In “Girls with Long Shadows” (Harper, $27.99), Tennessee Hill delivers a lush and lacerating Southern Gothic debut that reads like a fever dream.

Set over one sweltering summer on the Texas Gulf Coast, the novel follows identical triplets — Baby A, Baby B and Baby C — raised by their eccentric grandmother in a town that’s always kept them at arm’s length. Known more as a blur than as individuals, the girls long to be seen, really seen, and that yearning curdles into jealousy, betrayal and ultimately, tragedy.

Narrated by the observant Baby B, whose voice shifts between “I” and “we,” the story explores the blurred boundaries of identity, sisterhood and the deep harm of being objectified or misunderstood.

Hill’s prose is rich and elegiac, steeped in fervor and memory, with vivid sensory detail and a slow, simmering tension that builds toward devastation. The novel pulses with questions about what it means to be known, and what it costs to break free from the roles we’re assigned. This is a story that leaves a bruise — tender, disquieting and impossible to ignore.

GIRLS WITH LONG SHADOWS in a mesmerizing, wonderful, and disturbing novel that digs deeply into family ties, and betrayals. It’s the story of Baby A, Baby B, and Baby C Binderup, identical triplets born the moment their mother dies. Raised by their quirky, local-legend bayou distance swimmer maternal grandmother in a small, swampy Texas town on a ratty golf course, the girls literally share each others emotions, sensations, and pain. Mirror images of their beautiful mother, few can tell them apart and they seem to mature into their teenage years as a single entity. Yet, they possess differences and in their nineteenth year these come to a head in an explosive tragedy that rips the family, and the town, apart. The story is narrated by Baby B but delves deeply into the psyche of each triplet. The poetic and hypnotic writing style draws the reader in and doesn’t let go. This is a fabulous story and should not be missed.

DP Lyle, award-winning author (Jake Longly and Cain/Harper thriller series), Lecturer, and Story Consultant and Co-creator of The Outliers Writing University
https://www.dplylemd.com/

I was immediately drawn to the intriguing idea of triplets navigating an identity crisis, but the emotional depth of this book completely floored me. The author crafts a world of stunning visuals and employs a prose so exquisite it feels like a caress. Yet, it's the raw, unflinching humanity of the characters that truly lingers. Through the eyes of Baby B, the narrator, we are introduced to siblings so vividly realized they step right off the page. Their internal struggle – the desperate urge to differentiate themselves, which evolves into a yearning for individual recognition, and finally, a terrifying aversion to the loss of their unique connection – is portrayed with heartbreaking honesty. From the very first sentence, I was utterly ensnared, feeling an almost uncanny empathy for Baby B, A, and C. This is more than just a story; it's an experience that resonated so profoundly, it brought me to tears. Many tears.