In a powerful and poignant novel, an artist unravels her mysterious family history and its generations of women who depended on each other to survive.
Tig Costello has arrived in Darren, Kentucky, commissioned to paint a portrait honoring her grandfather Benjamin. His contributions to the rural Appalachian town and his unimpeachable war service have made him a local hero. But to Tig, he’s a relative stranger. To find out more about him, Tig wants to talk to the person who knew her grandfather best: Eloise Price, the woman who murdered him fifty years ago.
Still confined to a state institution, Eloise has a lifetime of stories to tell. She agrees to share them all—about herself, about Tig’s enigmatic grandmother, and about the other brave and desperate women who passed through Benjamin’s orbit. Most revealing of all is the truth about Whitmore Halls, the mansion on the hill that was home to triage, rescue, death, and one inevitable day that changed Eloise’s life forever.
As Tig begins to piece together the puzzle of her mysterious family tree, it sends her spiraling toward a confrontation with her own painful past—and a reconciliation with all its heartrending secrets.
“Rose-Marie gives us an almost tactile sense of this small Kentucky town, not much changed since Benjamin’s day, and of the claustrophobic atmosphere of living in a place where everyone knows everything, even the things they don’t talk about.” —Historical Novels Review
“Original, fascinating, emotionally engaging, inherently fascinating, The Moonflowers is gothic historical fiction at its very best. Especially and unreservedly recommended.” —Midwest Book Review
“The Moonflowers is a stunning debut novel fueled by troubling secrets and the strength and extraordinary courage of Appalachian women. Abigail Rose-Marie writes with emotional intensity, reminding us that much has changed in our world but the challenges that women face are still the same. A fascinating and necessary tale.” —Dinty W. Moore, author of Between Panic & Desire
“Through its powerful braid of weaving together women’s voices across generations, The Moonflowers shows us that the past is always present, that buried secrets will find their light, and that hope lies in the fierce collective of showing up for one another when all else fails. In this compelling debut novel, Abigail Rose-Marie has offered us an absolute gift of a book that is as moving as it is necessary for our current times.” —Anne Valente, author of Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down
“When the young Michigan artist Antigone Costello receives an invitation to small-town Kentucky to paint a portrait celebrating her grandfather, she finds a region haunted by the past. Tales of murder, betrayal, and escape emerge, along with the hidden history of heroic women and the secrets of her own family. Read The Moonflowers—a novel as dark and moody as the deep woods where it’s set, yet ultimately inspiring.” —Lawrence Coates, author of Camp Olvido
“The Moonflowers is a welcome, unapologetic celebration of women’s self-determination and strength, of life-changing sacrifices offered across generations and state lines. Narrator Tig Costello is a painter, a detective, a survivor, a daughter and granddaughter, and finally a storyteller, rescuing this moving tale of women saving themselves and each other for whoever needs to hear it.” —Caitlin Horrocks, author of The Vexations
Abigail Rose-Marie is a writer from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She holds a PhD in creative writing from Ohio University and an MFA from Bowling Green State University. She currently lives with her wife and their very spoiled pets in Utah. The Moonflowers is her first novel.
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