Curdle Creek — Yvonne Battle-Felton

For fans of “The Lottery” and The Hunger Games, this novel set in a small town with a sinister tradition is chilling in the best possible way.

Welcome to Curdle Creek, a place just dying to make you feel at home. Osira, a 45-year-old widow, is an obedient follower of the strict conventions of Curdle Creek, an all-Black town in rural America stuck in the past and governed by a tradition of ominous rituals. Considered blessed, Osira's luck changes when her children run off, she comes second-to-last in the running of the widows and her father flees when his name is called in the annual moving-on ceremony. Forced into a test of allegiance, Osira finds herself transported back in time then into another realm where she must answer for crimes committed by Curdle Creek. Exile forces her to jump realms again, landing Osira even farther away from home in rural England. Safe, as long as she sticks to the rules, she quickly learns there are consequences for every kindness. Will another jump lead Osira anywhere but back home?

Curdle Creek is a unique, inventive novel exploring themes of home, belonging, motherhood, and what we inherit from society. This American gothic offers a mash-up of the surreal and literary horror that will appeal to fans of Ring Shout, The Underground Railroad and Lovecraft Country. Battle-Felton's fever-dream of a tale is strange, layered, and quite unlike anything else.