Plain Bad Heroines

 Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth, 640 pages.

Stories nest within stories in this extremely creepy gothic horror novel. First is the Story of Mary MacLean, a (real) memoir written by Mary MacLean in 1902 that's frank emotions, controversial voice, and queer themes caused a sensation. This book is read by the (fictional) girls Flo and Clara at Brookhants School for Girls in the same year and is so inspiring to them that they form the "plain bad heroines society" as a tribute to their beloved author. When they are found stung to death by yellowjackets an open copy of the book is found nearby. This is only the first of several strange and horrible deaths and occurrences at the school in the following 2 years.

 In the modern day the story of these girls, as well as the queer and feminist history of the school itself, is introduced to the wider world in Merritt Emmons' The Happenings at Brookhants. A book that has recently been picked up as a horror movie staring former child star and second generation scream queen Audrey Wells and "celesbien" Harper Harper, Hollywood's new darling. But when filming starts at Brookhants school strange and terrifying things start to happen, and it's not clear to anyone what is created for the movie and what is the place itself.

This book is extremely spooky. It really nails the atmosphere, the pacing is solid, and I don't think I've read a book recently that uses motifs to such great effect. There are real questions throughout about what is real and what isn't, especially in the modern day, but also throughout. I thought that was especially interesting when it extended an amount of this uncertainty to you, the reader. I realized after I finished the book that Mary MacLean was a real person who wrote a real book you can read online (it's here on Project Gutenberg if anyone is interested), which is just enough to make me wonder how much more of this book is rooted in real history. Unfortunately, Danforth didn't quite manage to nail the landing. By the end of the book it is clear that there are definitely some baleful supernatural events, what is less clear is who is responsible or why they are happening. And it feels very strange and unsatisfying to have these things undefined even after what was functionally a villain monologue. Reading this book is a great experience, even if it has a couple of glaring flaws as a book.