Bittersweet in the Hollow

Chapter One

Here s what I know for sure: A cast iron skillet must be seasoned with lard. Pickling and preserving are best done during a waning moon. And secrets buried deep never stay that way.

I plant myself in front of the box fan wedged into the window and lift the hem of my shirt so the air can move across my skin. The Harvest Moon was once a grist mill, and its thick, old limestone walls help cool the inside. But we serve breakfast and lunch six days a week, and there s no escaping the heat once it really gets cooking.

Gran eyes me from the opposite side of the small kitchen where she s prepping food for tomorrow night s festival. She runs the blade of her knife between the ribs of a side of pork she was given for curing the Thompson baby of colic. Breaking through the bone, dismantling it piece by piece, her hands never pause, never falter, even with her gaze on me. She tosses strips of meat into a bowl of spicy marinade, her own secret recipe, and the bones into a roasting pan for broth. Nothing ever wasted.

My sisters and I grew up in this kitchen with its stainless steel tables, white walls, and faint scent of bleach. We ve been rolling out biscuit dough, scrubbing salt into cast iron, and sneaking spoonfuls of strawberry moonshine jam from the time we could barely see over the counter. So I know what Gran is thinking: Standing here next to the fan could be construed as idleness, something she cannot abide, even if it s only June and already ninety degrees in the shade.

A bead of sweat slides down the back of my neck, drawn out by the humidity that s been hunkered down around the base of the mountains for weeks now. I once read that there s a correlation between an increase in temperature and in brutality. That hotter summers are violent ones. I don t know if that s true, but with the way the air sits now, thick and heavy, everyone s temper seems set to boil.

At the back of the kitchen, Rowan, my older sister by eleven months,

Kate Pearsall is a creative thinker, an award-winning copywriter, and a storyteller. She has a degree in business and public relations and has written for magazines and newspapers. Her debut novel, Bittersweet in the Hollow, was inspired in part by a childhood listening to her mom s stories about growing up in the Appalachian Mountains and visiting family in West Virginia.

Praise for Bittersweet in the Hollow

A Kirkus Best YA Book of 2023
An Indie Next Pick

"This multifaceted book successfully manages to be many things: a satisfying paranormal mystery, a family narrative examining the damage of secrets kept and the ways in which silence allows violence to grow, and a paean to the immense Appalachian forest and the small communities nestled between the trees. Luscious prose and a compelling setting make the book hard to put down. . . . Complex, well-realized, and engrossing." Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Pearsall pulls on elements of Appalachian lore around Mothman but makes the creature and its origin uniquely her own, setting up Faustian deals and fateful tragedies that build tension and surely break hearts (both of characters and readers alike). The pace is impeccable . . . [D]eliciously atmospheric . . . Mainstays of the supernatural genres are elevated by Linden s poignant narration." BCCB, starred review

The writing is tense and suspenseful with each new discovery bringing more questions. VERDICT: A compelling story as the James women struggle to deal with their own secrets, and in the process, reveal some the darkest ones in town. A first purchase. School Library Journal, starred review

"The Appalachian witch book of my dreams! I wanted to crawl inside Bittersweet In The Hollow and live with the James women. Haunted golden boys, deeply nuanced, magical girls, and the threat of something lurking in the woods kept me turning the page long after dark. Pearsall's debut is positively spellbinding." Sasha Peyton Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Witch Haven

"Bittersweet in the Hollow is a story rich in tradition and lore. Let the James sisters lead you deep into a world where beauty and evil hold hands in the shadows. Summer storms darken the skies and