“But wait a minute, young lady. How did you get into this picture? You see, we’re trying to prove a point about nature and beauty and… you’re not exactly helping, you know. Look at your hair. Look at that blouse. And the way that skirt hangs. And those soc

21. Water Shall Refuse Them – Lucie McKnight Hardy

A nice little month away in a small cottage in a small village in Wales to reconnect as a family, that’s what Nif’s parents (at least her dad, who isn’t regularly catatonic on Valium) think they need to get a new start after the death of Nif’s little sister Petra. But they seemingly only get into more weird and hazy trouble during the heat wave.

Nif is who we follow and she takes care of her brother Lorry (Petra’s twin) more so than either of her parents, at least until she meets Mally, the dude who lives next door and is an outsider in the small village as well as being a townie. His family has history there of being accused as witches who brought the plague to town back in the day. Also his mom is an alcoholic, so, the churchgoers of the community like to pretend no one else is an alcoholic and that they run the village. They also shake leaves in the direction of Mally and his mom’s house.

Nif also is following a creed she essentially made up to determine her morality and actions because her mom has decided no more church for them since Petra died and Nif likes ritual and balance. She’s murdered birds or hastened their deaths to get her relics, which is disturbing, and then turns out Mally is even more of a bird murderer than she is. That was very unpleasant to read about. Just finding skulls in the woods should be enough, that’s like an offering from nature to your oddity shelf, kids.

Anyway, Mally’s mom and Nif’s parents get entangled weirdly and Nif’s mom at least starts to come out of her fugue somewhat because of Mally’s mom’s potions and ideas about Petra’s ghost being there. And they’re all rejected by the churchies anyway, so they may as well hang out during the heat wave. It gets worse and sad and Nif figures out several things that are really offputting.

 

Mortemer lost one of his daughters when she was 11 months old and lived in a very warm, very humid place without resorting to bird murder for his creed, so it’s very possible.