ex. When things turn violent, Emma is able to steal Lowell's gun and his van, leaving him for dead. But things get much more dangerous, and scarier, when Emma lands in an abandoned town solely inhabited by a small boy called Earl, who wears a tinfoil butterfly mask to hide the scars given to him by his abusive father, George. Earl and Emma form a fast bond against George, who is effectively hunting them through the snowy terrain. Flashbacks flesh out the story, as readers learn what Emma is running from and why she has the deep, jagged scar on her abdomen. Horror fans looking for a beach read will find it in this plot-driven, page-turning novel but they shouldn't expect a tidy ending.--Kathy Sexton Copyright 2010 Booklist