At the age of ten, Annie Todd finds not only is her mother quite mad but that Annie has inherited an unusual legacy. The ghost of a young girl visits Annie in her new home deep in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where Annie's mother, Grace Jean, has hidden them away from the life they used to know. Annie finds an unlikely ally in Pearl, a young woman who keeps house in Annie's new home. The secrets that surround Pearl take Annie's mind off her loneliness and soon her family history is revealed to her. Ann Hite enthralls with this page-turning tale of betrayal and revenge, jealousy and sorrow, grave mistakes and deep wisdom-served up with authentic Southern-mountain style. Hite's ability to plumb the black depths of hatred and cruelty yet just as surely, to portray love and kindness, astonishes. Mesmerizing storytelling. ----Lynn Cullen, national bestselling author of MRS. POE and TWAIN'S END Raw, yet graceful, and so very beautifully written, WHERE THE SOULS GO strips Southern Gothic fiction down to its bones. ----Lesley Kagen, New York Times bestselling author of THE RESURRECTION OF TESS BLESSING In her flawlessly-rendered new novel, Ann Hite takes us back to Black Mountain, North Carolina, where the earth is as haunted as the hearts of its residents, those who remain and those who seek to escape the grip of its powerful history. Across generations and through the narratives of unforgettable women whose lives are forever stitched together by secrets, Hite navigates the complicated rivers of family loyalty, of heartache and hope, curses and cures, of what we know and what we can't explain, to deliver her readers into a world unlike no other, and yet so deeply familiar one can't help but feel sure they've known this place their whole lives. Hite's gift for story and her mastery of language is unmatched-and WHERE THE SOULS GO is her best yet. ----Erika Marks, author of IT COMES IN WAVES Ann Hite is the author of two novels and a novella. Her debut novel, GHOST ON BLACK MOUNTAIN, became a Townsend Prize Finalist and won Georgia Author of the Year in 2012. She is an active board member of the Georgia Writers Association. Hite lives in Marietta, Georgia.