The Drowning Girl

A schizophrenic artist in Providence, Rhode Island named India Morgan Phelps (Imp) writes down her account of events from two years prior, attempting to untangle truth from delusion. She meets and falls in love with Abalyn Armitage, a transgender woman who becomes her roommate. The narrative centers on Imp's encounter with Eva Canning, a mysterious hitchhiker she finds naked by the road - though she cannot determine if this happened in July or November. Eva's presence and subsequent disappearance trigger an obsession that consumes Imp's life and threatens her relationship with Abalyn. Through art, writing, and the examination of two conflicting memories about Eva Canning, Imp grapples with her perceptions of reality while investigating connections to folklore and ghost stories. The novel takes the form of her memoir, intercut with short stories she writes to process traumatic experiences. The book explores the nature of truth, memory, and identity through the lens of mental illness, using horror and dark fantasy elements to examine how stories shape our understanding of reality.

Readers note the book's complex, non-linear narrative structure and unreliable narrator create a challenging but rewarding reading experience. Many praise Kiernan's poetic prose and ability to blur reality with fantasy while exploring mental illness. Readers liked: - The authentic portrayal of schizophrenia - Rich mythology and ghost story elements - Literary quality of the writing - LGBTQ+ representation - Atmospheric mood Readers disliked: - Confusing timeline and plot structure - Slow pacing, especially in middle sections - Dense, stream-of-consciousness writing style - Difficulty distinguishing real events from hallucinations Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (6,800+ ratings) Amazon: 4.1/5 (180+ ratings) LibraryThing: 4.1/5 (300+ ratings) Common reader comment: "Not an easy read but worth the effort for those who enjoy literary horror and unreliable narrators." Several reviewers compared the experience to "solving a puzzle" or "piecing together a mystery."

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🔹 Caitlín R. Kiernan wrote this novel under intense personal circumstances, completing the first draft in just 40 days while battling their own struggles with OCD and anxiety. 🔹 The novel won the 2013 James Tiptree Jr. Award and the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel, marking it as a groundbreaking work in both fantasy and LGBTQ+ literature. 🔹 Providence, Rhode Island, the book's setting, was also home to H.P. Lovecraft, whose influence on weird fiction deeply impacted Kiernan's writing style and atmospheric storytelling. 🔹 The character Eva Canning is inspired by two conflicting mermaid/siren legends: the Celtic selkie myths and the Portuguese drowning ghost called Maria Lusitania. 🔹 The author drew from their background as a vertebrate paleontologist to infuse scientific precision into the novel's exploration of how the human mind processes and reconstructs memories.