Plain Bad Heroines
{{short description|2020 gothic novel by Emily M. Danforth}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
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| name = Plain Bad Heroines
| image = Plain Bad Heroines cover.png
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| caption = First edition US hardcover
| author = Emily M. Danforth
| audio_read_by = Xe Sands
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| illustrator = Sara Lautman
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| country = United States
| language = English
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| publisher = William Morrow
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| published = 2020
| media_type = Print (hardback), ebook, audiobook
| pages = 640 pages
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| isbn = 0062942859
| isbn_note = First edition US hardback
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Plain Bad Heroines is a 2020 gothic novel by American author Emily M. Danforth. It was first published in the United States through William Morrow and is set at a girls' boarding school during 1902 and present day in New England.
The novel derives its title from a quote by bisexual and feminist author Mary MacLane's The Story of Mary MacLane.
Synopsis
The novel is set during two time periods: 1902 and present day.
In 1902 readers are introduced to Clara and Flo, students living in Rhode Island and attending Brookhants School for Girls. They are completely infatuated with each other. They also share a love for Mary MacLane and a memoir she wrote, to the point where they create a secret club called The Plain Bad Heroine Society. The two meet an untimely death in a nearby orchard, the site of their club meetings and trysts, stung to death by eastern yellowjackets. Their deaths are not the last in the school, which closes five years later. Three more people died in the intervening years. As a result, the school is believed to be both haunted and cursed.
In the modern day, the abandoned school is now the site of a film production, based on a book detailing Brookhants' history. Celebrities Harper Harper and Audrey Wells have been cast as Flo and Clara, respectively. They travel out to the school with the book's author, Merritt Emmons, and the rest of the film's cast and crew, but soon discover that the school's curse may actually exist.
Development
Danforth came up with the idea for the novel based on her interest in film sets rumored to be cursed, and in the production process of great films. She wanted the novel to feature protagonists who were both in their 30s and explicitly queer, as opposed to characters who were "coded, erased, hidden". She listed Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca, as an example.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-29|title=Boston Book Festival showcases feminist books|url=https://tuftsdaily.com/arts/2020/10/29/boston-book-festival-showcases-feminist-books/|access-date=2020-11-28|website=The Tufts Daily|language=en}} She also utilized author Mary MacLane's memoir The Story of Mary MacLane in Plain Bad Heroines, as the author and her work are frequently mentioned and discussed by Danforth's characters. Danforth also derives the book's title from MacLane's memoir, where she states "I wish some one would write a book about a plain, bad heroine so that I might feel in real sympathy with her.”{{Cite web|date=2020-11-11|title=Plain Bad Heroines is an Engrossing Gothic Horror Story|url=https://www.lambdaliterary.org/2020/11/plain-bad-heroines/|access-date=2020-11-28|website=Lambda Literary|language=en}}
Danforth also stated that she drew upon stories surrounding films such as The Omen, The Exorcist, and Poltergeist, and that "The fire in the costume trailer in Plain Bad Heroines was directly inspired by the prop storage facility burning down during the production of The Possession."{{Cite web|last=Hart|first=Michelle|date=2020-10-19|title=Author Emily M. Danforth on the Inspiration Behind her Epic Gothic Horror-Comedy|url=https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/a34114359/emily-m-danforth-plain-bad-heroines-interview/|access-date=2020-11-28|website=Oprah Magazine|language=en-US}} She has described the novel as "like Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Blair Witch Project, but with lesbians".{{Cite web|date=2020-09-16|title=Interview with Author Emily M. Danforth|url=https://www.rimonthly.com/emily-m-danforth-the-rhode-island-based-author-of-the-miseducation-of-cameron-post-debuts-a-novel-for-adults-plain-bad-heroines/|access-date=2020-11-28|website=Rhode Island Monthly|language=en-US}}
Release
Plain Bad Heroines was released in the United States in hardback and e-book format through William Morrow on October 20, 2020, featuring illustrations by Sara Lautman.{{Cite book|last=Danforth, Emily M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1199083155|title=Plain bad heroines : a novel|others=Lautman, Sara|year=2020|isbn=978-0-06-294285-2|edition=First|location=New York, NY|oclc=1199083155}} An audiobook adaptation narrated by Xe Sands was released simultaneously through HarperAudio.{{Cite book|last=Danforth, Emily M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1201425528|title=Plain bad heroines : a novel|others=Sands, Xe|isbn=978-1-7999-4376-1|edition=Unabridged|location=[New York]|oclc=1201425528}}
The novel will be released in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2021 through The Borough Press.{{Cite book|last=DANFORTH, EMILY.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1144114823|title=PLAIN BAD HEROINES.|date=2021|publisher=THE BOROUGH Press|isbn=978-0-00-834692-8|location=[Place of publication not identified]|oclc=1144114823}}
Reception
Plain Bad Heroines has received praise for its queer representation.{{Cite news|last=Charles|first=Ron|date=October 15, 2020|title=Emily M. Danforth's 'Plain Bad Heroines' mixes up a delectable brew of gothic horror and Hollywood satire|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/emily-m-danforths-plain-bad-heroines-mixes-up-a-delectable-brew-of-gothic-horror-and-hollywood-satire/2020/10/13/d4c403e2-0d6d-11eb-b1e8-16b59b92b36d_story.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite web|last=Mandelo|first=Lee|date=2020-11-16|title=I Await the Devil's Coming: Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth|url=https://www.tor.com/2020/11/16/i-await-the-devils-coming-plain-bad-heroines-by-emily-m-danforth/|access-date=2020-11-28|website=Tor.com|language=en-US}} According to Book Marks, the book received a "rave" consensus, based on ten critics: eight "rave", one "positive", and one "mixed".{{Cite web |title=Plain Bad Heroines|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/plain-bad-heroines/|access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Book Marks |language=en-US}} In the January/February 2021 issue of Bookmarks, the book was scored 3.5 out of 5. The magazine's critical summary reads: "A couple of critics questioned the book's length and abrupt ending, but most agreed that the over 600 pages fly by because of Danforth's witty style, irresistible characters, and compelling links between past and present".{{Cite web |title=Plain Bad Heroines|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/NEW+BOOKS+GUIDE.-a0676632351|access-date=14 January 2023 |website=Bookmarks}}{{Cite web |title=Plain Bad Heroines Reviews|url=https://booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com/reviews/plain-bad-heroines|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924190410/https://booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com/reviews/plain-bad-heroines|archive-date=24 Sep 2021|access-date=11 July 2024 |website=Books in the Media}}
Hillary Kelly of The Los Angeles Times stated that "Every major character is a queer woman — every last one — and each of them wears her sexuality differently, an idea that shouldn’t feel revelatory in 2020 but annoyingly does."{{Cite web|last=Kelly|first=Hillary|date=2020-10-21|title=Review: Not your average queer, meta-fictional spooky Victorian romp|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-10-21/review-plain-bad-heroines-by-emily-danforth|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-11-28|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} The San Francisco Chronicle
Plain Bad Heroines was named a Most Anticipated Book by Entertainment Weekly, the Washington Post, USA Today, Time, O, Buzzfeed, Harper's Bazaar, Vulture, Parade, HuffPost, Refinery29, Popsugar, E! News, Bustle, The Millions, Goodreads, Autostraddle, Lambda Literary, and Literary Hub.{{Cite book|last=Danforth|first=Emily M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KnJDwAAQBAJ|title=Plain Bad Heroines|date=2020-10-20|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-294287-6|language=en}}
The book received the following accolades:
- 2021 Alex Award winner{{Cite web|last=|date=2012-02-27|title=Alex Awards|url=http://www.ala.org/yalsa/alex-awards|access-date=2021-05-04|website=Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)|language=en}}
- 2021 Stonewall Honor Book in Literature Shortlist{{Cite web|last=|date=2009-09-09|title=Stonewall Book Awards List|url=http://www.ala.org/rt/rrt/award/stonewall/honored|access-date=2021-05-04|website=American Library Association|language=en}}
- 2021 Over the Rainbow List{{Cite web|last=Chapman|first=Monica|date=2021-02-02|title=2021 Over the Rainbow Book List features 48 titles for adult readers|url=http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2021/02/2021-over-rainbow-book-list-features-48-titles-adult-readers|access-date=2021-05-04|website=American Library Association|language=en}}
- 2021 Locus Award Nominee for Best Horror Novel{{Cite web|last=|date=2021-05-01|title=2021 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists|url=https://locusmag.com/2021/05/2021-locus-awards-top-ten-finalists/|access-date=2021-09-15|website=Locus Online|language=en-US}}
- 2020 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Horror{{Cite web|title=Plain Bad Heroines|url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/66539403-plain-bad-heroines|access-date=2021-05-04|website=Goodreads}}
- 2020 Shirley Jackson Award Nominee for Novel{{Cite web|title=2020 Shirley Jackson Awards Nominees|url=https://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/nominees/|access-date=2021-09-15|website=The Shirley Jackson Awards}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|https://www.emilymdanforth.com/pbh}}
Category:2020 LGBTQ-related literary works
Category:American gothic novels
Category:William Morrow and Company books
Category:Novels set in the 1900s