The Moonflowers

A Novel

By: Abigail Rose-Marie

Narrated by: Abigail Reno

In a powerful and poignant novel, an artist unravels her mysterious family history and its generations of women who depended on each other to survive.

Tig Costello has arrived in Darren, Kentucky, commissioned to paint a portrait honoring her grandfather Benjamin. His contributions to the rural Appalachian town and his unimpeachable war service have made him a local hero. But to Tig, he’s a relative stranger. To find out more about him, Tig wants to talk to the person who knew her grandfather best: Eloise Price, the woman who murdered him fifty years ago.

Still confined to a state institution, Eloise has a lifetime of stories to tell. She agrees to share them all—about herself, about Tig’s enigmatic grandmother, and about the other brave and desperate women who passed through Benjamin’s orbit. Most revealing of all is the truth about Whitmore Halls, the mansion on the hill that was home to triage, rescue, death, and one inevitable day that changed Eloise’s life forever.

As Tig begins to piece together the puzzle of her mysterious family tree, it sends her spiraling toward a confrontation with her own painful past—and a reconciliation with all its heartrending secrets.

©2024 by Abigail Rose-Marie. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“The Moonflowers is a stunning debut novel fueled by troubling secrets and the strength and extraordinary courage of Appalachian women. Abigail Rose-Marie writes with emotional intensity, reminding us that much has changed in our world but the challenges that women face are still the same. A fascinating and necessary tale.”—Dinty W. Moore, author of Between Panic & Desire

“Through its powerful braid of weaving together women’s voices across generations, The Moonflowers shows us that the past is always present, that buried secrets will find their light, and that hope lies in the fierce collective of showing up for one another when all else fails. In this compelling debut novel, Abigail Rose-Marie has offered us an absolute gift of a book that is as moving as it is necessary for our current times.”—Anne Valente, author of Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down

“When the young Michigan artist Antigone Costello receives an invitation to small-town Kentucky to paint a portrait celebrating her grandfather, she finds a region haunted by the past. Tales of murder, betrayal, and escape emerge, along with the hidden history of heroic women and the secrets of her own family. Read The Moonflowers—a novel as dark and moody as the deep woods where it’s set, yet ultimately inspiring.”—Lawrence Coates, author of Camp Olvido

Main Character's Name Mispronounced!

"Ant-uh-gone"? OMG. This is 7th grade Sophocles. It's "an-TIG-uh-nee" for crying out loud. Ridiculous! This was distracting every time it was pronounced.

Excellent

Excellent, timely story so well told!!! Can’t wait for her next book! Keep up the incredible story telling.

Great story!

Narrator was excellent and the story was riveting. Good read. Will be one of my favorites

Finally! A book with an ending that feels complete!

This book is beautifully written and this performance is lyric and soothing. Loved it: the stories within stories; the descriptions; the strong women themselves. Fabulous.

Oof.

This was hard to get through. The topics covered are very prevalent today. Be warned, this book will probably cause you discomfort.

timely story. narrator can't pronounce the main character's name and it is maddening

brilliant audio needs to edit their narrators. anti-gone is an unforgivable error. imagine if the narrator for harry potter pronounced it hermi-own.

the story was good, but honestly probably better without audio just because it's so dumb that someone paid to read an entire story didn't think to look up pronunciation for the main character.

Love love the narrator!!

great story! the description puts u entirely in the scene! the narrator was awesome and loved her voices!

Women’s strength no matter the circumstances

This book was recommended to me. I’m so thankful it was. This story will stick with me forever.

the way the women looked after each other and kept their secrets

I enjoyed the entire story. learning about each woman and their own stody witin the story.

Women desperate for help

I found the ending of the story to be quite intriguing. It held my attention.