THE WRETCHED AND UNDONE, dark and spooky Texas-set immigrant family saga

THE WRETCHED AND UNDONE
J.E. WEINER
Htf Publishing
$9.99 ebook, available now

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: A sweeping Southern Gothic saga unfolds in the Texas Hill Country, where history's silenced voices rise amidst an astonishing tale that defies expectations.

A sinister specter is hell-bent on revenge, and an ethereal woman in white is desperate to repel the menacing force. A battle rages for the hearts, minds, and souls of the Anderwalds and their extended family of immigrant outcasts, Arab camel wranglers, wounded warriors, and a songstress on the verge of madness. A sweeping Southern Gothic saga unfolds in the Texas Hill Country, where history's silenced voices rise amidst an astonishing tale that defies expectations.

On the eve of the Civil War, Polish immigrants Marcin and Agnieszka Anderwald arrive in Bandera, Texas, seeking a new beginning. But when Marcin crosses paths with a vengeful ghost known as the Shadow, their dream quickly turns into a nightmare. The Anderwalds' baby drowns, and Agnieszka is convinced she is to blame. She starves herself to death, returning from the grave as a ghostly Woman in White, determined to protect her family. Marcin and Agnieszka's son, Zacharias, burdened by grief, becomes entangled in a quest for vengeance that threatens his very soul. As he and his wife Liza clash with the relentless Shadow, they cling to hope when blessed with a child, John Marcin Anderwald.

But the curse of the Anderwalds is unyielding. John Marcin grows up amidst murder trials, haunting executions, and the ever-present Shadow that seeks to destroy his family. His love for the troubled singer Anna Schulte leads to further heartache, and his sons, Luke and Junior, inherit a legacy of sorrow and secrets that could tear them apart.

As the Anderwald legacy unfolds, each generation faces its own harrowing ordeal, where love and sacrifice are pitted against an unrelenting evil. Will they break free from the Shadow's curse, or will they remain forever wretched and undone?

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Bandera! Good goddle mitey, y'all, that's just down the road a piece from my home town, Austin. What a surprise to find it in a novel of a cursèd family of Polish immigrants who are purported to be based on real people.

Dunno about all that, but it's cool to read about people I actually know. Or knew...most of the ones I met are bound to be dead by now, they all smoked like chimneys. But a thing most people don't seem to know is just how much the aftermath of the 1848 revolutions affected inbound migration into Texas. The repressions that followed the PTB returning to uncontested power in the Prussian, Austrian, and Russian Empires led to many, many people making their way to Galveston and Indianola to escape repression and reprisals from Bohemia, Poland, and Silesia...most especially Catholics from Poland and Bohemia, Anabaptists from Silesia.

So here's a superstitious Polish family arriving to start a freer, better life in Texas...they'd be so ashamed of their thrice-great grands and the awfulness they're inflicting on those who are seeking the same...and they get tangled up in a curse that travels the generations. Is that because "The Shadow" is supernatural, or because the family's passed it down like a blood feud with the world?

So yes indeed, it's dark, and violent, and misogynistic abuse is rife. Is it a cheery way to wile away a weekend? No. Is it fun? hmmm not all the way sure I'd call it "fun" but I was not about to put it down. Any family as haunted and afflicted as the Anderwalds that somehow staggers from the Civil War of 1860 all the way to the present is, well, tough, stubborn and full of that intangible thing I call "grit." It made me feel invested in the succeeding generations as they succumbed to...whatever "The Shadow" really is.

I'll only give it four stars because I found it so curiously compelling and oddly propulsive. I think many of y'all won't be so tolerant. If historical fiction about the ugly life challenges od immigrant clans that quite literally pull no punches don't send you sprinting for the exit, this read will scratch your dark fiction need. It's borderline supernatural horror without feeling silly to me. That tells you a lot about how deftly Author Weiner handles "The Shadow."

I liked the experience of reading about my old homeplace as well. It's funny...I don't want to live there now, but it's still a weird unwelcoming home to me. Definitely a spooky one to read.