Edith Holler

Fanciful, dark, and quirky

Edith Holler follows Edith, a girl who has been cursed (reportedly, at least) to forever live in her family’s theatre, and who is determined to write a play exposing an evil she has observed in her city of Norwich. I did not expect this book to be as weird as it is. I was familiar with the author as an artist, so I shouldn’t have been surprised: the narrative pairs perfectly with the charming yet slightly off-putting nature of his illustrations. Don’t be confused by Edith Holler’s genre classification: its historical setting is a backdrop for a myriad of elements that could themselves find a home in fantasy, horror, and literary fiction. The novel is also humorous, almost whimsical, despite—or perhaps in marriage to—its gothic turns (the cast of characters surrounding Edith soon includes ghosts and a uniquely evil stepmother). If you’re looking for something quirky and a bit macabre—if you, like me, are delighted by the image of a lifelike human dummy bursting into a swarm of evil beetles as they crawl out of its seams—then perhaps Edith Holler is for you!