Plain Bad Heroines (ARC Review)

Half horror and half historical fiction, Plain Bad Heroines follows the parallel storylines of the deaths at Brookhants School for Girls in 1902 and their connection to the scandalously sapphic bestselling memoir of Mary MacLane, and the modern-day filming of a movie based on a book of the events. 

If that sounds like a complicated plot…you don’t know the half of it. With widespread casts of characters and a host of twists and turns in both timelines that make the book into a story about a movie about a book about a book, Plain Bad Heroines is anything but simple. Leaving readers wondering what is real, the novel paints a picture of a detailed alternate world, filled with false films, literature, and celebrities that mix with real-life events from history.

“That version, as with so many of the stories we tell about our history, erased a woman- a plain, bad heroine- in favor of a less messy and more palatable yarn about two feuding brothers from New England.”

Although easy enough to follow along with, the storyline becomes wrapped in so many layers by the second half that there’s no way you’ll see the ending, a surprise that comes at the cost of too much exposition and clarification in what could have been a much more straightforward and simplified novel. An intriguing and unusual structure, the book struggles to find momentum in the first half and seems almost wishy-washy at times about what type of story it wants to be, especially with the overlapping of so many genres attempting to come together into something coherent, much less focused. And even when the story does take off, it still feels stretched thin over the more than 600 pages with not much action. 

For those that love classic literature, this slow build-up and progression will not be a turn-off. And the strength of the narrator’s voice and character as they address the reader directly throughout the novel will be the cherry on top of the classic-loving cake, especially when matched with the thoroughly developed-characters that, admittedly, put the length of the book to good use as they blossom into fully-capable, engrossing, morally grey, and almost-all-queer characters. 

“‘I like it so much better when nobody expects anything from me and then I surprise them by delivering anything at all.’
‘That bar’s so low you’re gonna stub your toe on it.'”

The many footnotes scattered throughout the piece are obviously supposed to add to this old-time aesthetic but often end up acting as unnecessary asides that would have been less distracting if they had been integrated directly into the text. Meanwhile, another, more appreciated, distraction is the illustrations. Charming and wonderful in their watery grey and white, the pictures felt separate from the text and don’t seem to fit the aesthetic of the writing…or even the cover. 

But the book doesn’t just harken back generally to classic literature, but specifically gothic fiction. And this tone is certainly depicted well throughout, with the elements of horror succeeding at building unease and tension. As the story goes on, these elements lose their shininess, however, and become somewhat of a one-trick pony…or wasp, rather…that can at times almost come off as repetitive.

“Eleanor Faderman knew many books. But never before had she read a book that seemed to know her.”

This book will find its specific audience in lovers of gothic horror, especially those that enjoy the genre just as much as they wish there was more queer representation in it.  Those who like Sawkill Girls may also want to pick this one up. I rated Plain Bad Heroines 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

Plain Bad Heroines is now out and available for free as an audiobook on Scribd.