Her Wicked Roots

Her Wicked RootsIn this queer retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne classic gothic story, Rappaccini's Daughter, a young woman is lured to a lush estate owned by a botanist who might be hiding dark secrets. Cordelia Beecher is on the run. In search of her missing brother Edward, she has fled the oppressive charity school she was raised in, desperate to find the only family she knows. Using clues from his past letters, she sets off for the sleepy town of Farrow but

In this queer retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne classic gothic story, Rappaccini's Daughter, a young woman is lured to a lush estate owned by a botanist who might be hiding dark secrets.

Cordelia Beecher is on the run. In search of her missing brother Edward, she has fled the oppressive charity school she was raised in, desperate to find the only family she knows. Using clues from his past letters, she sets off for the sleepy town of Farrow but everyone there claims to have never heard of Edward--not even the man he was supposedly working for as an apprentice.

With nowhere to go, Cordi turns to Lady Evangeline, a local botanist who owns the magnificent Edenfield estate. The benevolent lady of the manor has made it her mission to take young, often traumatized, women into her employ and protect them from man's world of wicked desires and deceits. Hired as a maid and companion to her enigmatic daughters, Prim and Briar, Cordi quickly settles into Edenfield. Even as her relationship with Briar blossoms, Cordi can't help but suspect that there are secrets in the estate...and when she stumbles across evidence that Edward was once there, she's determined to find answers.

Atmospheric, eerie, and thoroughly original, Her Wicked Roots will establish Tanya Pell as a "wickedly creepy" (Josh Winning, author of Heads Will Roll) and vital voice in horror.

Author: Tanya Pell
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 10/07/2025
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.21lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.91d
ISBN: 9781668087299


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 06/01/2025 pg. 7
Publishers Weekly 08/04/2025
Booklist 08/01/2025
BookPage 10/01/2025

About the Author
Tanya Pell is a narcoleptic horror author who drinks bougie coffee and lives in the American South. She is the author of Cicada and several short stories featured in anthologies like Mother Knows Best and OBSOLESCENCE.