Published: 2023
Series: N/A
Author: Christa Carmen
Illustrator: N/A
Genres: Murder, Thriller, Psychological, Suspense, LGBTQ, Horror, Gothic, Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Adult, Audiobook, Family
Audience (Grade Levels): Adult / Grades 11-12
Number of Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Goodreads Link: The Daughters of Block Island
Triggers: Murder, domestic and psychological abuse, mental illness, substance abuse, trauma, and violence
Review By: Lisa McPherson
Publisher’s Summary:
In this ingenious and subversive twist on the classic gothic novel, the mysterious past of an island mansion lures two sisters into a spiderweb of scandal, secrets, and murder.
Two sisters, strangers since birth yet bound by family secrets, are caught up in a century-old mystery on an isolated island. After arriving on Block Island to find her birth mother, Blake Bronson becomes convinced she’s the heroine of a gothic novel—the kind that allowed her intermittent escape from a traumatic childhood. How else to explain the torrential rain, the salt-worn mansion known as White Hall, and the restless ghost purported to haunt its halls? But before Blake can discern the novel’s ending, she’s found dead, murdered in a claw-foot tub. The proprietress of White Hall stands accused. Summoned by a letter sent from Blake before she died, Thalia Mills returns to the island she swore she’d left for good. She finds that Blake wasn’t the first to die at White Hall under suspicious circumstances. Thalia must uncover the real reason for Blake’s demise before the forces conspiring to keep Block Island’s secrets dead and buried rise up to consume her too.
Review:
To be considered a gothic novel, a piece must include things like gloomy decaying settings (haunted houses, castles with secret passages and trap doors), supernatural beings or monsters (ghosts), curses or prophecies, damsels in distress, heroes and romance. This novel by Christa Carmen hits all of these parts.
The gloomy mansion that is the center of the novel, White Hall, is haunted, has secret passages AND trap doors that confound the heroine. It also has supernatural beings, or are they? The “ghosts” that the main character and her deceased sister see continue to haunt them as they try to figure out if they are real portents of danger or human portents of danger. The curse comes from the family history of mental illness and substance abuse that affects both Maureen Mills (Thalia’s mother) and Blake Bronson (Thalia’s sister who she never knew!). It is also due in part to the men in the story who continually underestimate and take advantage of the women. The damsels in distress is obvious, but what is refreshing about this novel is that the heroes are the women themselves as they try to save themselves, in any way they can, from the situations and people in their lives who threaten to hurt them. It is a story of generations of women who have fought to have their lives in their own control, in any way they can get it. The twists and turns of the plot are unexpected and pull you into this very modern gothic novel.
Carmen’s prose is exceptionally evocative, utilizing sharp pacing and a dual-perspective structural organization that mirrors the psychological unspooling of its characters. The book’s cover art is beautifully eerie and eye-catching, perfectly capturing the dark, atmospheric salt-water setting to immediately attract older teens and adults looking for a gripping thriller. I give this novel a 5-star rating, scoring it at the highest tier for its unique creativity, suspenseful writing style, and empowering subversion of classic tropes. It is an outstanding recommendation for high school librarians and educators building advanced collections for older readers who appreciate complex, feminist mysteries. This text carries significant overall value for secondary and public libraries seeking high-quality, modern gothic fiction.
Classroom & Curricular Connections:
- ELA / Gothic Literature: This text serves as a phenomenal mentor text for analyzing the conventions of classic gothic fiction (such as settings, curses, and atmospheric dread) and examining how modern authors subvert traditional gender roles within those archetypes.
- Psychology / SEL: Connects to advanced upper-level discussions on coping with childhood trauma, tracking the cycle of substance abuse, and understanding family dynamics.
- Extension Activity / Library Application: Ideally suited for grade 11-12 independent reading, high-interest high school literature circles, or teacher-led book clubs. As an extension activity, students can construct a comparative matrix contrasting traditional 19th-century gothic protagonists with Carmen’s self-rescuing heroines, analyzing how shifts in social equity alter narrative outcomes.
- Diversity & Representation: The book supports diversity, equity, and inclusion by weaving in LGBTQ+ themes and focusing heavily on female agency and solidarity across generations. It meaningfully reflects the perspectives of marginalized women fighting to reclaim control over their own bodies, choices, and ancestral narratives from restrictive patriarchal forces.
Readalikes:
- The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
