A thrilling gothic horror novel about biracial twin sisters separated at birth, perfect for fans of Lovecraft Country and The Vanishing Half - now in paperback! Magnolia Heathwood, heiress to a decrepit cotton plantation in Jim Crow's Georgia, was raised to be the perfect southern belle. All her life she's prepared to carry on the family dynasty, but according to her cruel grandmother, she always falls short. When Magnolia finally learns the truth-that she is not white in this segregated land, but mixed race-her reflection vanishes from every mirror: a sign of a terrible curse. And life in Eureka, Georgia is getting stranger every day: The most popular girl in town launches an initiative to segregate the dead in the local cemetery, and white-passing Magnolia doesn't know how much longer she can bear to live a lie. Meanwhile, Charlie Yates, an aspiring Civil Rights organizer from Harlem, is speeding toward Eureka beside her dying grandmother. Nana's last wish is to be buried in the land they fled seventeen years ago, after the brutal murder of Charlie's parents, who were killed for loving across the color line. On a segregated train car, brave Charlie has never felt so powerless. Nana's told her plenty of stories about the cursed town they're headed for-but she's never told her that she left a twin sister, Magnolia, behind. The sisters reunite as teenagers in the deeply haunted town of Eureka, 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.

Australian Genre Film interrogates key genres at the core of Australia’s so-called new golden age of genre cinema, establishing the foundation on which more sustained research on film genre in Australian cinema can develop. The book examines what characterises Australian cinema and its output in this new golden age, as contributors ask to what extent Australian genre film draws on widely understood (and largely Hollywood-based) conventions, as compared to culturally specific conventions of genre storytelling. As such, this book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of Australian genre film, undertaken through original analyses of 13 significant Australian genres: action, biopics, comedy, crime, horror, musical, road movie, romance, science fiction, teen, thriller, war, and the Western. This book will be a cornerstone work for the burgeoning field of Australian film genre studies and a must-read for academics; researchers; undergraduate students; postgraduate students; and general readers interested in film studies, media studies, cultural studies, Australian studies, and sociology.

Australian Genre Film interrogates key genres at the core of Australia's so-called new golden age of genre cinema, establishing the foundation on which more sustained research on film genre in Australian cinema can develop. The book examines what characterises Australian cinema and its output in this new golden age, as contributors ask to what extent Australian genre film draws on widely understood (and largely Hollywood-based) conventions, as compared to culturally specific conventions of genre storytelling. As such, this book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of Australian genre film, undertaken through original analyses of 13 significant Australian genres: action, biopics, comedy, crime, horror, musical, road movie, romance, science fiction, teen, thriller, war, and the Western. This book will be a cornerstone work for the burgeoning field of Australian film genre studies and a must-read for academics; researchers; undergraduate students; postgraduate students; and general readers interested in film studies, media studies, cultural studies, Australian studies, and sociology.

Agnes knows she loves her home of Red Creek--its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town's strict laws. What she doesn't know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet. Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn't a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek? As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn't safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus, allowing her to heal the infected. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?

Agnes knows she loves her home of Red Creek--its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town's strict laws. What she doesn't know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet. Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn't a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek? As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn't safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus, allowing her to heal the infected. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?

A thrilling paranormal mystery about biracial twin sisters separated at birth, following the brutal murder of their parents, perfect for fans of The Vanishing Half When Charlie and Magnolia's parents are brutally murdered, their black grandmother brings the twins home to raise as her own. However, Charlie is obviously black, while Magnolia is light-skinned and can "pass" as white. As a result, Magnolia is stolen away by her white grandmother, and raised as the heir to the Gatewood cotton plantation, knowing nothing of her twin sister or racial heritage. Elsewhere, their black grandmother flees Jim Crow, raising Magnolia in a tiny apartment in Harlem. But when Nana falls ill, her final wish is to be buried back home in Georgia-and, unbeknownst to Charlie, to see her long-lost granddaughter, Magnolia Gatewood, one last time. Set in 1959, in a deeply haunted, rural Georgia town, both girls are visited by the angry spirits of their parents and other specters of the town's tragic past. When the sisters finally reunite as teenagers, they are worlds apart. But they will need each other to put the ghosts of the past to rest-and to discover where they truly belong.

Harriet Douglass lives with her historian father on an old plantation in Louisiana, which they've transformed into one of the South's few enslaved people's museums. Together, while grieving the recent loss of Harriet's mother, they run tours that help keep the memory of the past alive. Harriet's world is turned upside down by the arrival of mother and daughter Claudia and Layla Hartwell-who plan to turn the property next door into a wedding venue, and host the offensively antebellum-themed wedding of two Hollywood stars. Harriet's fully prepared to hate Layla Hartwell, but it seems that Layla might not be so bad after all-unlike many people, this California influencer is actually interested in Harriet's point of view. Harriet's sure she can change the hearts of Layla and her mother, but she underestimates the scale of the challenge...and when her school announces that prom will be held on the plantation, Harriet's just about had it with this whole racist timeline! Overwhelmed by grief and anger, it's fair to say she snaps. Can Harriet use the power of social media to cancel the celebrity wedding and the plantation prom? Will she accept that she's falling in love with her childhood best friend, who's unexpectedly returned after years away? Can she deal with the frustrating reality that Americans seem to live in two completely different countries? And through it all, can she and Layla build a bridge between them?

Ana Kokkinos is an Australian screenwriter, producer and director who has worked in film and television for almost thirty years. Best known for her fictional films - Antamosi, Only the Brave, Head On, The Book of Revelation and Blessed - her work is often bold and confrontational in its exploration of the alienation, estrangement and visceral distresses of those outside the mainstream. In the first major study of the director, Ana Kokkinos: An Oeuvre of Outsiders offers new readings of and across her fictional oeuvre by broadly tracing the deployment of the outsider as an organising motif.

Ana Kokkinos is an Australian screenwriter, producer and director who has worked in film and television for almost thirty years. Best known for her fictional films - Antamosi, Only the Brave, Head On, The Book of Revelation and Blessed - her work is often bold and confrontational in its exploration of the alienation, estrangement and visceral distresses of those outside the mainstream. In the first major study of the director, Ana Kokkinos: An Oeuvre of Outsiders offers new readings of and across her fictional oeuvre by broadly tracing the deployment of the outsider as an organising motif.