Horror Annotation

 

Author: Jennifer McMahon

Title: My Darling Girl

Genre: Horror, Psychological Thriller

Publication Date: 2023

Number of Pages: 308

Geographical Setting: small-town Vermont, New York

Time Period: Present day

Plot Summary:

Christmas festivities are afoot in the O’Conner household when Allison receives an unexpected phone call from her mother’s dutiful assistant, Paul. Her mother, Mavis, has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Upon a quick visit to the New York hospital where Mavis is convalescing, Allison learns that her mother’s last wish is to spend her remaining days with her only daughter.  Allison is hesitant to entertain her mother’s wishes, as she fears her presence might reignite the terrible feelings of trauma she experienced as a child. She agrees, nonetheless, maintaining a guarded optimism.

When Mavis moves into the house, bringing her beloved stone which remains constantly at her bedside, strange and sinister things begin to happen. Allison suspects the demonic, but neither her husband nor her best friend, Penny, believes her. Things go from bad to worse as Allison lives out a nightmare all her own and makes a monumental effort to save her daughters from the nightmare she unknowingly invited into their home.

Subject Headings:

Psychological Fiction

Domestic Fiction

Thrillers - Fiction

Appeal:

Pacing – In one instant, the reader feels calm and safe. Then, something unexpected happens and jolts the reader into frightened attentiveness. The anticipation of the next startling incident keeps readers turning pages. Saricks notes, “By creating such an erratically and unexpectedly changeable pace, authors capture the essence of living in a nightmare” (2018, p. 244).

Tone – A dark, menacing, and claustrophobic tone is maintained throughout, enhanced by the setting, the month of December, the darkest month of the year. The author skillfully employs macabre descriptions of events and places to establish the dark tone that permeates the novel.

Story line – Does not contain the “explicit scenes and themes of sexuality and violence” (p. 239) ubiquitous to many horror novels; features the common horror trope of possession. The surface level horror – the demonic and evil – run alongside the protagonist’s fears and anxieties as she questions the reality of what she is experiencing whilst family and friends question her sanity (her husband encourages her to see a therapist and then to rest at an institution). The novel perfectly illustrates the “incomplete consummation” (p. 241) – there is no neat and fulfilling ending here. The evil continues even after the book ends, and the reader is suspended in uneasiness.

Characterization – Readers experience the villain through the protagonist’s point of view. Allison O’Conner is broken and vulnerable but seems to have her life together before evil enters and calls her stability into question. There is a point in the story where it appears she has overcome the evil, but that is simply an illusion. The villain of the story is believable and elicits fear from the reader, and its appearances are often “jarring and unexpected” (p. 243).

Language/Style – Use of profanity in the novel “transports readers into the emotional heart and eerie setting of the novel” (p. 242) but is not employed in excess. McMahon uses italicized phrases repeatedly throughout on a single line (such as, “That’s not Mavis”) to point to the demonic. The book contains two “chapters” (not labeled as such) which reveal important information to the reader that the protagonist is not privy to but is realized by her little by little as the story unfolds.

 3 terms that best describe this book:

Sinister, claustrophobic, jarring

 Similar Authors and Works:

Fiction Titles

Both books deal with past strained mother-daughter relationships and involve a “haunted” item. The tone of “White Horse” shares the creepy, menacing, and suspenseful qualities of McMahon’s novel.

 

This psychological suspense shares plot details similar to “My Darling Girl.” In both books, a previously abusive mother moves in with her adult daughter which leads to significant problems in the life of the latter.  Both books explore childhood trauma and family secrets and share a creepy, disturbing, and suspenseful tone with intensifying pacing.

 

This horror novel deals with haunting by a demon and a woman’s battle against evil. Themes are similar to McMahon’s and both books share a creepy and menacing tone with a compelling and rich writing style.

Nonfiction Titles:

This nonfiction title might appeal to those readers who are interested in the “demonic” component of McMahon’s horror novel. Allison, the book’s protagonist, spends a lot of time researching demons and possession. This nonfiction title could have been easily among the literature Allison was researching.

 

“My Darling Girl” contains several references to amulets and other ways humans go about protecting themselves from evil spirits. Allison has a brief conversation with Carmen, the owner of the “occult store” in town, who tells her how to “bind” a demon. Her best friend Penny offers her a necklace with a special rock pendant which disquiets the demon. This nonfiction read would appeal to those readers interested in how peoples and cultures have protected themselves from evil spirits throughout history.

This poignant memoir will appeal to those readers who might want to delve deeper into the themes of alcoholic parents and traumatic childhoods.

 

References

Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J. G. (2018). The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction: Third edition.   

               American Library Association.