Devils of Forsythe

In her second novel, Quillen deBruney (Child of June) plunges readers into the American Steelbelt of 1916, a world choked by smoke and prejudice, where trauma is mistaken for madness and the line between protector and predator constantly blurs.

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When August and Edith Blanden are murdered and their youngest daughter, Cora, is discovered at the scene, blood‑soaked and catatonic, the police have all the proof they need: They arrest the girl on the spot.

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As the press sensationalizes the case and Cora’s sister, Lydia, feeds the city’s hunger for scapegoats, attorney Ada Reilly works to uncover the truth concealed behind Cora’s vacant stares. As Ada navigates Cora’s reticence, Lydia’s evasiveness, and a city roiled by nativist violence, the Blandens’ housemaid—a young woman whose connection to Cora runs deeper than anyone openly acknowledges—becomes her guide to the family’s un-raveling: the zealotry that governed the Blanden household, the sadness that clings to Cora like a death shroud . . . and the demon Cora claims stalked her in the night.