DARK SISTERS

Kristi DeMeester (she/her) is the author of Dark Sisters, Such a Pretty Smile, which was selected as a Georgia Author of the Year finalist, and Beneath. Her short fiction has appeared in publications such as The Dark, Black Static, multiple volumes of The Year’s Best Horror, Year’s Best Weird Fiction, and in her short fiction collection Everything That’s Underneath. She lives, writes, and makes horror-themed candles in Atlanta, Georgia.

“Dark Sisters is a righteous, eerie, triple helix feat of storytelling that’s as full of fury as it is, well, bewitching.” —Nat Cassidy, author of Mary and When the Wolf Comes Home

“A beautifully written, mesmerizing horror epic that sparks with compassion, insight, and righteous anger. This book is a bonfire, a beacon, a balm, a rallying cry. Fierce and unflinching, tender and profound, genuinely frightening, with swift pacing and a taught, deftly threaded narrative. Magnificent.” —Rachel Harrison, New York Times bestselling author of Play Nice

“Kristi DeMeester returns with Dark Sisters, a hauntingly beautiful exploration of revenge, feminine rage, and the secrets that bind women across time. Told in three equally eerie narratives, Dark Sisters reminds us that the past and present are inextricably linked—and in the end, the women won’t be silenced. Frightening, subversive, and provocative.” —Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author The Lost Apothecary and The London Séance Society

“Dark Sisters is a generational epic that burns through the centuries with pure literary fury. This is an incandescent novel of white-hot heat, of scorching reclamation, where every page blazes with Kristi DeMeester’s heart. The absolute rapture of this book cannot be denied because it can hardly be contained within its binding. I’m in awe.” —Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes

“Both a scathing criticism of purity culture and a suspenseful supernatural thriller full of willful women, wicked witches and malicious men, Dark Sisters is sure to enrage and empower in equal measure.” —Johanna Van Veen, author of Blood on Her Tongue and My Darling Dreadful Thing

1. Dark Sisters follows three central characters across three very different periods in history. Which character and time period resonated with you the most? Why do you think the author chose two adult women (and mothers) in the earliest two time periods, but a teenager in the timeline closest to the present? Why do you think the author chose to set the third timeline of the novel in the 2000s decade, rather than the present day?

2. Anne, Mary, and Camilla each rebel against the systems of misogyny used against women in their given times. What repression tactics are being used against women today? Do think women are more subject to violence and repression now, or in the past?

3. Who or what do the Dark Sisters represent? Are they a source of strength? A curse? Why do you think so?

4. Put yourself in Mary’s shoes. Would you have pursued a relationship with Sharon? Did you think things would escalate as seriously as they did? Why or why not?

5. Discuss the Purity Ball and the events that occur each year during it. Are there any traditions or occurrences in your town or community that have sinister or surprising underpinnings? What does it say about our current society that we still honor these traditions? Do you feel they should still be honored, explained, or done away with? Why or why not?

6. Did you predict where Anne and Florence’s relationship was going? Did the ending of their timeline surprise you?

7. How do you think Camilla was able to channel the power of the Dark Sisters at the end? Do you think she earned the right to wield this power? Why or why not?

8. The power of the Dark Sisters was taken from women and used against them, specifically by the men in this book. What else has been taken from women in society, and has it been used against them?

A letter from the author