Tamika Thompson in conversation with Jennifer Barone

Please join us on Wednesday, April 8th at 6:30pm for an evening with Tamika Thompson, in conversation with Jennifer Barone.  We're having a party for the new book "The Curse of Hester Gardens".

Like some of the best horror out there, this story tackles both supernatural threats that also comments on real-world issues, in this case gun violence. Nona McKinley is desperate to protect her sons from the twin specters of real-world danger and otherworldly menace, as mysterious occurrences and hidden secrets threaten their lives. Perfect for fans of domestic horror and supernatural thrillers, this novel offers a unique blend of haunted house drama and social commentary, that will connect with readers of Tananarive Due, Stephen King, and Rivers Solomon.

ABOUT THE BOOK 

Nona McKinley raised three boys in the Hester Gardens section of Medford, Michigan, an impoverished community divided by those who follow their faith in God and those who turn to crime to survive. With her drug dealer husband behind bars and her eldest son shot to death at eighteen, Nona has devoted herself to ensuring her other children escape their brother’s fate. 

Her second son Marcus is on the right path. He's a valedictorian heading to an Ivy League school. He can get out.

But then, strange things start happening to Nona and other residents: mysterious footsteps are heard when she’s alone, people have phantom encounters in the streets, unattended appliances go off at all hours. Even more concerning is the state of Nona’s living sons. Her youngest, Lance, is hanging around with a bad crowd, and Marcus becomes moody and secretive. Sometimes he even seems to act like a different person entirely.

Nona has her secrets too. Her affair with the married church pastor has been weighing on her conscience, but that’s not the only guilt haunting her. She fears that someone—or something— is seeking revenge for an act she made in a moment of weakness to protect her family. And now everyone in Hester Gardens must pay the price . . .

Telegraph Hill Arts and Literature presents writers, authors and poets, while giving back to the creative community and to our neighbors. (https://telhilit.org)

Tamika Thompson is the author of The Curse of Hester Gardens. A former journalist and producer, she is also author of Unshod, Cackling, and Naked, which is the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner for Horror, as well as author of Salamander Justice. Her work has appeared in several speculative fiction anthologies as well as in Interzone, Prairie Schooner, The New York Times, and Los Angeles Review of Books, among others.

Jennifer Barone is an Italian-American poet and artist. She is the author of three books of poetry, including Saporoso, Poems of Italian Food & Love (Feather Press). She is a host of the Voices on the Hill Podcast, interviewing Bay Area Authors & Poets for Telegraph Hill Books. She has been a featured poet at San Francisco’s LitQuake, SF Public Library, SFJazz Poetry & Jazz Festival, Marin Poetry Center, Red Poppy Art House, Libreria Pino / Telegraph Hill Books, Bird & Beckett Books, Golden Sardine, The Beat Museum, The Petaluma Poetry Walk, SF MoMa, SF Historical Society and DeYoung Museum.