The Unmothers Audiobook By Leslie J. Anderson cover art

The Unmothers

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Unmothers

By: Leslie J. Anderson
Narrated by: Chelsea Stephens
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.49

Buy for $17.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

In this emotionally raw and propulsive folk horror-mystery, a journalist goes to a small town and unravels a dark secret that the women have been keeping for generations.

Marshall is still trying to put the pieces together after the death of her husband. After she is involved in a terrible accident, her editor sends her to the small, backwards town of Raeford to investigate a clearly ridiculous rumor: that a horse has given birth to a healthy, human baby boy.

When Marshall arrives in Raeford, she finds an insular town that is kinder to the horses they are famous for breeding than to their own people. But when two horribly mangled bodies are discovered in a field—one a horse, one a human—she realizes that there might be a real story here.

As she’s pulled deeper into the town and its guarded people, her sense of reality is tipped on its head. Is she losing her grip? Or is this impossible story the key to a dark secret that has haunted the women of Raeford for generations?

Unbearably tense and utterly gripping, this atmospheric tale of female rage, bodily autonomy, and generational trauma hails the arrival of a masterful storyteller.

©2014 Leslie J. Anderson (P)2024 Blackstone Publishing Genre Fiction Horror Small Town & Rural

Critic reviews

GoodReads Pick

Paste Magazine Pick
All stars
Most relevant  
Slow paced & not in the way that builds tension. Just in the way that you’re like “so when is the folk horror actually coming into play.”

Kinda fun, but meandering

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
From the first line of the novel the story evokes incredibly powerful images of old things that lurk in the back of the mind and evoke old forgotten fears long since covered up and avoided being looked at.

Told through the lense of a main character that is quickly pulled into things both ancient and unnatural, this story made me feel connected to the characters and anxious for all parties involved. Beautifully written, this story elaborates upon the normal which then makes the small clues and unnatural things stand out all the more for how forbidding they feel, this book kept me glued to my phone the entire day listening to it.

A fantastic read, I cannot wait for more from this author.

Vivid descriptions and dark emotions

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A must-listen for fans of folk horror. Poetic, tense, and enthralling. Great performance and a story that’s hard to walk away from.

Atmospheric Folk Horror

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really don’t understand what the monster was supposed to do. Was it just that he was supposed to kill the people you hate? I don’t really understand what it had to do with the babies. Take the babies away? Turn them into horses? And under what conditions? I felt a little confused and disappointed because I felt like this book had a lot of potential.

Did I miss something?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A creepy folk legend comes to life in this frightening tale. Got to type more in order to post.

Creepy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An unusual and fascinating story. Not your everyday horror, which I do enjoy, but nice to have something so very different.

Unique concepts

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I'm delighted to read some new true folk horror. might also fall into Southern Gothic subgenre.

New Folk Horror

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So wonderfully descriptive and so soul touching. A book everyone should read, it really captures the existence of being a woman.

Beautifully raw writing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story was captivating and drew me in. This was one book I was sad to have to press pause on.

Wonderful story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The premise sounds off putting initially, however the story is well written and I kept wondering how they people were going to react next. The different point of views helped really bring the connections and the relationships to life!

Cozy, small town mystery

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.