The Character Most Likely to...
Believe in the impossible?
Loretta (The Devil and Mrs. Davenport) because her faith is of the sort that exists outside of what religion and science can explain. She’s someone who embraces the unknown, even when it frightens her, and I think that’s very brave.
Have a snappy comeback?
Lydia (Parting the Veil) is savvy and quick with a comeback. She doesn’t suffer fools. She’s honest and forthright, and I think that’s why readers love her character so much.
Be suspicious?
Gracelynn (The Witch of Tin Mountain) is a keen judge of character, who often questions the motives of others. This serves her well when the townsfolk of Tin Mountain fall under the spell of a charismatic preacher who’s a little too good to be true.
Hide the truth on occasion?
Because of the circumstances in her family, Marguerite (The Artist of Blackberry Grange) keeps secrets and tells lies to protect others and herself. Sometimes her reasons for doing so are noble. Other times, not so much. But you’ll have to read the book to find out more!
Treat your house like their house?
Haha! Sadie (The Artist of Blackberry Grange) who treats her great-aunt Marguerite’s house, Blackberry Grange, like her own from the moment she arrives! She’s a little opportunistic…at the start.
To surprise people?
Malcolm (Parting the Veil). I think he has one of the biggest surprises of all my characters.
Be counted on in an emergency?
Beckett (The Artist of Blackberry Grange) is steady, calm in an emergency, and pragmatic. He isn’t prone to excesses of emotion, and simply does what needs to be done. He’s also incredibly loyal.
Get into shenanigans?
Eliza (Parting the Veil) is impulsive, curious, and a risk-taker, which doesn’t always serve her well. She tends to find trouble everywhere she goes. She’s also still very young, emotionally, although she thinks herself worldly and mature. I do admire her verve!
To listen, offer an ear, a nod, and sometimes the best advice?
Dr. Hansen (The Devil and Mrs. Davenport) is always willing to be a listening ear and a confidant. Mostly because it’s his job as a psychologist, but also because he’s compassionate by nature. His thoughtful nods (he’s an excellent listener—who doesn’t love a man who listens?), kindness, and sage advice encourage Loretta to step into her power and strength at a time when she feels anything but strong.
Be the one everyone turns to, no matter the question?
Deirdre (The Witch of Tin Mountain) is such a formidable woman, with a wealth of knowledge and experience. As a granny woman/healer and midwife, she’s a valuable resource for her rural community, who seek her out for everything from arthritis to love charms. Unfortunately, though everyone in Tin Mountain turns to Deirdre when they need something, they also turn against her and her granddaughter, Gracelynn, when unexplained things happen. Midwives and herbal healers like Deirdre and Gracelynn were often the first to fall under suspicion in the past.
For a young caregiver in the Ozarks, an old house holds haunting memories in a ghostly novel about family secrets, sacrifice, and lost loves by the author of The Devil and Mrs. Davenport.
In the summer of 1925, the winds of change are particularly chilling for a young woman whose life has suddenly become unbalanced.
Devastated by her mother’s death and a cruel, broken engagement, Sadie Halloran learns that her great-aunt Marguerite, a renowned artist now in the throes of dementia, needs a live-in companion. Grasping at newfound purpose, Sadie leaves her desolate Kansas City boardinghouse for Blackberry Grange, Marguerite’s once-grand mansion sitting precariously atop an Arkansas bluff. Though Marguerite is a fading shell of the vibrant woman Sadie remembers, Marguerite is feverishly compelled to paint eerie, hallucinatory portraits of old lovers—some cherished, some regretted, and some beastly. All of them haunting.
With each passing night, time itself seems to shift with the shadows at Blackberry Grange. As truth and delusion begin to blur, Sadie must uncover the secrets that hold Marguerite captive to her past before reality—and Marguerite’s life—slips away entirely.
Romance Historical | Horror [Lake Union Publishing, On Sale: March 25, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781662524158 / ]
Paulette Kennedy is the bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain and Parting the Veil, which received the prestigious HNS Review Editor’s Choice Award. She has had a lifelong obsession with the gothic. As a young girl, she spent her summers among the gravestones in her neighborhood cemetery, imagining all sorts of romantic stories for the people buried there. After her mother introduced her to the Brontes as a teenager, Paulette's affinity for fog-covered landscapes and haunted heroines only grew, inspiring her to become a writer. Originally from the Missouri Ozarks, she now lives with her family and a managerie of rescue pets in sunny Southern California, where sometimes, on the very best days, the mountains are wreathed in fog.
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