| Horror fiction. |
Available:
Library | Shelf Number | Shelf Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Searching... East Bridgewater Public Library | DAVIDSON, A. 2020 | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Fairhaven-Millicent | FIC DAVIDSON ANDY BOATMAN'S | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Fall River Main | FIC DAV | Stacks | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library | FIC DAVIDSON | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Mansfield Public Library | FIC DAVIDSON | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Mattapoisett Free Public Library | DAV | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... New Bedford Free Public Library | FIC DAVIDSON | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Norfolk Public Library | F DAVIDSON, A. BOA | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Taunton Public Library | DAVIDSON, ANDY | 1ST FLOOR STACKS | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Wareham Free Library | F DAV | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
"Go read Andy Davidson's lush nightmare, The Boatman's Daughter . It put an arrow through my head and heart." --Paul Tremblay, author of Growing Things
"Ample bloodshed is offset by beautiful prose . . . A stunning supernatural Southern Gothic." -- Kirkus (starred)
Ever since her father was killed when she was just a child, Miranda Crabtree has kept her head down and her eyes up, ferrying contraband for a mad preacher and his declining band of followers to make ends meet and to protect an old witch and a secret child from harm.
But dark forces are at work in the bayou, both human and supernatural, conspiring to disrupt the rhythms of Miranda's peculiar and precarious life. And when the preacher makes an unthinkable demand, it sets Miranda on a desperate, dangerous path, forcing her to consider what she is willing to sacrifice to keep her loved ones safe.
With the heady mythmaking of Neil Gaiman and the heartrending pacing of Joe Hill, Andy Davidson spins a thrilling tale of love and duty, of loss and discovery. The Boatman's Daughter is a gorgeous, horrifying novel, a journey into the dark corners of human nature, drawing our worst fears and temptations out into the light.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Davidson (In the Valley of the Sun) immerses the reader in ethereal horror in this macabre contemporary thriller set in the swamps of the deep American South. Ever since Miranda Crabtree's father died when she was 14, she's managed to get by as a smuggler ferrying contraband through the Prosper River bayou for deranged preacher Billy Cotton. Now 21, Miranda learns that Cotton and his dwindling band of followers are planning to sacrifice his young daughter, Littlefish, who possesses the gift of "the sight," to the darkness of the swamp, testing Miranda's resolve to keep her head down and mind her own business. As otherworldly threats mount in the bayou, Miranda turns to an old witch named Iskra for help protecting Littlefish from her unhinged father. Miranda's anxiety and indecision are expertly rendered, as is her love for the people she cares about. With fluid prose and nimble worldbuilding Davidson brings his eerie swamps to life. Fans of the supernatural will savor the slow-burning tension of this heady, atmospheric Southern gothic. (Feb.)
Kirkus Review
The remote Arkansas bayou is a swirling kaleidoscope of murder, greed, and dark, ancient magic in Bram Stoker Award finalist Davidson's second novel (In the Valley of the Sun, 2017).The rotting Holy Day Church and Sabbath House, where the preacher Billy Cotton held his congregants in his thrall, serves as a painful reminder to 21-year-old Miranda Crabtree of the night 10 years ago when she and her father, Hiram, the boatman, took the midwife (and witch) Iskra there to deliver Cotton's son. As soon as Cotton laid eyes on the infant's mottled, scaly skin and webbed hands, he called him an abomination and tried to kill him. Iskra had other ideas, and the baby, whom Miranda called Littlefish, survived. But Hiram disappeared that night, and she's since dreamed of finding his body (because he's surely dead) and laying him to rest. It's Miranda's love for the mute, goodhearted Littlefish that has kept her going, and with Iskra's help, she's spent years running her father's general store and eventually running dope for Cotton and his cruel and corrupt deputy, Charlie Riddle, to make ends meet. Now, Billy Cotton's kingdom has crumbled around him and his body is riddled with cancer. Before dying, he's desperate to appease the angry ghost of his wife, who died in childbirth, but he'll need a sacrifice. On Miranda's last run for Riddle, she's ordered to deliver a young girl to Cotton, which she's not about to do even though she knows her refusal will start a war she might not survive. But she's ready, and the time for a reckoning has come. Davidson's captivating horror fable combines 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. Ample bloodshed is offset by beautiful prose, and the bad guys are really, really bad. Luckily, Miranda, a young woman forged in hardship and grief and buoyed by her love of a very special child, is a perfect foil for the evil she'll have to face.A stunning supernatural Southern gothic. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.