“Authentic characters complement the vivid setting—readers will feel the weight of the Trace’s humidity—in this nearly flawless tale of loss, perseverance, and redemption.” —Publishers Weekly

Kelly Mustian delivers a stunner of a debut novel with The Girls in the Stilt House. Set in 1920s Mississippi, the book weaves a beautiful and harrowing story of two teenage girls cast in an unlikely partnership through murder.

Readers will meet Ada, who has returned to her home in Natchez Trace after a failed attempt at starting a new life in Baton Rouge. They will also meet Matilda, a sharecropper’s daughter with plans to escape her dangerous life by heading North. Together, the two become entangled in a world of bootleggers and moral corruption that could cost them their lives.

This is a mesmerizing novel with a variety of crucial and insightful lessons to unpack in a book club discussion. Those who enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing and If the Creek Don't Rise will be particularly entranced by The Girls in the Stilt House.