The Quelling and An Unclean Place

by Barbara Barrow

Discover the haunting work of Barbara Barrow in this two-book bundle featuring her complete novel collection. This bundle will ship the week of May 8, 2023.

The Quelling

Addie and Dorian have always been together. Diagnosed with a rare psychiatric condition and accused of murder in childhood, the sisters have spent most of their lives in a locked ward under the supervision of eccentric researcher Dr. Lark.

But Dr. Lark sees the sisters as key to the completion of his revolutionary cure. As his “treatments” grow increasingly bizarre, their only lifeline may be a ward nurse with troubles of her own.

An Unclean Place

Dawn and her best friend Amber are students at Stillwater School, an experimental academy that’s the laughingstock of Atlanta. When Ms. Ella arrives to teach the eighth grade, she shakes up the school with her radical ideas and violent discipline, building an enthusiastic following and even winning the loyalty of rebellious Dawn.

The imprint she leaves on her students is both profound and damaging, long after scandal shuts down the school and leads to Ms. Ella’s arrest. Dawn pursues a destructive path into Ms. Ella’s family, while Amber embraces a solitary, bookish life. Years later, after Dawn’s mysterious death, Amber sets off to find her estranged former teacher. In the process, she uncovers a shocking story of narcissism, art, betrayal, and murder.