Caitlin R. Kiernan takes readers into the mind of a young schizophrenic girl in her latest novel, THE DROWNING GIRL. India Morgan Phelps, nicknamed, Imp, is well aware of her mental illness. Both her mother and her grandmother suffered from mental instability, and both committed suicide. But India views her mental illness as an insect she enjoys dissecting. Instead of fighting the strange moods and delusions which threaten to overwhelm her losing grip on reality, Imp finds comfort in her obsessions in the form of writing.

Imps finds love with Abalyn Armitage, a young transvestite who isn't rattled by Imp's erratic behavior. But Abalyn finds it difficult to continue her relationship with Imp when Imp's behavior takes her down a dangerous road which could finally break the veil separating her from the schizophrenics who must be hospitalized.

Imp becomes obsessively fascinated by two fairy tales and a painting who she believes is no mere painting, but a haunting. Imp's obsession with The Little Red Riding Hood goes back to her childhood when she realizes the children's story can be traced back to a gruesome story dating back to the seventeenth century. But Imp's sanity truly becomes threatened when her life suddenly revolved around a painting named Drowning Girl by Philip George Saltonstall. Imp believes this is not a painting, but a haunting which the artist has rendered on a canvas in order to rid himself of the drowning girl's ghost. Now the drowning girl haunts not only Imp's dreams, but her reality as well.

When Imp meets Eva Canning the distinction between fantasy and reality finally become blurred enough to frighten not only Abalyn, but Imp's psychiatrist as well. Imp becomes convinced Eva, who she meets on the side of a ride one night, is the same woman is known as the Siren of Millville. The Siren is believed to be the ghost of a woman who drowned who now lures other women to their death. But when Imp and Abalyn research the elusive Eva, who continously disappears, they discover, Evan Canning drowned many years ago in a mass suicide. Imp struggles to find reality in a sea of delusions. But the truth about Eva results in something Imp could never have imagined.

Caitlin R. Kiernan weaves a dark, but seductive story which takes readers deep into the troubled mind of a schizophrenic. THE DROWNING GIRL is one of those novels which readers will be determined to figure out. Imp's story contains not only bits and pieces of her troubled life as a mentally ill young girl, but the author also invites readers into the vivid delusions which slowly take their toll on Imp's grasp on reality. I enjoyed Imp's fascination with the Siren of Millville, but the wrapping of Eva's story contained too much disorganization. I felt THE DROWNING GIRL slowly started to fall apart towards the end. I thought this novel was strong enough to stand on its own without the introduction of Evan Canning. Nonetheless, Imp's bizarre reality and haunting delusions make for an enthralling read.