Providence Girls: A Sapphic Horror Romance

Providence Girls follows Lavinia Whateley, a middle-aged woman who flees her Massachusetts town after its residents plan to sacrifice her on Halloween. After nearly dying in the woods, she is rescued and sheltered by Asenath Waite, known as Azzie, a stoic and mysterious woman living on the coastal outskirts of East Providence. The two begin to develop romantic feelings for each other. Their relationship takes an unexpected turn when Azzie, who carries a mysterious past and strange scars on her neck, begins to transform into an eldritch creature from the deep. The narrative is framed through Lavinia's letters written years later from a cottage, reflecting on the woman she loved. The story draws inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Thing on the Doorstep" and "The Dunwich Horror," reimagining the doomed women in those works. The novel combines horror and romance elements.