Cover Reveal: Mirror Girls by Kelly McWilliams
The best historical fictions are also the most timeless historical fictions. I mean sure, they are tied to a particular point in history, but their themes echo across time into our own era. And Mirror Girls embodies this principle – with a paranormal twist! This gothic horror about two sisters separated by Jim Crow is equal parts moving as it is thrilling. But what else would we expect from Kelly McWilliams – the mind behind Agnes at the End of the World? Her prose is gorgeous and this follow-up is frankly stunning. And it’s got a stunning cover to go with it! So enough of my blathering, feast your eyes upon this cover and trust me you’re gonna want to add this one to your TBR!
Mirror Girls
by Kelly McWilliams
As infants, twin sisters Charlie Yates and Magnolia Heathwood were secretly separated after the brutal lynching of their parents, who died for loving across the color line. Now, at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, Charlie is a young Black organizer in Harlem, while white-passing Magnolia is the heiress to a cotton plantation in rural Georgia.
Magnolia knows nothing of her racial heritage, but secrets are hard to keep in a town haunted by the ghosts of its slave-holding past. When Magnolia finally learns the truth, her reflection mysteriously disappears from mirrors—the sign of a terrible curse. Meanwhile, in Harlem, Charlie's beloved grandmother falls ill. Her final wish is to be buried back home in Georgia—and, unbeknownst to Charlie, to see her long-lost granddaughter, Magnolia Heathwood, one last time. So Charlie travels into the Deep South, confronting the land of her worst nightmares—and Jim Crow segregation.
The sisters reunite as teenagers in the deeply haunted town of Eureka, Georgia, where ghosts linger centuries after their time and dangers lurk behind every mirror. They couldn’t be more different, but they will need each other to put the hauntings of the past to rest, to break the mirrors’ deadly curse—and to discover the meaning of sisterhood in a racially divided land.
About the Author
Kelly McWilliams is a mixed-race writer who has always gravitated towards stories about crossing boundaries and forging new identities. For this and so many other reasons, young adult literature will always be close to her heart. Her novel, Agnes at the End of the World, benefitted from a We Need Diverse Books Mentorship.
She has loved crafting stories all her life, and her very first novel, Doormat, was published when she was just fifteen-years-old. Kelly has also worked as a staff writer for Romper, covering issues important to women and families. She lives in Colorado with her partner and young daughter. Visit her website at KellyMcWilliamsAuthor.com.