The Seventh Sister - by Dawn Kurtagich (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From the author of The Madness comes a haunting folk horror fable of lost sisters, old gods, and the terrible power of belief left to rot in the woods.

After the tragic death of their parents, the seven Ward sisters are sent to live with their grandmother on the remote forest island of Beltane, a place suspended between time and shadow. What begins as an attempt to mend their fractured lives soon twists into a waking nightmare, where grief bleeds into childhood fantasy and ancient rites awaken a dark and eerie devotion to Daudir, the Forgotten God of the Wood.

When another cruel tragedy strikes, the sisters are left to fend for themselves, learning to live with death as a constant, lurking presence. The fragile world they've carved splinters beneath the weight of isolation, and the forest around them grows restless...

Years later, a cryptic letter summons the surviving sisters home. Drawn back into the wild embrace of their dangerous faith, they confront a truth more terrible than memory, and the dreadful secret that waits, silent and sentient, in the depths of the all-seeing trees.

This lyrical and haunting folk horror explores how trauma can root itself in the soil of childhood, how love can curdle into obsession, and how gods, especially forgotten ones, never stay buried for long. But at its heart, it's about sisters: how they fracture, survive, return, and reckon with what they've made together.

Review Quotes

"The Seventh Sister is a raw, primal, spore-choked love letter to the mysteries of the forest. Kurtagich's writing is smooth and sinuous as liquid gold, her descriptions imbued with a horrible beauty. Equal parts terrifying and heart wrenching, this gothic folk horror fairy tale is something to be savored."

--Viggy Parr Hampton, author of The Rotting Room

"A sensory fever dream that's like Yellowjackets meets We Have Always Lived in the Castle. This is easily my favorite Dawn Kurtagich book yet--a piercingly emotional and atmospheric folk horror that perfectly captures the love and ache of sisterhood. This story crawled inside me and took root, and I'm certain it will never let go."

--Josh Winning, author of Burn the Negative

"Hauntingly beautiful and delightfully unsettling, The Seventh Sister is a masterclass on folk horror. Kurtagich lures you deep into the forest island of Beltane and keeps you there with lichen-covered fingers until you can almost taste the mold and mushrooms. Dark, enchanting, and powerful, The Seventh Sister will have you whispering 'All hail Daudir, ' just to be safe."

--Saratoga Schaefer, author of Serial Killer Support Group and Trad Wife

"Stitched together with earthy, primitive magic and the hum of raw dread, The Seventh Sister brims with verdant darkness. Eloquently beautiful and harrowing, in equal measure. Kurtagich's sisters bewitch completely."

--Paulette Kennedy, bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain

"A beautiful, twisted folk horror woven from bits of bone, roots, and trauma. The Seventh Sister spreads through you like an invasive ivy, leaving behind the scent of rot and loamy earth and a dreadful longing to belong."

--Tanya Pell, author of Her Wicked Roots

"Kurtagich's The Seventh Sister is a spectacular, gruesome, and compellingly woven tale of sisterly love and folk horror. A story of forests, faith, and feral girls that unfolds elegantly and irresistibly. A compulsive read."

--Angela "A. G." Slatter, award-winning author of The Cold House

"Eerie and propulsive, The Seventh Sister masterfully weaves sisterhood and folk horror into a heartbreaking, twisted tale. All hail Daudir."

--Tatiana Schlote-Bonne, author of The Mean Ones

"The Seventh Sister creeps into your brain as steadily as moss over stone--I stayed up way too late to finish this gorgeous, grotesque story of sisterhood and survival."

--Hannah Whitten, New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of For the Wolf and The Foxglove King

"Dawn Kurtagich has rendered a tender effigy of a novel, a beguiling totem teetering between belief and mania, faith and fury, horror and absolute wonder. The Seventh Sister isn't just a beautiful book--it's a bible. Read it and share in our awe."

--Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes

"Wilder Girls meets The Wicker Man in this folk horror tale of sisterhood, isolation and decay. Lyrical and beautifully rotten, The Seventh Sister will gnaw at your nerves while dragging you deep into the woods where feral girls summon ancient gods of their own making. As ever, Dawn Kurtagich has created a stunning story that is utterly consuming, raw and impossible to look away from." --Kat Ellis, author of The Devouring Light

"Dark, gorgeous, and gruesome, The Seventh Sister blends the dreamlike nostalgia of youth with the terror of vivid childhood nightmares in this fairytale for the feral. Mysterious, magical, and absolutely not to be missed!" --Kelsea Yu, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of Demon Song

"The perfect mix of feral and darkly whimsical, The Seventh Sister is an eerily beautiful tale that will fascinate, disturb and delight. An entrancing folk horror of sisterhood with a dark side." --CG Drews, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hazelthorn and Don't Let The Forest In