Publishers Weekly Praise for MR. WICKER

The first time anything of mine has been reviewed in Publishers Weekly, and it’s a good one. Thanks so much to the reviewer for the kind words. I’m glad you enjoyed it!

 

Mr. Wicker

Maria Alexander. Raw Dog Screaming, $14.95

trade paper (236p) ISBN 978-1-935738-66-4

Convincing in its haunting whimsy,

Alexander’s emotionally complex faerie

tale comments on grim reality with chilling

metaphors. A suicide attempt leads

failed horror novelist Alicia Baum to the

Library of Lost Childhood Memories and

Mr. Wicker, a sinister man who arouses

both her passion and her disgust, before

she returns to life. She ends up in the care

of Dr. Farron, a gentle psychologist researching

the concept of bogeymen. Alicia

strives to recover missing childhood

memories as increasingly violent accidents

befall her friends and family, and

she grows more and more convinced that

Mr. Wicker is not only real but intimately

connected to her past. Alexander (By

the Pricking) makes the impossible feel

probable, anchoring fantasy in everyday

struggles. Alicia’s spitfire defiance and

charming vulnerability, and the eventual

romance between her and Dr. Farron, inject

warmth into chilling encounters between

a world that shouldn’t exist and

undependable reality. Illness, loss, and

heartache color this splendid, bittersweet

ode to the ghosts of childhood.