A "lush nightmare" (Paul Tremblay) of a supernatural thriller about a young woman facing down ancient forces in the depths of the bayou
Andy Davidson holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Mississippi. His debut novel, In the Valley of the Sun, was nominated for the 2017 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel, This Is Horror's Novel of the Year, and the 2018 Edinburgh International Book Festival's First Book Award. Born and raised in Arkansas, he now makes his home in Georgia with his wife and a bunch of cats.
*Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, The New York Public Library
and the Washington Independent Review of Books* "Gothic and surreal
and fascinating . . . I will definitely be seeking out more from
the author."
--Roxane Gay, The Audacity newsletter "Creepy and dark, this book
was pulled from the mud of some nameless bayou in the middle of the
night. Yes, there's plenty of weirdness, violence and gore here,
but also memorable characters and a lot of heart. This is a
supernatural Southern Gothic in which the darkness of the past and
the bloodshed of the present dance together beautifully via superb
prose and the kind of pacing you seldom find in this subgenre. It's
rare to find novels that give you profound familial love and
severed heads in Styrofoam coolers, but this one does that and
more."
--NPR "What if I told you there was a gorgeously written novel that
mixed Southern Gothic à la Flannery O'Connor, backwoods noir, and
the mythic imagination of Clive Barker? Go read Andy Davidson's
lush nightmare, The Boatman's Daughter. It put an arrow through my
head and heart."
--Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World and A
Head Full of Ghosts "An inverted fairytale . . . [Andy Davidson is]
an extremely talented writer who goes beyond the boundaries of
genres to deliver a gripping tale."
--Mystery Tribune "The gothic, magical horror elements of The
Boatman's Daughter come second to, and build upon, a darker,
realistic depiction of violence . . . [The novel] teases the
supposed line between literary fiction and horror. The characters
here are fully fleshed and dynamic, even the relatively minor ones
. . . A frightening, sticky, damp story of the bayou."
--Daniel Weaver, Washington Independent Review of Books "The remote
Arkansas bayou is a swirling kaleidoscope of murder, greed, and
dark, ancient magic . . . 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 . . . A stunning supernatural Southern Gothic."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "The Boatman's Daughter is a
beautifully written Gothic chiller that will draw you in and hold
you tight. Wild and wonderful--a sentence-by-sentence delight."
--Michael Koryta, author of How It Happened "Davidson's latest is
another hauntingly lyrical story that draws readers in with
complicated characters and a foreboding setting. Davidson's style
is restrained, with a slow burn that explodes at the novel's
midpoint, making room for the plot to breathe and unravel toward
the satisfying conclusion. This horror novel can claim its rightful
place alongside new Southern Gothics like Jesmyn Ward's Sing,
Unburied, Sing (2017), Daniel Woodrell's Winter's Bone (2006), and
Wiley Cash's A Land More Kind Than Home (2012)."
--Becky Spratford, Booklist "The Boatman's Daughter is a greasy,
magical Southern Gothic fable. Davidson pens a vivid backdrop for
his colorful characters to come alive and draw the reader into an
eerie supernatural thriller."
--Sadie Hartman, Mother Horror "Andy Davidson's bone-cracking
Southern Gothic, The Boatman's Daughter, is a noir thriller dipped
in the dark mud of the bayou, packed with witches, demons, and
gods. I was entangled in the dense roots of the story and the rich,
aromatic prose from page one. A riveting, powerful, bloody ride
you'll never want to leave, despite the dangers within."
--Philip Fracassi, author of Behold the Void "[Andy] Davidson
immerses the reader in ethereal horror in this macabre contemporary
thriller set in the swamps of the deep American South . . . 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."
--Publishers Weekly "This is the second novel I've read by Andy
Davidson, which is to say that I have now visited two dark,
well-realized southern landscapes full of interesting antagonists
and cool set pieces. This author's greatest strength is place--he
takes you there. You can almost smell the flora in the marsh, feel
the planks of the rough-built structures under your bare feet. The
Boatman's Daughter is a supernatural cousin to Daniel Woodrell's
gritty Ozarks thrillers; a sensual wetlands fable rich in sensory
detail and replete with Slavic folklore."
--Christopher Buehlman, author of The Suicide Motor Club "The
Boatman's Daughter--a beautiful and brutal Southern Gothic that
enchants and horrifies and hits like a wrecking ball from its
opening pages--is fantastic in every sense of the word. Fans of
Lansdale, Piccirilli, and McCarthy will dig this wholeheartedly,
though the alchemy and magic here are Davidson's own and mark him
as a major voice in modern dark fiction."
--Jeremy Robert Johnson, author of Entropy in Bloom and Skullcrack
City
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