The Summer That Melted Everything: A must-read gothic tragedy

During the summer of 1984 in Breathed, Ohio, Autopsy Bliss invites the devil to town—and the devil actually shows up in the guise of an African American boy named Sal. Sal is befriended by Fielding Bliss, Autopsy’s youngest son and narrator of Tiffany McDaniel’s debut novel, The Summer That Melted Everything.

When I picked up this innocent-looking book, I had no idea I was about to be emotionally destroyed and equally gobsmacked by the quality of writing. McDaniel’s prose is like warm maple s...