October Jersey Collective Reads Pick: BLACK SHEEP by Rachel Harrison
Welcome to Jersey Collective Reads, our monthly book club where we highlight a New Jersey book. Read on to learn more, for details for this month’s virtual event, and for a section of New Jersey literary news.
Our October selection
Our pick for October is BLACK SHEEP by Rachel Harrison!
About the book & why we picked it
From the publisher: “Nobody has a ‘normal’ family, but Vesper Wright's is truly...something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn't return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep. Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper's beloved cousin Rosie. It's to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn't be the first time Vesper's been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn't matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.
When Vesper's homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she's forced to reckon with her family's beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.”
Courtney says: “Black Sheep was one of my most anticipated reads this year and I couldn’t be more excited to usher in the new season (colloquially known as ~spooky season) with this book and this conversation. Rachel Harrison grew up in New Jersey and it shows: the novel is set in her home state and has geo-specific references and sensibilities sprinkled throughout. Like her previous books, Harrison’s latest is sure to become a modern horror classic for legions of readers, but I think Jersey readers in particular will love and champion this one. (Trust me: nothing hits quite like reading a passage about how hellish Penn Station is while you’re literally riding NJTransit.)”
Kerri says: “Black Sheep was gripping right out of the gate. The kind of novel you will stay up too late reading, will completely forgo plans to finish. Before I picked up a copy, I read the online sample and when I exhausted the preview I was like, Nooo, is there a bookstore open right now where I can go get this immediately?? I am so excited to talk to Rachel in a few weeks!”
From the reviews: “Harrison finds new ways to press on the bruise of growing up as an outsider, delivering small-town religious horror with wit as sharp as a ritual dagger piercing through a bleeding core of familial trauma.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Attend our chat with Rachel Harrison!
Register to join us for a fun discussion on Zoom on Tuesday, October 17 at 7:00 PM EST. The meeting will be recorded and shared on our YouTube channel.
If you want to read the book beforehand, be sure to buy your copy from Bookshop, your favorite independent bookseller, or request a copy from your local library.
If you won’t have time to read the book before our event but want to come a little prepared, you can learn more about Rachel and the book from the following:
Listen to this interview with Rachel on NPR.
Read this Q&A with Rachel on Writer’s Digest.
Upcoming Events
Local Author Book Expo
Saturday, October 7 from 1:00-4:00 PM
at the Monmouth County Library HQ Branch in Manalapan
Kerri is looking forward to setting up at this local author book fair with plenty of fresh copies of New Jersey Fan Club! Come say hi!
September Recap
Last week, we had such a lovely conversation with Jane Wong about her memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City. We highly recommend watching (or listening) to it. We talked craft, protecting yourself while writing about your life’s traumas, Pete and Elda’s, and the boardwalk prize of the summer (those stuffed seagulls with the fries in their mouths). Really covered a lot of ground in this one:
You can check out recordings of all of our past events here!
New Jersey Literary News
Have you preordered Courtney’s book yet?? Note from Kerri: I finished my review copy of Welcome Home Caroline Kline and it’s so good. I am not surprised by this, since I’ve been doing these events with Courtney for several months now and have gotten to see up close how detail-oriented, curious, well-read, smart, and funny she is. Of course she wrote a great, complex book that is hilarious from page one, as well as heartbreaking and Jersey as hell.
Thank you to everyone who picked up one of our new Banned Books & You: Perfect Together stickers so far. Proceeds from these guys go into a “JCR fund,” which will help us do more fun literary stuff. Thanks for showing your support for the freedom to read and us!
The Morristown Festival of Books has a packed lineup for October 7th, including an event with our pal Stacey!
If you’re further South, the Collingswood Festival of Books is the same day.
And if you’ll believe it, the Princeton Children’s Book Festival is also that day. Go say hey to our friend Dan Misdea!
The Jersey Art Book Fair is returning to Jersey City in February. They’re looking for book artists, zine makers and small press publishers who want to table at the event, and they’re taking proposals for events and from visual artists.
Looking ahead!
For November, we’ll be reading Blood & Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime by Joe Pompeo. We’re still working out the event details, but you can get started reading in the meantime!
About Jersey Collective Reads
Jersey Collective Reads promotes homegrown books and authors. We feature a mix of fiction and non-fiction, new releases and backlist titles, on a variety of subjects, from presses big and small.
We feature one selection a month–sometimes a book and other times essays, longform journalism pieces, or short stories–and host a virtual event with the author.
You won’t have to read the books ahead of time to enjoy the events (but of course you’re encouraged to)! We host Zoom-based events to keep it accessible to all, no matter where you’re based. We will also host some in-person casual meetups and outings throughout the year so you can connect with other New Jersey book-lovers in person.
Team Members
Courtney Preiss, an Asbury Park-based writer and creative director. Her debut novel WELCOME HOME, CAROLINE KLINE is about baseball and recovery on the Jersey Shore, and is forthcoming from Putnam/Penguin Random House next year. You can find her on Twitter + Instagram @cocogolightly.
Kerri Sullivan, founder of Jersey Collective as well as editor of New Jersey Fan Club (Rutgers University Press 2022) and public librarian. Her Instagram is @ksulphoto.