Gothictown

By: Emily Carpenter

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

In an immersive Southern Gothic with echoes of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, a restauranteur lured by pandemic-era incentives moves her family to a seemingly idyllic small town in Georgia, only to discover a darkness lurking beneath the Southern hospitality and sun-dappled streets …

Welcome to gentle Juliana, where you can have it all … if you pay the price.

The email that lands in Billie Hope’s inbox seems like a gift from the universe. For $100, she can purchase a spacious Victorian home in Juliana, Georgia, a small town eager to boost its economy in the wake of the pandemic. She can leave behind her cramped New York City rental and the painful memories of shuttering her once thriving restaurant and start over with her husband and her daughter. Plus, she’ll get a business grant to open a new restaurant in a charming riverside community laden with opportunity. It seems like a dream come true … or a devil’s bargain.

*A Publishers Marketplace BUZZ BOOKS Selection*

A few phone calls and one hurried visit later, and Billie, Peter, and six-year-old Meredith are officially part of the Juliana Initiative. The town is everything promised—two hours northwest of Atlanta but a world away from city living, a “gentle jewel” with weather as warm as its people. Between settling into their lavish home and starting her new restaurant, Billie is busy enough to dismiss any troubling signs …

But Billie’s sleep is marred by haunting dreams, and her marriage with Peter is growing increasingly strained. Meanwhile the town elders, all descended from Juliana’s founding families, exert a level of influence that feels less benevolent and more stifling day by day.

There’s something about “Gentle Juliana”—something off-kilter and menacing beneath that famous Southern hospitality. And no matter how much Billie longed for her family to come here, she’s starting to wonder how, and if, they’ll ever leave.

For fans of Stacy Willingham, Sarah Langan, Ashley Winstead, and Jess Lourey, a bewitchingly foreboding story about sacrifice, privilege, family, guilt, and the vengeful ghosts of a haunted past—from the bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls.

©2025 Emily Carpenter (P)2025 Recorded Books

Not a favorite.

My grown children and I have lived all over North Georgia. That was the reason I picked this book. In that respect, I was only a bit disappointed. Of course the town was fictional. The story dropped a few names of cities and counties that didn’t really make sense… but that’s ok. The story was weak. Felt like an extended cut of a Twilight Zone episode. But, I do like Twilight Zone. So, yes I liked it, but no it won’t be one of my favorites.

Basic

The writing was cringe at times, very “millennial”, predictable and surface level. And I wish it would’ve leaned into the supernatural aspect more concretely. Too basic to be called “gothic” in my opinion. I did feel connected to some of the characters a little bit. It did get tense at certain points and I really liked the dream MC had in the last bit.

Held my attention

I will not ruin the ending, but I kinda wish it would have ended differently...it was an okay book. I do not regret listening. I also think the author could have added much to the story line by being more descriptive about the environment...the house, the town. It was still good.

story on narrator no

why does she talk so freaking slow?! as a southerner it's offensive AF. additionally she pronounced Dahlonega 3 different ways within the first 20% of the book and if I didn't have to read this for book club I would have DNFed just from that. had to have it at 1.5 to 2x speed just to tolerate it. the extra long pauses and ridiculously slow reading was torture. also the trash southern accents were awful.

it was boring and predictable.

I'm A great fan of the author and purchased every book she's written. I waited years for her next book and was very disappointed. this book was such a disappointment.