Today I talk to author Sara Flannery Murphy, author of The Possessions. This is a very relevant and riveting thriller. The Possessions is her first novel. Her shorter work has appeared in The Guardian, LitHub, Storyglossia and Tammy. Todays episode is one of my favorites so far! It was a really fun and engaging conversation. We talk about what types of things inspired the story of her debut novel, growing up in Eureka Springs, Arkansas-an artist community in the Ozark Mountains and what it was like transitioning to university after being homeschooled.

The Possessions ( book description taken from https://saraflannerymurphy.com/)

“The Elysian Society is an underground organization where grieving clients reconnect with lost loved ones. The employees, known as bodies, spend their days in a numb routine as they channel the dead. Edie has worked at the Elysian Society for five years. She’s a loyal employee, turning blankness into an art form. When she takes on an enigmatic new client, her quiet life cracks open.

As Edie grows closer to Patrick Braddock, moving deeper into his life, she learns unsettling details about the death of his wife, Sylvia. Strangers start to seem familiar; memories leak into waking life. Edie can’t tell whether this is Sylvia’s growing influence or her own walls breaking down. Secrets are circling closer, threatening the precarious balance that Patrick and Edie have created.”