The Agony of Her

by Cassandra L. Thompson

1981. Historical home renovator Lori Greene can’t believe her luck when she inherits Haite Hill, a seemingly abandoned Victorian Gothic tucked deep in the Cuyahoga Valley. Like the mysterious manor on the hill, the forgotten company town below it has its own fair share of secrets, and as Lori and her daughters begin to experience nightmares and other strange occurrences, she quickly realizes its history is more brutal than she ever could have imagined.

1910. Recently betrothed Ada Haite is sent to her nefarious husband’s summer home under the pretense of her mental health. But he has also abandoned both his daughters from other marriages there with her, and as horrible night terrors threaten their lives, Ada soon discovers the house’s grisly intent.

Two stories, each at a different point in time, weave together as the women grapple with their ideas of motherhood while being confronted with things both sinister and ancient, as Haite Towne and its house on the hill reveal the story of a place built on women’s agony.

Genres: Horror, Historical Fiction

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication March 13, 2026

About the author

Gothic horror lover Cassandra L. Thompson has been creating stories since she got her grubby little hands around a pen. When she is not busy managing a house full of feral children (human and canine) with her beloved husband, you can find her wandering around cemeteries, taking pictures of abandoned things, or in the library researching her latest obsession. She has a B.A. in History and an MLIS, but she ignores her degrees to focus on writing and running Quill & Crow Publishing House, both of which require copious amounts of coffee and Crows.

Reviews

[Sadie E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Quill & Crow for the ARC

One of those slow burn gothic horror stories that starts off small then ramps up the weirdness and doesn't stop until you're like "why are you still HERE?!"

The atmosphere's so good - old Victorian house, gloomy vibes, the feeling that the place is hiding something nasty, a haunted feeling even when nothing notable's happened, dread and stress on every page. It's never just spooky for the sake of being spooky 👻

[Sarah]

Thank you to Quill & Crow Publishing House for providing an ARC for review.

[L.V. Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Agony Of Her is a nightmarish mix of slow gothic horror and vicersal terror, and I devoured it.
Told through both Lori and Ada's pov over different timelines, the tentative creepiness of Haite House sinks its clawed foundations in deep, and refuses to let go until the final pages...and lingers even after that.
The strength of both female rage and motherly fury scream from this book, as both Lori and Ada battle a truely awful evil.
The southern setting, with its wild, howling weather lends itself as another layer to Haite House as its hunger grows.
I love a good haunted house book, and The Agony Of Her was this and so much more.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have so many thoughts after finishing this book, I'm going to try to explain as many of them as I can without giving away major spoilers.

General Overview:

This story takes place over alternating time lines; in 1910 telling Ada's story and in 1981 telling Lori's story. These women are living parallel lives that are happening in the same house/town of Haite Town/Hope Town/Hell Town (depending on who is speaking it's referred to all 3). Ada is the third wife of Charles, who has had two daughters - one each from his previous wives. His wives have died or disappeared under suspicious circumstances and Ada is worried the same may happen to her when Charles dumps her and the girls, who she loves and has taken on as her own, in the Haite House out in the country.

Lori, in the middle of a divorce has learned that she inherited a large home from a relative she's never even met or heard of. It's Haite House. Her soon to be ex-husband, Sean, also has two daughters - both from previous relationships that Lori has taken on and love as her own. Early on to Lori showing up to Haite House to see what work needs to be done Sean shows up ditching his kids with her with no notice or ask.

Between the two alternating storylines we slowly learn the story of the town and the house. The folklore and the other residents throughout the years. The town is weird, the people are weird, the house seems off, everything just seems not quite right to Lori and Ada already feels put there to be disposed of so things only get creepier from there.

Ok, now for things that I LOVED about this book:

-how she would just casually drop something super creepy into an otherwise mundane part of the book. ie: discussion on what house renovations need to be done with the contractor to - "oh by the way, we found these teeth in the bathroom..."
-I loved that the book is meant to be very female centered. Everything from the main characters in all times, to solving of problems, to holding families together, to even the reasoning for a lot of the hauntings
-I loved the idea of the house just literally absorbing people
-I loved that she had a very thought out history and reasoning for the evil/hauntings of this home
-the idea of The Sisters Three

what I didn't love:
-Lori consistently leaving her girls alone or with people she didn't really know while she would go to talk to other people or other buildings on the property when during the entirety of this book they were just constantly in some kind of storm, house needs work, electricity is out etc... and every single time in inevitably lead to *something* happening and Lori blindly running around screaming for the girls. No part of me believed her character to be someone who would do this based on every other intelligent quality she possessed. I realize it was done to try to add suspense, but it just annoyed me.
- I felt the characters family lines were needlessly complicated.
-I felt like this book would've been a smoother read if it were either longer with more of the history of the Sisters Three and the settlers story getting a larger more fleshed out (heh) part of the book instead of being thrown in one random night as a ghost story OR if it had been simplified a bit more one or the other.
-I also didn't like that the women would learn parts of the story by ghosts showing it to them while they were wide awake, some when they were in some sort of trance, and some when they're sleepwalking. And also, just being in the other time once and being able to physically change things in that time. I get we threw sleepwalking in as a reason Ada thought she could be thrown away, but it seemed like a lot to throw it into multiple characters and have it be a "symptom" of interacting with a ghost. I just didn't think there needed to be that many different ways for it to happen. The actual going into the other time and changing things, meh, I can overlook it because this is a supernatural book and not everything can be explained; it was just paired with already having multiple ways of things happening was a lot.
-I hope when this book is published it is one that includes one of those little maps or family trees in it to explain all of the families because there are a good bit of characters, I've just kept it limited in the review for clarity and to avoid spoilers.

All of that said, this was my first novel by her & I have no doubt I will give another one a try. I truly did love all of her horror and gothic story ideas, I just didn't always love how they were executed.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

“There is no God in these lands. Only three . . . the scalpless, blood-thirsty, demonic three.”
📚
1981: Historical home renovator and recent divorcée Lori Greene moves into her mysterious inheritance, Haite Hill, an abandoned Victorian Gothic nestled deep within Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley. Intending to renovate and possibly sell the abode, Lori and her two step-daughters begin experiencing nightmares, sleep walking, and other bizarre occurrences that lead them to realize that the house and dying mill town below are riddled with secrets and horrific history.

1910: Ada Haite, the third wife of rich, powerful, and cruel Charles Haite, is sent out to Haite Hill, her husband’s summer home, under the guise of mental health issues. Accompanying her are her two step-daughters; the trio also experiences nighttime terrors that lead them to discover the house’s grim intentions.

Unfolding via interweaving dual timelines with occasional historical interludes, The Agony of Her is a tale steeped in dark history and female rage, fear, and suffering. Motherhood is a prime focus, along with buried truths and ancient, sinister forces. From the wonderful preface, the book is filled with enticing local lore and legend, fantastic gothic and horror elements, epistolary interjections, and gore a-plenty. Filled with disturbing oddities, the quirky, asymmetrical house defies Victorian stereotypes, while Haite Towne’s valley- and cornfield-infused setting, referred to by out-of-towners as Hell Town, comes equipped with nefarious and shadowy backstory.

Driven by toxic masculinity, the narrative also interweaves romantic and supernatural/paranormal elements, along with disturbing olden traditions and a healthy dose of hope to balance things out. The story packs a lot into 199 pages, which feels overwhelming at times, especially with regard to historical details and plot points, the number of characters and timelines, and the means through which information is conveyed. Despite these challenges, however, The Agony of Her is a creative, multi-faceted work of gothic horror imbued with passion and topped off with an absolutely exquisite cover.

Titles That Came to Mind While Reading:
•Ghost Mother by Kelly Dwyer
•Dark Sisters by Kristi Dimeester
•The Family Plot by Cherie Priest

Thank you to Cassandra L. Thompson and Quill & Crow Publishing House for providing a physical ARC of this forthcoming release (scheduled for publication on March 13th) in exchange for an honest review.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book got me at gothic, and devoured me at Folk Horror.

It’s a story set in a creepy town with dark history in Ohio, centred around a scary gothic manor on a hill (yay!). Two main timelines take the reader through the separate but in many ways similar experiences of two women, Ada and Lori and their step-daughters. And let me just say: finally, the step-mother wasn’t the bad guy.

I really liked the concrete folk tale that was bound to the story, although I was not entirely convinced by the attempt to tie it to some global, central mythology. If anything, that part left me a bit puzzled. Sometimes, a local folklore is just that, and that’s okay.
On the other hand, the religious elements made the story less abstract, giving it an anchor in history and making it all a bit more terrifying.

All in all, I breezed through the story in three days (very fast by my standards) and was engaged the whole time. It was scary and creepy, just as was promised, but exactly the right amount, nothing too gory or gross. To be fair, I had to read the last third of the book when I wasn’t home alone, but bear in mind that I’m very easily spooked.

Thank you, Cassandra L. Thompson and NetGalley, for the ARC copy!

[Erin Masura · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 This gothic whirlwind of a book was like a dark ghost story one tells around the campfire. Wish Goodreads would allow half stars. I was grateful to receive an arc copy of this book. The Agony of Her follows two women Lori and Ada same house different eras. At times I found it hard to follow the back and forth between the two different time periods hence the 4.5 star rating.
The two women have very parallel lives including douchebag for husbands(one soon to be ex). Ada and Lori are both strong and loving parents to girls that aren’t their own blood relation but they love and protect them just as fiercely as any mother would. The darkness and ghostly messed up curse on the house/family is the most original messed up(in a good way) I have read. Tom and Finn are true gentleman and enjoyed seeing their stories unfold alongside our fmc’s. If you love twists and turns, dark ghost stories, badass fmc and epic writing this is the novel for you. The author paints a detailed picture with her words.

[Rebecca White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one will be appreciated by all but it’s definitely for the women.

Thompson is a queen of gothic story telling and executes dual timelines flawlessly.

I loved the folk horror aspect of this book. The monsters of Haite Town are truly terrifying and their reasons for being there, even more so.

The character development for both our FMCs was so well done, I felt genuine connection between the two regardless of the time gap. I loved that this book flipped the “wicked stepmother” trope on its head.

The last quarter of the book had me reading through teary eyes. Thompson’s story telling is powerful, emotional, and passionate.

[Cin (cinsnextchapter) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of gothic horror and ghost stories, so this book was completely up my alley.

I loved the dual timelines and how closely the women’s experiences at Haite Hill mirrored one another despite the decades between them. That parallel heightened the tension and made the story feel inevitable, as though the house was guiding the flow of events. The sense of history repeating itself added an extra layer of unease that worked so well.

This was a super creepy read that I genuinely couldn’t put down! Take heed the Sisters Three.

[Mystral · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good spooky book. This book has once again convinced me that all cursed houses should be burned to the ground. The duel timeline helped add to the creepiness of the house and the unsettling feeling of the situation.

Also, in the both time lines, each fmc was a mother figured to children that were not their own. I really liked how Lori/Ada tried their best to connect to the children and protect them in whatever way they could. Huzzah for a good stepmother!

[Nico Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun, creepy book, and a fast, engrossing read. It’s got a good mix of psychological horror, body, horror, and intense, paranormal horror elements.

The story is broken up over two different time periods, and the author does a great job telling the story of a haunted house between these two distinguished periods.
Make sure to double check the trigger warnings before you dive into this one.

[Jessika Glover · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dual timeline gothic undertow. Thompson manages an under the skin tale of motherhood and family and the harrowing not often enough exposed experience of domestic ab*se. The Agony of Her is a haunted house story filled with females who will do whatever it takes to protect their own. An excellent gothic book for lovers of any eerie horror, but especially those of the midwest gothic. Check your triggers, leave a light on, and hunker down.

[The Balcony Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an atmospheric, plot-driven story filled with just enough chilling foreboding and gothic details to make it horror but not horrendous. The female characters were likable but I thought they would be a bit more compelling if the story was just a bit more character-focused. This had all of the hallmarks of a great haunted house horror story with a few unexpected twists. Overall, this is a well-rounded horror read for gothic fans.

[Jodie Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

arc reader with netgalley!

A deliciously dark, eerily heart wrenching book! Worth every one of those 5 stars.

Such a unique storyline and I certainly loved the gothic vibes from characters to how the author described scenes.

Very well written. Stayed up way to late reading this book

[Tara Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! The sisters three was so creepy! I also loved the Gothic Victorian vibes. Thank you so much to Quill & Crows publishing and Cassandra L Thompson for this ARC.