On Sundays She Picked Flowers

By: Yah Yah Scholfield

Narrated by: Angel Pean, Patryce Williams, York Whitaker

“A ferociously talented writer. Scholfield writes with insight, beauty, and the wildness of real art.” —Victor LaValle

In this sinister and surreal Southern Gothic debut, a woman escapes into the uncanny woods of southern Georgia and must contend with ghosts, haints, and most dangerous of all, the truth about herself.

When Judith Rice fled her childhood home, she thought she’d severed her abusive mother’s hold on her. She didn’t have a plan or destination, just a desperate need to escape. Drawn to the forests of southern Georgia, Jude finds shelter in a house as haunted by its violent history as she is by her own.

Jude embraces the eccentricities of the dilapidated house, soothing its ghosts and haints, honoring its blood-soaked land. And over the next thirteen years, Jude blossoms from her bitter beginnings into a wisewoman, a healer.

But her hard-won peace is threatened when an enigmatic woman shows up on her doorstep. The woman is beautiful but unsettling, captivating but uncanny. Ensnared by her desire for this stranger, Jude is caught off guard by brutal urges suddenly simmering beneath her skin. As the woman stirs up memories of her escape years ago, Jude must confront the calls of violence rooted in her bloodline.

Haunting and thought-provoking, On Sunday She Picked Flowers explores retribution, family trauma, and the power of building oneself back up after breaking down.

“One of the most visceral, intense, brutal, and yet honest, works of horror I have read in a long time.” —P. Djèlí Clark

“Scholfield tells a story that’s as haunting as it is cathartic, as beautiful as it is devastating.” —Arts Atlanta

Plot Twists

I absolutely loved how this story turned out. A little gut wrenching, but amazing writing.

Two things could be true at once

I loved how grotesque and gruesome it was. It reflected conflicted feelings on pain, despite, love guilt. A great book on generational curses.

Gothic horror

Jude escapes abusive home to retreat to a haunted house in only to find her abusive past resurface when a woman finds her reclusive house. This mysterious woman ends up being a beast who can transform from bear to woman. Jude has to deal with her past, her violent nature and finds out her real father is.

Marketed Wrong

I finished On Sundays She Pick Flowers more confused than captivated. Marketed on Audible as “haunted” and “gothic,” I expected atmosphere, dread, and ghosts that would drive the narrative. Instead, I found a story unsure of its own identity.
The novel shifts abruptly in tone. At moments, it gestures toward gothic horror. Then it leans heavily into a sensual sapphic romance with bestial elements. The ghosts, though advertised as central, appear briefly and without real consequence. They function more as aesthetic suggestion than as a true source of fear or tension.
Genre blending can be powerful when intentional. Here, it felt scattered. I kept reading, hoping the haunting would finally anchor the story. It never did.
If you are looking for magical realism and sensuality, you may find something here. If you are seeking a true gothic horror, this will likely disappoint. For me, the disconnect between marketing and execution overshadowed everything else.