Cinderwich

[cornerofmadness]

Cinderwich by Cherie Priest

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Kate Thrush lost her Aunt Ellen before she was even born. When Ellen's one time lover, Dr. Judith Kane (also Kate's mentor) calls her up to meet in Cinderwich, TN to investigate a local legend, she reluctantly goes. Someone has been writing Who Put Ellen in the Black Gum tree on the sides of buildings.

There was, some forty years before, a body found in the tree but this Ellen and much of the official records have been lost. Was she their missing Ellen?

I think Priest captured small town Appalachia quite well (as I live in small town Appalachia) and the generalized depression of a town whose original purpose is long gone (railroad in this case, port town in mine) Kate is quite a bit like me so I was predisposed to like her. Judith I could take or leave.

I did like the Appalachian culture like herbal healing and clootie wells (I have been to several of these and my area of research is in the herbs) so again I have a connection that most wouldn't so YMMV on how you perceive the story.

Something or someone starts haunting Kate almost immediately. That said I would have liked more menace throughout the novella. I didn't think it was as scary as it could have been. However I did very much enjoy it, especially the sisters that show up and the reveal at the end. It's one I'll think about for awhile especially the treatment of mental illness in the past (and even today) where women are concerned.



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