Publishers Weekly
01/08/2024
Thrash, best known for the YA graphic memoir Honor Girl, makes her adult debut with a gripping story about the Satanic panic of the 1980s and its impact on a New Hampshire family. Lacey Bond has always known she’s a lesbian, thanks in part to the freethinking encouraged by her hippie parents, who run a home daycare called Rainbow Kids. In 1990, when Lacey is 13, her parents are arrested and charged with sexual abuse. The complaints from victims’ parents include accusations of Satanism, though the physical evidence amounts to little more than some candles and crystals belonging to Lacey’s mother. During the lengthy trial, Lacey’s older sister, Éclair, is murdered, and their parents are blamed by the media, though no one is charged. As the harrowing, nonlinear story unfolds, the reader learns more about what led to the case against the Bonds and the details behind Éclair’s murder, all while Lacey attempts to find solace with her girlfriend Dylan, who is emotionally and physically abused by her bigoted family. Thrash convinces in her wrenching portrait of a community’s intolerance and the resilience of queer love. Readers will be stirred. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"Stirring . . . . Part mystery, part unsparing social commentary and part queer love story, Lacey’s personal history reads a little like Demon Copperhead’s—if he were a lesbian in New Hampshire." — Washington Post
"This propulsive mindblower of a novel makes narrative hay out of the Satanic Panic of the ‘80s—but it’s also a terrifying murder mystery, and even a quirky but nuanced queer coming-of-age novel . . . . A darkly hilarious, risk-taking riot of ripped-from-the-headlines plotlines with real, cut-to-the-quick pain, this wild ride is unforgettably great. — Amazon Best of the Month Pick
"Thrash does a terrific job of making every character both singular and nuanced . . . . Thrash turns trauma, injustice, and hideous bad fortune into a story about resilience, reinvention, and love." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A gripping story . . . . Readers will be stirred" — Publishers Weekly
“In this stunning and intense adult debut from YA author Thrash, Lacey is a nuanced character whose complex inner life as both a teen and a woman injects urgency into every hurdle she faces. At once a rivetingly dramatic procedural and an intimate portrait of a relationship forged in trauma, Rainbow Black boldly confronts the lingering shadows of guilt, betrayal, and secrecy.” — Booklist
"Darkly funny, haunting and captivating." — Booktrib
"I've loved Maggie Thrash's work for years, and Rainbow Black is going to set so many new hearts aflame—murder, intrigue, queer love, dark humor AND satanic panic? Welcome to the Maggie Thrash Fan Club, world!" — Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow
"This is a welcomed delight to queer readers who crave murderous melodrama packed within a coming-of-age novel that's constantly (and literally) hyperventilating with lurid excess and extraordinary detail. Lacey is a resilient character to cheer for." — Bay Area Reporter
"Rainbow Black is exactly what a novel ought to be—funny and harrowing, weird, wise and incredibly deft. I was not expecting to be as moved as I was, or to spend hours after finishing thinking about what I'd read. Come for the Satanic Panic, stay for the wine fraud." — Julia Armfield, author of Our Wives Under the Sea
"I’m sorry, Satanic Panic and a queer main character? I don’t know what I did to deserve this incredible novel, but I eagerly accept it." — Betches
"Rainbow Black is an addictive, searing, high-octane triumph, an imaginative tour de force about one woman’s tireless desire to be free." — Red Carpet Crash
"Strikingly relevant to the present . . . . Creating characters like Lacey is what Thrash does best. She takes a character who seems unremarkable and throws them into the deep end, left to fend for themselves in a swirling pit of torment as despair. And even though they shouldn’t, they somehow always manage to keep going forward." — Autostraddle
"Why I loved it: The focus on the harm caused by the Satanic Panic in the ’80s, the accurate ’80s and ’90s backdrop, the characters, dark humor, and the broad reader appeal that includes mystery/crime readers and contemporary readers who may not think they like mysteries!" — Book Riot
“This book will leave you outraged and weary of a legal system that abuses its power for nothing more than public appeasement. Five rainbow-colored stars for this one!" — The Southern Bookseller Review
"A layered novel that questions identity as much as it does collective responsibility, Rainbow Black offers something for any reader to love. At its core, it is a coming-of-age tale, its lovable and quirky main character embodying our own insecurities and desires to feel loved, no matter where we come from or who we become." — The Big Thrill
"Hope Newhouse's gripping narration builds the mystery and listeners' emotions equally, balancing the complex themes with dark humor . . . . Newhouse narrates Lacey's stream of consciousness with finely crafted vulnerability, capturing the pain, perseverance, and hope of the main character's memorable life." — AudioFile on the audiobook
“Narrator Hope Newhouse narrates YA author Thrash’s (Lost Soul, Be at Peace) adult debut, offering an affecting portrait of young Lucy as she deals with the fallout from her parents’ trial, the death of a loved one, and the threat to her carefully reinvented adult self. Despite the heavy topics, plenty of awkward and laugh-out-loud moments add levity. VERDICT This unputdownable murder mystery/love story will have listeners hooked. Perfect for fans of Janelle Brown and Liane Moriarty.” — Library Journal on audiobook edition
"Rainbow Black seamlessly balances complex themes while remaining ridiculously entertaining. Maggie Thrash is a strong literary voice and an immense talent." — Ione Gamble, author of Poor Little Sick Girls and founding editor in chief of Polyester zine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2024-02-03
An acclaimed author of YA fiction (Lost Soul, Be at Peace, 2018, etc.) writes her first novel for adults.
In the summer of 1990, Lacey Bond’s life is upended when her parents are accused of committing ritual abuse at their New Hampshire day care center. She and her older sister, Éclair, do their best to take care of themselves and defend their mother and father, but Lacey ends up in a group home, from which she eventually escapes to help her best—only—friend. It might be hard to imagine how Lacey’s life could get worse from here, but it does. Perhaps the first thing to know about this novel is that anyone picking it up because of the satanic panic hook is likely to be disappointed. The fact that her parents are tried and convicted of crimes that are as preposterous as they are horrific certainly makes an impact on Lacey’s life, but it’s a small part of her story. Thrash packs so much into 400 pages that this novel shouldn’t work. There’s courtroom drama and family drama. There’s murder and mystery. There’s a romance complicated by, among other things, the threat of extradition. And holding it all together is an oddly shaped queer coming-of-age narrative. It does work, though, because of Thrash’s ability to create compellingly unique characters, starting with her protagonist. It’s not difficult to feel sympathy for young Lacey. Not only does she endure terrible tragedy at a young age, but every grownup in her life fails her in one way or another—sometimes spectacularly, sometimes ruthlessly. This is not to say that adolescent Lacey is one-dimensional and, when she becomes an adult, it’s easy to see her as the product of her experiences. Beyond this, Thrash does a terrific job of making every character both singular and nuanced. Éclair, for example, is a wonder, and the lawyer Aaron Feingold is a tragicomic masterpiece.
Thrash turns trauma, injustice, and hideous bad fortune into a story about resilience, reinvention, and love.
