Fawn

In the isolated Appalachian town of Burrsville, Tess Wynne lives in precious quiet. Having been left for dead a century earlier, Tess made a deal with the devil to stay in the only home she''s known. Tending to her wildlife sanctuary, she keeps the land and its people safe - pulling on spidering threads of ancient magic, trying to preserve the balance of nature against the encroaching ravages of human influence. But, every autumn, the devil returns, offering Tess more power in exchange for a foothold into the human world. And, every autumn, Tess refuses. As Tess prepares her wildlife sanctuary for the winter, an unexpected addition to Burrsville catches the local''s attention. Freshly arrived Zeke Abdee, the town''s new pastor, begins to sinisterly mould the townspeople to his will. With everyone slowly turning on Tess, Pastor Zeke is determined to stake his claim on the very land where Tess keeps her sanctuary. Cornered, a desperate Tess pushes her magic to the darkest edges. All the while, the devil bides his time, waiting for Tess to decide if she will be prey - or predator...

Autorentext
C.N. Vair (she/her) is a horror and dark fantasy author living in Western New York. A former journalist, she's interested in the history and haunted corners of small towns, the magic and malice of the natural world, and power in all its forms. When she's not writing, you can find her wandering in woods and cemeteries, growing poisonous plants in her garden, or spending time with her husband and dogs.

Klappentext

🍎 'Unflinching... I loved it' Lucy Rose, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lamb
🦌 'Disturbing, seductively written fiction about power and female rage' Guardian
🍁 'A genuinely beautiful piece of work, and has an incredibly strong narrative voice, mixing nature, love, sex and gore, with a palpable sense of rage, betrayal and familial dysfunction at its heart' SFX
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'The devil came on the autumn equinox, as he always did.'

Tess Wynne keeps mostly to herself in the hills of Appalachia. Her wildlife sanctuary is a refuge for the wounded and unwanted - and the only home she has left. She has built it carefully, with old rituals and even older bargains with the ominous visitor that comes each year.

Then she finds a doe split open on the road.

Beside it is the fawn who survived. Red-mouthed. Full set of teeth. Hungry.

From the moment Tess brings it home, whispers gather in town. A new pastor starts asking questions. And inside Tess, something primal begins to wake: anger, appetite, the slow understanding that prey is only prey for so long.

Dark, tender and eerie, Fawn is a slow-burning folk horror of nature, ritual and feverish femininity - a story about what a woman must become to protect what is hers.

*Fawn is published in the US as The Devil Knows Her Name

🦌 Readers are feral for FAWN 🦌 🦌 'I want to grind this book into dust and sprinkle it in my coffee. It's feral.'
🦌 'This book had me reacting OUT LOUD'
🦌 'A perfect amalgamation of horror, feminist rage, and spooky witchcraft'
🦌 'Gets under your skin without really trying'
🦌 'Rachel Harrison meets Grady Hendrix'