“With her latest novel, Stage presents a fractured mother-daughter relationship as wounds from the past rise, becoming a relentless nightmare.”
Having Mom move in is the last thing Grace wants to do. Her relationship with Jackie isn’t exactly on the best of terms, and Grace likes her space, even if it’s being stuck at home during the pandemic. But since losing her job, Grace is in a tight spot. Maybe this is what they need to bond and at least help each other out.
Good intentions turn bad after Jackie moves in. New wounds add fire to the old ones. And Grace begins to have strange nightmares about her disabled twin sister who died when she was younger. Tensions rise even higher when Jackie learns Grace catfishes people online.
After Jackie makes an accusation against her, Grace can only see it as revenge. Spiraling into sleep-deprived madness, Grace feels the walls closing in on her, her ghosts rearing their ugly heads to collide with a new yet familiar threat: Mom.
Why we’re excited about this book:
When it comes to exploring the unpleasant territory of toxic relationships in horror, Zoje Stage easily comes to mind. Stage is the author of the novels Baby Teeth, The Girl Who Outgrew the World, Getaway, and Wonderland, and is a playwright, with her play Monster produced in Pittsburgh by the Upstairs Theatre. With her latest novel, Stage presents a fractured mother-daughter relationship as wounds from the past rise, becoming a relentless nightmare. Mike Omer (A Killer’s Mind) says: “Zoje Stage’s Mothered sent me on an intense, visceral ride. Stage’s straightforward writing easily paints the initial picture we all went through, life screeching to a halt during the quarantine. But while that initial familiarity and instant connection with the protagonist, Grace, hooked me, the story quickly veered in an unfamiliar direction. As Grace’s anxiety and instability rose, my own claustrophobic sensation grew, and I found myself flipping the pages, needing to know what happens next. The underlying mystery of Grace and Jackie’s history kept me captivated and unsettled until the book’s end.”, and Lucinda Berry (Under Her Care, The Perfect Child) says: “Mothered is disturbing in the best possible way. A dark and unsettling thriller that had me glued to the pages. This is Stage’s best work yet—horrifying and brilliant.”
Releasing from Thomas & Mercer 1 March 2023, Mothered by Zoje Stage is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA
