From These Dark Abodes

Manusos debuts with a lyrical dark fantasy that’s deeply soaked in mythology. Lethe and Petunia are the only two humans in the sprawling mansion St. Edah’s, servants to the strange and gruesome immortals who live there. Each night the immortals remove their skins and revel as skeletons before retrieving their flesh in the morning. Lethe and Petunia, who have no memories of their pasts or how they arrived at St. Edah’s, want nothing more than to leave this hideous party, but there are no exits, or at least, none they have the power to find, since the house is controlled by Erinyes, the leader of the immortals. When one of the immortals goes missing, however, Erinyes sends Lethe and Petunia to find him, allowing them into parts of the house where they would never normally venture. St. Edah’s holds many secrets—including the truth about who Lethe and Petunia were before and how they might find their way back to the lives they chose to leave behind. Manusos’s poetic and emotional writing brings poignancy to this story of people who have lost everything, including the knowledge of what they lost. The result is twisty, complex, and rewarding speculative fiction. Agent: Eric Showers, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Sept.)