I don’t know what it was about this book, but it sunk its hooks into me and didn’t let go until the very end. I really enjoyed it! I remember reading the synopsis when putting together my list of new releases, and all it took was the mention of a mysterious stranger offering Magnolia a modeling job at his family’s funeral home and I was on board. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but what I got was creepy and a whole hell of a lot of fun.

When the book begins, 19-year-old Magnolia Brown is attending her grandmother – Mama Brown’s funeral. Mama Brown was Magnolia’s only sense of stability and had been for most of her life. Magnolia’s mother is a drug addict and could not take care of her, so Mama Brown – Magnolia’s paternal grandmother – stepped into the role. With Mama Brown gone, Magnolia is alone, broke, possibly pregnant and at the mercy of Sugar Foot – Mama Brown’s landlord. It doesn’t take us long to figure out that Sugar Foot is no good, and is happy to help Magnolia with the rent in exchange for unwanted sexual favors.

Magnolia numbs her pain by hooking up with strangers she meets on Tinder, posing as someone named Carolina Nettles. These hookups relieve the pain and scratch an itch. They make her feel in control if even for a moment.

Magnolia works the late shift at a local gas station. It barely pays enough to survive, but at the moment, it’s all she has. This, and her late night run-ins with a mute homeless man she calls Cigarette Sammy. Every night he comes digging through the trash and Magnolia hooks him up with a bag of food and a Moon Pie.

At the top of the book, Magnolia’s chief concern is figuring out how to obtain a pregnancy test. She has less than $20 to her name for the next two weeks. But then a handsome stranger by the name of Cotton walks into the gas station with blood-covered hands. After washing up in the restroom, he tells Magnolia she’s beautiful and asks her if she’d consider modeling. He gives her a business card and is on his way. Magnolia has no intention of meeting the man, but after falling prey to Sugar Foot once again, and being down to next to nothing in her bank account, she decides to see what it’s all about.

It’s not long before Magnolia has moved into the funeral home with Cotton and his alcoholic aunt Eden. She’s agreed to pose as a recently deceased individual to help families through their grieving process. At first the “cases” are all done over the internet, but as business booms, Cotton seeks to branch out, pushing Magnolia’s comfort level.

All the characters in this book are a little messed up, and I loved it. I adored Magnolia – I really felt for her. She really struggles with finding a place in the world. She is a biracial woman – half black, half white, who basically has her identity stripped away to become these dead white girls (never a person of color). What was especially haunting was anytime Magnolia grows uncomfortable, she retreats into this little pocket of her mind and makes herself an inanimate object from a fairytale. One time she was the bean that turned into the beanstalk that Jack climbed. She was a loaf of bread in Red Riding Hood’s basket. She was the straw that was spun into gold by Rumpelstiltskin.

Mama Brown appears in the most random of places, trying to lift Magnolia up even in death, and every time she appears she has decayed even further. Even in death, Mama Brown is still haunted by some of her life decisions and Magnolia wonders if the same will happen to her when she dies.

The other major players in the story – though financially better off – don’t have their shit together any better than Magnolia. Cotton can’t seem to think clearly without a piece of twine. He also carries a dark secret with him from his childhood, and his aunt Eden is an alcoholic. She, too, has her own identity issues. She’s a very skilled makeup artist and every day she paints her face to look like a different celebrity – sometimes she’s Meryl Streep, sometimes Dolly Parton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julianne Moore or a host of other starlets.

The book is captivating, creepy, and at times poignant, while focusing on themes of identity and grief. I really enjoyed this one. In fact, I read it in a day. If you’re a fan of southern gothic, this is one book you shouldn’t skip.