We chat with debut author Kate Pearsall about Bittersweet in the Hollow, which is a beautifully dark and enthralling YA and follows four sisters with unusual talents investigate a mysterious disappearance in their secluded Appalachian town.
Hi, Kate! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! I’m Kate Pearsall, author of Bittersweet in the Hollow, which is my debut novel. First and foremost, I’m an avid reader. One of my favorite parts of becoming an author is getting to read early copies of incredible books. I’ve always loved to write and spent many years working as a copywriter, as well as freelancing for regional magazines and newspapers.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Very early. My mother likes to tell about how, as a toddler, I’d ask her to re-read the same books over and over until I’d memorized them and could then “read” them to my collection of stuffed animals. When I was a bit older, my sisters and I used to write little stories for each other, or we’d gather around the computer and write together. Books have always felt like magic to me. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love storytelling.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Mail by Janet and Allan Ahlberg – I was obsessed with this book as a child and borrowed it from the library over and over again. It is also likely why I now collect vintage letters and other ephemera (or other people’s mail).
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – When I was about eight or nine, I was playing school with a friend and picked up a copy of Jane Eyre. I devoured the entire book in one day, staying up late to finish it. Never before had I read anything that came to life through ink on a page in such a real and vivid way. I couldn’t wait to try it for myself.
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver – This is one I return to over and over again, with its lush prose, vivid characters, and Appalachian setting.
Your debut novel, Bittersweet in the Hollow, is out October 10th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Hmm, maybe: Magic, moonshine, murder, myths, and monsters.
What can readers expect?
Bittersweet in the Hollow is the story of Linden, a girl who can taste the emotions of others and lives in a rural Appalachian town under the shadow of the forest where she disappeared the previous summer. She has no memory of what happened, but when another girl goes missing exactly one year later Linden enlists the help of her sisters, each with their own unique ability, to find out who –or what – is responsible. It’s ultimately a story of family and self-discovery that entwines elements of mystery, thriller, and magic with a thread of romantic tension.
Where did the inspiration for Bittersweet in the Hollow come from?
The very first seeds were likely planted long before I even realized when I would beg my mother for bedtime stories about her childhood growing up in West Virginia. Many years later, I discovered that the Scottish Highlands and the Appalachian Mountains were once part of the same ancient range and I knew I wanted to write something that explored the intersection of the folklore and folk magic traditions between those two places. As I researched, I began to wonder if, when the first Scots-Irish immigrants arrived in Appalachia, to mountains that looked like home, the lore they brought with them could have been more than just stories.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
One of the very best parts of writing this novel was how vivid the characters felt to me from the very beginning. Even the minor characters who only appear in a few scenes seemed to burst onto the page with their own personalities, desires, and voices. But my favorite characters to write were definitely the women of the James family. Each has a different view of their strange history, their position in the community, and even each other. Linden, in particular, struggles to balance her pride in her family with her discomfort about her unusual ability, all while she also tries to figure out who she is outside of the family circle.
This is your debut novel! Can you tell us what the road to becoming a published author was like for you?
I’ve always written stories, but I didn’t seriously consider pursuing publishing until relatively recently. I was extremely lucky that Bittersweet in the Hollow was accepted into the Pitch Wars mentoring program in 2019. My amazing mentor, Isabel Ibañez, worked with me to strengthen the story and increase the tension in the romantic subplot in the weeks leading up to the agent showcase in early 2020. I was thrilled when the pitch was well received and I signed with my agent in March 2020 – just as the pandemic shut everything down.
But I was able to use that time to really sit with the story and make it even stronger. Bittersweet in the Hollow is a genre-bending book with both a thrilling mystery and a sweeping family narrative at its heart, so pacing and character development were equally important to get right. When we went on submission in 2021, I knew it was with the best version of the story I could tell. And it sold at auction in just a couple short weeks.
What’s next for you?
I’m now hard at work on my second novel, Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue, which takes place after the events of Bittersweet in the Hollow and is told by a different sister.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Absolutely! I’m so excited for What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez and The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young, which both launch later this month. I’m also looking forward to Beasts of War, the exciting conclusion to Ayana Gray’s epic series, and Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear by Robin Wasley in early 2024.
