Another in the
series of demonstrating how you can both approach a book in many ways and that
when you create a display or list, it’s not necessary to stress over how well
an individual book fits a theme. These are marketing tools for your backlist
and getting them attention will help your overall circulation. Today, we are
going to work with a debut - This
Cursed House by Del Sandeen. From
the publisher:
In
this Southern gothic horror debut, a young Black woman abandons her life in
1960s Chicago for a position with a mysterious family in New Orleans, only to
discover the dark truth: They’re under a curse, and they think she can break
it.
In
the fall of 1962, twenty-seven-year-old Jemma Barker is desperate to escape her
life in Chicago—and the spirits she has always been able to see. When she
receives an unexpected job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans, she
accepts, thinking it is her chance to start over.
But
Jemma discovers that the Duchon family isn’t what it seems. Light enough to
pass as white, the Black family members look down on brown-skinned Jemma. Their
tenuous hold on reality extends to all the members of their eccentric clan,
from haughty grandmother Honorine to beautiful yet inscrutable cousin Fosette.
And soon the shocking truth comes out: The Duchons are under a curse. And they
think Jemma has the power to break it.
As
Jemma wrestles with the gift she’s run from all her life, she unravels deeper
and more disturbing secrets about the mysterious Duchons. Secrets that stretch
back over a century. Secrets that bind her to their fate if she fails.
This is a great
book to center in a display or list because it’s a debut which would benefit
from the spotlight.
Where to start?
There are many options even in this description from the publisher. We have:
Southern novels
Gothic fiction
Southern gothic
Fiction about black women
Fiction about young adults
1960’s
Chicago
New Orleans
Spirits/ghosts
Starting over
Moving/relocating
Tenuous hold on reality
Eccentric families
Family secrets
Curses
Most of these
are themes that would lend themselves to titles that are outside of horror. I
would bet that at least a few of them are themes that you could fill a display
with using the titles in your collection. Adding non-fiction and DVDs are encouraged.
At the very least, most people who read fiction will pick up biographies and
memoirs so keep that in mind.
To get you
started, I have put some book lists below. Have fun creating your own book
display with one book as inspiration!
Decay, Rot, and Plenty
of Hauntings: The Best Gothic Novels of 2024 – Crime Reads
So
You Want to Read Southern Gothic: Here’s Where to Start – Penguin Random
House
Best
Southern Gothic Literature – Goodreads Listopia
Fiction
Set in Chicago – Chicago Public Library
New
Orleans: A City Whose Truth is Stranger (and Better) than Fiction – New
York Public Library
7
Novels About Very Dysfunctional Families – Electric Lit
The
5 Best Books About Dysfunctional Rich Families – Crime Reads
10
Unputdownable Books About Big Family Secrets – Celadon Books
23 Books
with Family Secrets We Still Can’t Believe – Epic Reads
Five
Books Where Curses Are Magically Inherited – Reactor
