My Darling Dreadful Thing

A Novel

By: Johanna van Veen

Narrated by: Jess Nesling

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Goodreads Most Anticipated Horror of 2024

Spirits are drawn to salt, be it blood or tears.

Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the light of Roos' life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos' backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection.

Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable.

Then, someone is murdered.

Poor, alone, and with a history of 'hysterics', Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she'll have to prove who—or what—is at fault or lose everything she holds dear.

"A Sapphic seance of preternatural proportions, My Darling Dreadful Thing summons a stunning new literary voice to be reckoned with. Johanna van Veen reaches beyond the veil to conjure up a gothic shocker like no other."—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters

©2024 Johanna van Veen (P)2024 Tantor

Sapphic ghosts? Count me in.

From page 1 I was captivated. The relationship between these women crescendos early but builds to a darling love I will think of often.

Sapphic ghost

Beautiful, heartbreaking and haunting. Engrossed throughout the story, beautiful depictions of love, grief, death and what it means to live.

Everything about this book was exceptional. I did not expect what happens!

I would love to see a series with this type of storyline. Maybe not this specific one but others with spirit companions.

Tragically beautiful

I'm a sucker for a good ghost story, and this delivers on that. I'm also a sucker for a good sapphic story, which this also delivers on. It left me heartbroken, but not in a bad way. I'm going to revisit this many times I think.

loved the interpretation of spirits in this book.

I was drawn in from the very start and devoured this book. The story was just so fascinating and the narration was perfect.

Amazing a beautiful story

An amazing gothic mystery novel. I had only a little bit of an idea of what the novel would be about but if you're a fan of Anne Rice or any other classic gothic novels you will love it.

I took a chance on something outside my wheelhouse and was incredibly surprised!!!!

Details both introspective and pleasantly articulated, without the overbearing nuances some authors waste pages on, pulled me into this story immediately. The author didn't hesitate, through long winded narratives, to deliver the odd circumstances of the main character right away, quickly giving her immediate depth. Changes in perspective with forward jumping glimpses into consequence offered another layer toward the story's climax. I usually delve into the realms of science fiction or fantasy with a splash of horror every now and then, so this wasn't precisely outside my purview but I was surprised how quickly I became engrossed in this book. I very highly recommend "My Darling Dreadful Thing" to anyone looking for a good read and/or listen!

Bleak and Heartwarming

The narrator did a lovely job. The story was excellent. I enjoyed very much. Would recommend

Heartbreakingly beautiful

This isn’t a horror story, but a love story. I really enjoyed how the author portrays spirits and how it is they come about, the companionship, relationships between human and spirit. The narrator done a wonderful job with all the characters. The author did such a great job as well with her descriptions of everything that I felt like I was part of the story.

The main character was written so well.

Pleasantly dark. The plot of this book is very well written. The narrator does a great job. I will look for more of her readings.