Book cover of The Hollow Places

Book description

Recently divorced and staring down the barrel of moving back in with her parents, Carrot really needs a break. And a place to live. So when her Uncle Earl, owner of the eclectic Wonder Museum, asks her to stay with him in exchange for cataloguing the exhibits, of course she…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Hollow Places as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

T. Kingfisher's sense of humor works really well to offset the scary parts in her thrillers, and I enjoyed laughing at the banter between Kara and Simon even as I was worried about their survival in the increasingly dangerous alternate world they discover. I also loved the coziness of Uncle Earl's museum and how it contrasts with the world on the other side of the wall. There are a couple truly harrowing scenes in that secret world that are burned into my brain now! I also appreciated the reference to Algernon Blackwood's The Willows and the parts that reminded me…

The Hollow Places follows Kara, who has returned to her childhood home in North Carolina, as she takes over running her uncle’s museum of eccentricities after he’s injured. If you love nature-based horror as much as I do, this is a must-read–when a portal opens up in the museum, Kara goes through it into a willow-filled, marshy world of rivers and doors and terrifying, hungry creatures. She has to find a way to protect her home from this new world, which seems desperate to spill into hers and consume it, leaving it hollow. 

From Alison's list on The best woman-led horror novels.

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