In the realm of horror, family dysfunction is not an unusual theme. Ghosts and haunted houses may be stand-ins for trauma or violence in the past. Danie Shokoohi’s debut novel, GLASS GIRLS, joins the ranks of authors exploring both the metaphysical and the familial with a story of abuse, recovery and magic. 

Isabeau and her older sister, Bronwyn, live in a camper with their mother, Gisele. Gisele supports them with her Tarot card readings and instructs them in the ways of their inherited magic. Their life is hard but not without some beautiful and loving moments. When Gisele meets Frank, a man she saw in her own future, the three settle with him in a suburban home, and he becomes the caring father the girls never had. As the sisters come into their own gifts --- a tracking ability for Bronwyn and mediumship for Isabeau --- Gisele ramps up her efforts to mold and train them, which are generally harsh, cruel and abusive. Things get even worse, especially for Isabeau, when her brother, Killian, is born. 

"GLASS GIRLS is a powerfully told story and a promising debut. It’s a psychologically interesting tale of loss and suffering, as well as second chances, forgiveness and healing."

The women in the Glass family are at the mercy of a terrible curse: Male children die before their 19th birthdays, and no magic or endeavors can save them. Gisele saw her four brothers die, and she never intended to have a son. However, the ultrasound was wrong, and the third daughter she was planning for turned out to be a boy. After Killian was born, Gisele was inconsolable. So Isabeau and Bronwyn, along with Frank, do their best to raise Killian with love and care. As it becomes increasingly apparent that Isabeau is an incredibly strong medium, Gisele creates a terrible plan to ensure that Killian will live forever, sharing a life and a body with his sister. 

All of the action in the home that Isabeau and Bronwyn call the “Little House” takes place over 10 years ago. Today, Isabeau is Alice, and she has been totally estranged from her family for years. She lives with her boyfriend, Eli, himself dealing with trauma, who knows almost nothing about her past (or even a huge secret she is currently keeping from him) and with whom she is excited to build a future. When Bronwyn shows up, Alice is dragged back into the dark depths of her childhood and the pain she suffered at the hands of her mother and with the death of her brother. But Bronwyn needs her, and Alice cannot ignore her sister’s desperation or sorrow at having lost a teenage daughter. To save Bronwyn’s other daughter, and to rebuild a relationship with Bronwyn, Alice leaves Eli and returns to the Little House to confront the ghosts --- actual and metaphoric --- that live there. 

Shokoohi’s narrative moves between the two timelines, revealing Alice’s past even as readers see the consequences in the present. Every character in this book is deeply hurting, which makes for an emotionally challenging read. There is violence, child abuse, death, eating disorders, self-harm and more, all of which Shokoohi takes on without blinking. The magic is less clearly articulated as the Glass family works with herbs, crystals and incantations that come across as somewhere between Wiccan practices, old-fashioned Spiritualism, and New Age beliefs.

Horrific but not scary, GLASS GIRLS is a powerfully told story and a promising debut. It’s a psychologically interesting tale of loss and suffering, as well as second chances, forgiveness and healing.