House of Cotton
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3.5 • 20 Ratings
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
A stunning, contemporary Black southern gothic novel about what it means to be a poor woman in the God- fearing south. The perfect audiobook if you loved The Other Black Girl and Luster.
“Every page, every scene, every sentence of Monica Brashears’s debut novel House of Cotton dazzles and surprises. An intense, enthralling, and deeply satisfying read!” —Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
"A new, dazzling, and essential American voice." —George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo
"Narrator Jeanette Illidge gives voice to Magnolia as she tackles racial, religious, and power dynamics with strength while still allowing her tenderness and fragility to show. Brashear weaves an intriguing, if wandering, novel, full of twisty turns and mysteries. The gloomy atmosphere is oppressive, felt strongly through the characters and narration."- Library Journal
Magnolia Brown is nineteen years old, broke, and effectively an orphan. She feels stuck and haunted: by her overdrawn bank account, her predatory landlord, and the ghost of her late grandmother Mama Brown.
One night, while working at her dead-end gas station job, a mysterious, slick stranger named Cotton walks in and offers to turn Magnolia’s luck around with a lucrative “modeling” job at his family’s funeral home. She accepts. But despite things looking up, Magnolia’s problems fatten along with her wallet. When Cotton’s requests become increasingly weird, Magnolia discovers there’s a lot more at stake than just her rent.
Sharp as a belted knife, this sly social commentary cuts straight to the bone. House of Cotton will keep you mesmerized until the very end.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Monica Brashears’ stunning debut novel—a story of poverty, ghosts, and being Black in the American South—is sure to get people talking. Nineteen-year-old Magnolia Brown is barely getting by in Knoxville, Tennessee. Everyone in her family is either estranged or dead, her sleazy landlord wants to swap rent for sex, and she’s haunted by the ghost of her grandmother. And when Magnolia accepts a creepy job from a local funeral director, things get really weird. Brashears ladles in enough vibrant local color to make you feel like a Knoxville native, and her dialogue flows so easily, you’d swear you overheard it at the supermarket rather than in an audiobook. And that’s before you even consider the story’s incisive ideas about race, gender, and religion. The audio format elevates this novel, thanks to Jeanette Illidge’s superb narration, including rich, textured character voices. House of Cotton is a survivor’s story that speaks volumes about the human spirit.
Customer Reviews
Don’t Be Fooled By The Cover
I had a difficult time getting through this book. I loved the imagery and writing; the author has a lovely style and voice. But the characters and plot were so scattered and disjointed that I just couldn’t invest. Overall I found it to be a very strange book that seemed more dedicated to evoking visceral reactions than actually developing a complete and cohesive story.