A Review of These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall
This part of the post does not contain spoilers.
The thing that keeps me coming back to horror is that good horror brings the audience down to a level of safe vulnerability. And my favorite monsters are an allegory for the systemic predation of society.
The Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall is a challenge to that predation. The story follows Helen Vaughn, an awkward young woman who has been summoned back to her family's ancestral home, Harrowstone Hall. But, like any good gothic horror, there are old, bloodsoaked secrets staining the roots of Harrow. Helen's family is stuffy, rich, patriarchal, and imperialistic. There's also a rumor of girls going missing...
The ambience is strong. The unease starts high, is outright horrific within a few chapters and manages to keep one upping itself. It's YA, but there's a lot of maturity here. The atmosphere is suffocating like any good gothic horror should be.
It is helpful when a character is likable, and I was rooting for Helen. I liked the side characters around Helen as well, who form her first ever group of friends (and first sapphic romance interest).
The audio version of the book was quite good. The mixing was on point, and it was never difficult to understand. The narrator, Megan Trout, brings Helen to life. You hear her happiness, her anger, her awe, and her pain.
But my favorite theme in the story was about identity that is woven throughout the entire narrative.
If you want to avoid spoilers, stop reading here. Otherwise, I'll see you below the spooky house in the woods. Oh, and as always, make sure to check the content warnings.
Click to skip below the spoilers
The Great God Pan
In the author's note at the conclusion, Kate Alice Marshall talks about one of the inspirations behind These Fleeting Shadows - the 1894 horror classic The Great God Pan by author and mystic Arthur Machen. This story has influenced many horror authors who came after, but it also is problematic in its handling of women. I'll let the author explain:
"The women of the tale are victims, tools, or monsters. If Dr Raymond, who stands placidly by, are our examples of humanity, maybe it's not such a bad thing to be a monster. These fleeting shadows is not a retelling of the great god pan, so much as it is an attempt to steal Helen Vaughn and give her back to herself." -Kate Alice Marshall (2022)
Aside from borrowing some character names, and some of the starting conditions, Marshall created her own work to let Helen Vaughn rescue and advocate for herself, which is quite beautiful.
The Great God Pan is a masterclass in creating tension. While little actually happens, the terror is palpable. However, its portrayal of women has not aged well.
In the climax of These Fleeting Shadows, the would-be male patriarch of the family is prepared to end the Vaughn's tradition of incestuous human sacrifice by locking Helen into a cycle of sacrificial murder. He speaks as if the murdering they had to do previously was a great burden for them. See, while the family wishes to end the pound of flesh they have to pay, they don’t want to lose the power that having a god under their thumb brings them.
Helen flips the narrative and exercises her agency. Which brings us to...
Helen is great
Helen's claiming of her own identity is tethered directly to the plot. She is the Great God. The question at the center of her development - which the external story was a reflection of - is identity. How much of Helen is Helen? Is she just the god of the dark star, or is she the awkward teenage girl?
It seems like she's both. And Marshall does a great job of exploring this central question. Even outside of the parts of the god that are not Helen, is the god a monster? I've always loved the idea that eldritch or alien entities were not inherently villainous, but that man’s own vices drove them into conflict. I know I've said elsewhere that I don't like stories where the 'real' monsters are just people, but it works here in no small part because Helen is legitimately an eldritch god. We are in her head exclusively, allowing us to know her thoughts as her mental self is torn in multiple directions.
In the climax, she combines with the old god and destroys the villainous members of her family. The shift is mid-narration, mid-chapter, and the instant tonal shift is so smooth, and so well done.
But my favorite part is the epilogue, where the part of the old god that is Helen claws back to the surface, and manages to leave the ruins of Harrowstone Hall. Stumbling away with her girlfriend, and knowing a family is waiting for her on the outside, Helen Vaughn moves toward a future of her own choosing.
Spoilers end here beneath the card below.
In conclusion - end spoilers
Overall, this book is a strong contender for my favorite read this Halloween season, and I heartily recommend it.
(Of course, I am only two books in…)
If you like atmospheric, paranormal horror, this book is worth your time.