A Deadly Blooming

A young woman returns to her small town in the Philippines to find that the town is cursed. A creepy, unforgettable folk horror novel for fans of Mexican Gothic. They've been waiting for you... And now you're finally home. Maria hasn't returned to her birthplace since her mother, the town's spiritual medium, cast her out. Now, she can no longer remember anything about the town of Talalora, or about her childhood. But when her mother dies suddenly, Maria is summoned back to claim her inheritance. Yet Talalora seems a strange and rotten place. Outsiders refuse to enter its walls, the rice fields have turned barren and the flower trees have wilted. The town is devoted to a lone priest, Father Benito, who declares that Maria's inheritance must be earned. To stake her claim, she must brave a series of trials pitting her against relatives she's never known. Silently watching over all is a huge effigy, bursting with santan flowers, which towers over the town square. And Maria slowly begins to remember. The Diwata, a forest spirit, blesses and curses Talalora in equal measure. Where she casts her gaze, the land grows lush and fertile. But now the crops are failing, and the goddess has become cruel. The townspeople whisper that she must be pacified by a new medium, a new bride. And, too late, Maria realises that the inheritance she is fighting to claim, may be the very thing her mother tried to save her from. Something sickly is growing in Talalora, and Maria should have stayed far away...