“With her latest novel, Wurth presents a haunting tale of a young woman searching for the one thing she’s never had, consumed by disturbing visions of a past some don’t want her to see.”
Heavy metal loving Kari James is a Stephen King fan and is easily found in her favorite dive bar in Denver, White Horse. She does her best to ignore her past, especially questions about her mother, who abandoned Kari when she was only two years old.
After her cousin Debby brings Kari a traditional bracelet that used to belong to her mother, she begins to see strange visions of her mother and a mysterious creature. Consumed by these visions, Kari sets out to find out exactly what happened to her mother. But her father is disabled, unable to help, and her Auntie Squeaker probably knows something but only gives Kari a little info at a time. Debby’s under the grip of a controlling husband, also unable to assist Kari.
Truth has long been denied to Kari, and she finds her journey forcing her to remember a long lost childhood friend, confront her dysfunctional relationships and her longing desire for the one thing she’s always wanted that’s always been out of reach.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Erika T. Wurth is an urban Native of Apache/Chickasaw/Cherokee descent who calls Denver, Colorado home. She is the author of Buckskin Cocaine, Crazyhorse’s Girlfriend, the poetry collection A Thousand Horse Out to Sea, and her short-fiction and nonfiction has appeared in Denver Noir, Buzzfeed, and Lithub among others. Wurth is a Kenyon and Sewanee fellow, and a narrative artist for the Meow Wolf Denver installation. With her latest novel, Wurth presents a haunting tale of a young woman searching for the one thing she’s never had, consumed by disturbing visions of a past some don’t want her to see. Grady Hendrix (My Best Friend’s Exorcism) says: “Family ties are made from rusty barbed wire in White Horse, a book that feels as welcome as a dark bar on a hot afternoon, and whose story burns like a shot of rotgut whiskey.”, and Rebecca Roanhorse (Black Sun) calls White Horse: “An unapologetic world of dive bars, dark secrets, and true life horrors. I became completely enthralled. … Wurth [is] an exciting new voice in literary horror.” Stephen Graham Jones (My Heart is a Chainsaw, Mongrels) says: “It’s metal to the end, it’s Denver to the core, it’s Native without trying, there’s ghosts, there’s blood, there’s roller coasters, and there’s about a thousand cigarettes smoked. What else can you ask for in a novel?”
Forthcoming from Flatiron Books 1 November 2022, White Horse by Erika T. Wurth is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA
