Chills at Her Living Cry – Kevin St. Jarre

Set against the haunting backdrop of World War I, Chills at Her Living Cry follows Seraphine, a pregnant woman left to manage her French farm alone after her husband departs for battle. With only an elderly farmhand and a enigmatic 12-year-old boy named Olivier to assist her, Seraphine’s isolation deepens when tragedy strikes. A mare on the verge of foaling adds to the tension, but the birth of the foal spirals into something darker. As Seraphine becomes unnervingly fixated on the newborn horse, those around her—包括 a skeptical priest and the increasingly fearful Olivier—begin to question her sanity and the true nature of the foal.

A decade later, in Paris, a journalist pieces together the chilling events through the recollections of Alcide, the farmhand. The narrative weaves between past and present, unraveling a tale steeped in grief, obsession, and whispers of the supernatural. St. Jarre’s prose blends stark realism with eerie folklore, creating an atmosphere where the line between madness and truth blurs. The novel explores how trauma reshapes identity, the weight of secrets, and the stories we tell to make sense of the inexplicable.