We chat with author Margot McGovern about Our Dark Unraveling, which is a thrilling modern gothic tale of control and manipulation that will keep you thinking long after the last page has been turned.
Hi, Margot! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a YA horror author living on Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide). When I’m not writing, I love cooking and baking, being out in nature and watching scary movies!
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
My dad is a brilliant storyteller. He used to make up all kinds of wild stories and characters to entertain me and my sister and our cousins when we were kids, and I caught the bug from him.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: I was lucky enough to grow up in a house filled with books, and I don’t remember a specific ‘first book’. But I’ve always been fascinated by fairytales, and we had a big, hardback collection of fairytales from around the world that stands out in my memory.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Anything and everything by Roald Dahl! I loved the darkness in his stories, but also how playful and funny they were, and I used to read his novels over and over.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Secret History by Donna Tartt. That book found me at just the right moment when I was an undergrad, and I went on to write about dark academia for my PhD.
Your latest novel, Our Dark Unraveling, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Gothic, witchy, dark-academia, haunting & hopeful
What can readers expect?
Our Dark Unravelling is set at an elite boarding school in the Adelaide Hills, and follows two roommates, George and Lyssa, who want nothing to do with each other. When Lyssa’s boyfriend, Jude, is killed in a hunting accident she is determined to bring him back. But there are things Lyssa doesn’t know about Jude’s past, and when George realises that Lyssa’s life is in danger, she needs to find a way to get through to Lyssa before Jude destroys them both.
It’s a sinister, Gothic story of manipulation and controlling relationships, but also one of hope and healing.
Where did the inspiration for Our Dark Unraveling come from?
Our Dark Unravelling is a contemporary horror reimagining of ‘Bluebeard’, the grisly French fairytale about a young woman who marries a wealthy, blue-bearded nobleman only to discover, upon venturing into a forbidden room in his castle, that he has murdered his previous wives. I was also inspired by two of my favourite ‘Bluebeard’ retellings, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847) and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938). Both take the original fariytale to task, with Brontë reimagining the ingénue as a complex and intellectually curious heroine with the wits and agency to take charge of her story, while, du Maurier goes one step further, titling her novel for the dead wife who exudes a haunting power over the narrative from beyond the grave.
Writing almost a century later again, I wanted to put Bluebeard’s women in a room together, to see what they might have to say to each other. And instead of leaning into the romance of Brontë and du Maurier’s novels, I set out to explore the horror of controlling relationships by giving Lyssa and George a real monster to contend with in the hopes that, together, they would find a new ending for a centuries-old story.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved writing George’s perspective! She’s prickly and closed off at the start of the story – very much a reluctant hero – and writing her dialogue was a lot of fun! I also really enjoyed the challenge of trying to bring her out of her shell.
As a big reader and fan of the Gothic, it was also exciting to work in that style to build the haunting atmosphere of Milford School and to create Jude’s character as a sinister presence within (and as part of) that setting.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Yes! Our Drak Unravelling very nearly went to print without a title! Figuring out what to call a book is always the hardest part for me, and this one was particularly tricky. The early drafts all went by different names, but none of them felt quite right. I had my agent helping me brainstorm, and then a meeting with my publisher and editor here in Australia to toss around ideas. We (briefly!) thought we’d settled on a winner, but then my US editor wasn’t one-hundred percent sold on it. Every time we emailed, we’d add more suggestions to the list. In the end, it was a group effort, and Our Dark Unravelling is a perfect fit for the story! Writing can be very lonely, and I always look forward to that stage in the process when the manuscript is in solid enough that I can share it and get the feedback I need to lift it to the next level.
What’s next for you?
More horror!!! I’m very excited to have two more YA horror novels on the way with Penguin Random House Australia, and I’m hard at work on those at the moment.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
I’ve just finished reading Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear With Stephen King by scholar Caroline Bicks, in which she does a deep dive into the early drafts of five of Stephen King’s most famous books. I’m a HUGE Stephen King fan, and it was fascinating to have that insight on his writing process. Next up, I’m excited to read Lili Wilkinson’s Lavender and Hemlock when it’s out in October, and I’ve also got the fourth book in Amy Doak’s Eleanor Jones series, Eleanor Jones is Not Drowning, and Helena Fox’s Loneliness is a Molecule at the top of my TBR.
