Black Sheep

Informationen zum Autor Rachel Harrison Klappentext "Vesper Wright is in hell. The night she gets fired from her unglamorous restaurant job, she comes home to find an envelope waiting on her doorstep. There's no return address, but she knows exactly who it's from--her estranged family. Inside the envelope is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper's cousin and childhood best friend Rosemary, the one person she regrets losing touch with. She's getting married at the family home. A home that, according to the rules of her strictly religious family, Vesper shouldn't be allowed to return to. But Vesper has always been an exception to the rule, and something inside her is telling her she has to attend the wedding. ... When Vesper's homecoming exhumes a horrifying family secret, she's forced to reckon with her family's fanatical beliefs and her own unexpected identity"-- Leseprobe 1 As I stood singing the birthday song for the fifth time that evening, I realized I was wrong for not believing in hell. Hell was the birthday song. Hell was Shortee's. Hell was the green polo shirt, the khakis, the whole stupid fucking uniform. Hell was my life. "And the happy Shortee's happy birthday to you, hey!" I clapped, and I thought, This must be it. This must be the summit of loathing. I imagined a climber atop Mount Everest, only bitter instead of victorious, grappling with their dissatisfaction with the view. Kerri presented the chocolate lava cake to the kid, and when he blew out the candle, we all applauded and whooped and I longed to feel what I typically felt, which was numb, instead of what I felt in that moment, which was miserable. The kid's parents kissed his forehead, ruffled his hair. His sister asked meekly if she could try a bite. I observed them as I distributed extra spoons and napkins, and for the first time in a long time I thought about my family. For the first time in a long time I missed them. Or, if I'm being honest, which I suppose I should be, it was the first time in a long time that I admitted to myself I missed them, and how much. In that moment, I surrendered to the tidal pull of family. Of blood. My hand found my neck, which was naked, absent the token of my youth, a sometimes coveted but more often resented piece of jewelry. "You okay?" Kerri asked, ushering me back to the kitchen. "Sure," I said, unconvincingly. "Awesome. Yeah, so, I was wondering . . ." she said, trailing off, distracted by a stain on her polo. "Ugh! Chocolate. That is chocolate sauce, right? Shit." "Wondering what?" I asked, checking the window for table eight's order. "Do you think you could cover my section 'til close?" she asked, batting her lashes, flakes of mascara falling to her cheeks like ash. "Why would I do that?" I said, poking my head into the window to see what the line cooks were up to, suspicious they were once again slacking off. "Because I'm asking very nicely," she said. "And because you owe me." "I owe you?" "I pick up your shifts all the time." I snorted. "When?" "Last week." "I was sick," I said. It wasn't a lie. I was sick. Sick of working. "Please, Ves?" "Why do you need to leave early?" I said, sidestepping an overambitious busser who was barely balancing a tray of precariously piled dishes. She picked a waffle fry off of a plate in the window. A plate that was not for table eight. "Sean." "Sean?" I asked, dumbfounded. "Really? That guy? You're ditching work for that guy?" "You're so judgmental." "The guy treats you like a travel toothbrush. He'll use you for a week straight, then forget about you for months," I said. "And you either don't care or your self-esteem is too low to do anything about it. Either way, the whole thing is messed up." Her jaw hung open for a moment, eyes widened like those of a child discover...

Autorentext
Rachel Harrison is the national bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth, Cackle, and The Return, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, in Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, as an Audible Original, and in her debut collection, Bad Dolls. She lives in western New York with her husband and their cat/overlord.

Zusammenfassung
A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle.
 
Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly...something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep. 
 
Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.
 
When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.