The Devil Knows Her Name

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.“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

"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 DeadC. 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.