About the Book
A hundred years ago, a witch sold her soul to save her life—but now she must stop the devil from collecting his due in this gripping and nuanced debut horror novel.
The devil was as my mother and grandmother had always described him: polite enough that you might forget yourself, so beautiful that you’d want to, so dangerous if you did.
Attacked by the man she desired and at the brink of death, Tess Wynne vowed she would do anything to live—and the devil heard her. Their bargain meant she would remain ageless and tethered to the land she nearly died on, at the edge of the isolated Appalachian town of Burrsville. Her home is now a wildlife sanctuary, and the spells she’s woven keep the land and community safe.
But then Tess rescues an orphaned fawn with unnatural appetites, and her instinct to protect this strange creature puts her at odds with Burrsville’s residents. And when a new pastor comes to town and begins chipping away at the trust she’s gained, threatening the sanctuary and its animals, the careful edges of Tess’s world begin to fray.
The devil whispers in her ear that he can save the sanctuary if she’ll just pay his price, and Tess must decide if she’ll trust in her own magic to save what she loves—or surrender to his will.
About the Author :
C. N. Vair (she/her) is a horror and dark fantasy author living in western New York. A former journalist, she’s interested in the history and haunted corners of small towns, the magic and malice of the natural world, and power in all its forms. When she’s not writing, you can find her wandering in woods and cemeteries, growing poisonous plants in her garden, or spending time with her husband and dogs.
Review :
“A lush, eerie, utterly spellbinding contemporary tale with all the makings of a classic, elegantly rendered by an exciting new talent. Exquisitely unsettling, hauntingly beautiful, and quietly profound. Beware, this book is pretty but it has sharp teeth."—Rachel Harrison, New York Times bestselling author of Play Nice
"An unflinching Appalachian horror and a book filled with bite, brutality, tenderness and evil. I loved it."—Lucy Rose, Sunday Times (UK) bestselling author of The Lamb
"C.N. Vair has cast such a spell over me with her bewitching debut, I doubt any other book will ever break it. Sell your soul, sign your name in the Devil's ledger, just do whatever you have to do to get your hands on The Devil Knows Her Name. Damnation never read this good."—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Devil Inside
“Vair’s debut is as visceral as it is hauntingly beautiful, capturing the horrors and wonders of nature, folkloric witchcraft, and desire with ease. Tess is an incredibly self-aware, complicated main character…the powers of the old gods mix with the terrors of the new in this impressive debut that will soak readers to the bone.”—Booklist (starred review)
"A compulsively readable, propulsive tale of what it means to bare your teeth and reclaim what belongs to you. Even if the cost is great. I didn’t want to leave Tess’ world and am still thinking about it days later. This is the sort of book I’ll revisit again and again."—Kristi DeMeester, author of Dark Sisters and Such a Pretty Smile
“On the surface, a tale about a woman who sells her life to the devil only to live to fight him for her ancestral land; at its core, a sleek, sure, thought-provoking meditation on our excessive use of natural resources and the eternally restorative power of nature that can still save us."—Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, author of The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru
"C.N. Vair conjures a world of blighted beauty, old magic, and terrible appetites. The Devil Knows Her Name is spellbinding, vicious, and impossible to look away from."—Daphne Fama, author of House of Monstrous Women
"A contemporary story that feels utterly timeless, and undeniably classic. Like an ageless and evergreen ghost of the Brothers Grimm, with all the teeth and tenderness that you could want from a story of a dark, desperate, and not-so-helpless woman that feels more human in her supernatural affinity than any of her mortal counterparts. This book is impossibly tender, despite the fact that it sinks its teeth into your heart and chews its way through by the time the story draws to its brilliant, heartbreaking end. Vair balances the joy and triumph of victory against all odds with the insurmountable sorrow of the love we feel for all the small creatures of the world who simply live to survive. There’s not a moment wasted in this book. Every word, every dark and lovely beat, is tantamount to Tess’s roses, and the brambles in the wood: gorgeous, and lush, but sharp enough to leave a mark that sticks with you long after the story is done. I felt genuinely breathless while reading, so engrossed in Vair’s evocative prose that I hardly could remember where I was. This book is sure to be a timeless classic, returned to again and again as a sterling example of what good folk horror should be."—Megan Bontrager, author of The Sea Hides Its Dead
