First published 2020
Helene Preiswerk is fifteen and desperately in love with her older cousin Carl, a medical student studying dreams and mental illness. He barely notices her until one August evening when she stumbles upon a séance he's conducting with friends. When she asks to join, Carl agrees to humor the quiet girl he considers unremarkable. The moment Helene enters the trance, everything changes. Her body goes rigid, her eyes close, and voices of the dead pour from her mouth. She speaks of star dwellers from Mars, of secret affairs and illegitimate children, of worlds beyond human understanding. Carl is transfected. Night after night, Helene performs increasingly elaborate séances, channeling spirits and cosmic beings as Carl documents every word. But beneath the supernatural theater lies a darker game between two isolated souls who recognize something forbidden in each other. As Helene's performances grow more desperate and her grip on reality weakens, their relationship spirals toward obsession and ruin.
Genres: romance, 20th-century, occult, paranormal, psychological-thriller, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-love, obsession
Period: August
153 pages · Paperback · Independently published
Content warnings: mental-illness