The Sleeping Sisters
A Novel
$50.70
- Hardcover
416 pages
- Release Date
20 October 2026
Summary
A threatened mother and a relentless detective collide when a series of murders awaken something long buried in the New Mexican desert in this mesmerizing novel of literary horror, perfect for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Stephen Graham Jones.
“A marvelously strange story of murder and motherhood… . I have no idea how to describe what I just read, but it was really, really cool.” -T. Kingfisher, author of What Moves the Dead
A mother’s love is the oldest curse…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780316581554 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0316581550 |
| Author: | Jennifer Givhan |
| Publisher: | Little, Brown & Company |
| Imprint: | Little, Brown & Company |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 416 |
| Release Date: | 20 October 2026 |
| Weight: | 300g |
| Dimensions: | 35mm x 159mm x 241mm |
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Critics Review
“The Sleeping Sisters is a hypnotic work of feminist literary horror. Dark and soulful, this novel has its own unique brand of electrical charge, kaleidoscopic in scope and singular in its voice. A thrilling and heartbreaking ride from the first page, Givhan lyrically draws us into the emotional wounds, obsessions, grief, guilt, and trauma of complex characters living in the Southwest. Givhan is a fierce talent, a master storyteller who writes with a pristineness that makes this novel unforgettable. The Sleeping Sisters is as feral as it is hypnotic.”
–Nina McConigley, author of How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder“A folkloric masterpiece. Givhan winds a story as supple and horrifying as a bloody silk ribbon, and the result is electrifying. Part ode to the monstrosity of matrescence and part invective against injustice, The Sleeping Sisters is a story from which I could not look away. I loved every page.”–Taylor Grothe, author of Lethal Kiss
“A powerful, absorbing novel. I devoured it, unable to look away from its horrors. Most importantly, I didn’t want to. An astonishing work of reclamation and remembrance for the women and girls who haunt, and for the ones who refuse to let them down.”–Natalia Theodoridou, author of Sour Cherry
“A scary story told over campfires is taken to new heights in The Sleeping Sisters, part horror, part mystery with stunning prose that will linger long after the last page is turned. With compassion and care, Jennifer Givhan expertly weaves Chicana and Indigenous folklore with real crimes and ignored issues – an absolute must-read.” –Vanessa Lillie, bestselling author of Blood Sisters
“A twisty, of-the-moment supernatural thriller, equal parts magical realism and police procedural. Givhan writes with a vibrancy and absolute surety.”–Keith Rosson, author of Coffin Moon
“Simultaneously lyrical, propulsive, and brimming with heart, The Sleeping Sisters gifts us with prose so sharp that it cuts to the bone. Folklore is alive in these pages, following richly drawn characters through the blood that connects them. In sharing these stories, these voices, Givhan works her roots on us–and I gladly succumbed to her spell.”–Carson Faust, author of If the Dead Belong Here
“A haunting mystery and a fierce ode to motherhood, written indelibly in sandstone and basalt. It will lodge in your heart like a cactus spine.”–Nat Cassidy, author of When the Wolf Comes Home and Mary
“A gorgeously written mystery that kept me up at night and left me thinking of its characters in the days to come. It’s everything I love in a novel – a wily mystery, blood-stirring Indigenous folklore, and complicated ties to land and family. I devoured this novel; I was swept along pages brimming with suspense, where no one is who they seem. The Sleeping Sisters has a permanent space on my bookshelf!”–Laurie L. Dove, author of Mask of the Deer Woman
“The Sleeping Sisters is cataclysmic. Givhan’s thunderous voice will break you open and etch itself into your bones. This book is an enthralling and ferocious page-turner with lyrical prose that interweaves gripping tension with the visceral ache of motherhood.”–Rios de la Luz, author of Itzá
“House of Spirits meets The Wire in this marvelously strange story of murder and motherhood; a gloriously surreal novel in which magical realism meets police procedural. Jenn Givhan twists your brain and leaves you looking at the world differently for a long time afterward. I have no idea how to describe what I just read, but it was really, really cool.”–T. Kingfisher, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of What Moves the Dead
“Jennifer Givhan brings a poet’s ear for language to a propulsive mystery-thriller, and the combination is remarkable. In The Sleeping Sisters, she fuses lyrical horror with genuine narrative drive, delivering unexpected twists while maintaining control of her prose. Drawing on the unresolved West Mesa murders and the myth of the headless woman, the novel is grounded in Albuquerque with intelligence, specificity, and deep respect for place. A brilliant book by a writer who understands both language and plot.”–Alisa Valdes, author of Hollow Beasts
“Jennifer Givhan’s The Sleeping Sisters is as brutal as it is beautiful. When teenage girls are found decapitated in Albuquerque, one mother begins to fear the violence haunting her community may be rooted in her own bloodline. What unfolds is part crime novel, part fever dream, part reckoning with inherited trauma and religious hypocrisy. Givhan writes with a raw, lyrical intensity most writers spend a lifetime trying to unlock, turning myth and memory into something sharp, unsettling, and, at times, devastating. This is a bold, haunting novel about generational violence and the women who refuse to stay buried.” –Carter Wilson, USA Today bestselling author of Tell Me What You Did
“A chilling exploration of motherhood, murder, grief, and deep secrets, this book further solidifies Jennifer Givhan’s place amongst contemporary literary greats. Simply put: The Sleeping Sisters is a masterpiece of Southwestern Gothic fiction.”–Pedro Iniguez, author of Fever Dreams of a Parasite
“The sun-drenched brutality of Jennifer Givhan’s The Sleeping Sisters burns right through its readers’ retinas, blinding in its savage humanity and voracious heartache. This haunting elegy to twice told tales–and our mothers who tell them–is absolutely volcanic, ready to erupt on your bookshelf if you don’t read it straight away.”–Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
Praise for Salt Bones
“A mystery spiked with horror, magical realism, and stunning prose, this book cast a spell on me.”
–Ana Reyes, author of The House in the Pines
“A triumph. One of the most masterful marriages of horror, mystery, thriller, and literary writing.” –The Los Angeles Times
“Givhan mesmerizes… . Weaving folklore, mystery, and horror into a breathtaking tapestry. It’s a stunning examination of generational trauma.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Givhan perfectly balances the supernatural with human themes of grief and love. A timely novel that deals with the treatment of Latina women. For fans of character-driven suspense and the magical realism of Isabel Allende, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Victor LaValle.”–Library Journal (starred review)
“Jennifer Givhan’s lyricism and rich storytelling immediately snatch you into this irresistible world of secrets, grief, and horror.”–Tananarive Due, author of The Reformatory
Jennifer Givhan
Jennifer Givhan is a Mexican American and Indigenous poet and novelist from the Southwestern desert. She is the recipient of poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and PEN/Rosenthal Emerging Voices.
Givhan holds a Master’s degree from California State University Fullerton and a Master of Fine Arts from Warren Wilson College. She is the author of five full-length poetry collections and the novels River Woman, River Demon, Jubilee, Trinity Sight, and Salt Bones.
She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her family.
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