House of Cotton

"In the first sentence of this book, the narrator, 19-year-old Magnolia, says she has never “felt as trapped and choked” as she does in that very moment, sitting at her grandmother’s funeral. That feeling of claustrophobia permeates the now-orphaned Magnolia’s every move – and to the reader, it gives logic to all the strange, contradictory and surreal things that will happen next, as she makes her way through the world. This is the story of someone trying to get free in a world where the paths toward freedom are winding, dark – and filled with tricksters and wolves. And Magnolia is a complex heroine, drawn to dark shadows even as she relentlessly seeks out the light."