First published 1994
Thirteen-year-old Joel Knox arrives at a crumbling plantation house in rural Alabama, searching for the father he's never known. Abandoned by his recently deceased mother, Joel encounters a cast of eccentric characters: his invalid, mysterious father; his father's flamboyant cousin Randolph; and the strange inhabitants of the decaying Skully's Landing. As Joel navigates his isolation and emerging sexuality, he confronts the shadows of family secrets and his own emerging identity. Something dark and transformative lurks beneath the Southern Gothic landscape—a reckoning with self-acceptance that will reshape everything Joel understands about belonging and desire.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, southern-gothic, gothic, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, family-drama, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Southern United States
Period: 20th Century
232 pages · Paperback · Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group