The Unsuitable

A Novel

By: Molly Pohlig

Narrated by: Esther Wane

Molly Pohlig's The Unsuitable is a fierce blend of Gothic ghost story and Victorian novel of manners that’s also pitch perfect for our current cultural moment.

Iseult Wince is a Victorian woman perilously close to spinsterhood whose distinctly unpleasant father is trying to marry her off. She is awkward, plain, and most pertinently, believes that her mother, who died in childbirth, lives in the scar on her neck.

Iseult’s father parades a host of unsuitable candidates before her, the majority of whom Iseult wastes no time frightening away. When at last her father finds a suitor desperate enough to take Iseult off his hands - a man whose medical treatments have turned his skin silver - a true comedy of errors ensues.

As history’s least conventional courtship progresses into talk of marriage, Iseult’s mother becomes increasingly volatile and uncontrollable, and Iseult is forced to resort to extreme, often violent, measures to keep her in check.

As the day of the wedding nears, Iseult must decide whether (and how) to set the course of her life, with increasing interference from both her mother and father, tipping her ever closer to madness, and to an inevitable, devastating final act.

©2020 Molly Pohlig (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"[Esther] Wane neatly conveys moments of dark humor against the looming tone of Gothic horror. Although Iseult dominates the narrative, Wane uses distinct tones, pacing, and inflections to convey the housekeeper’s motherly fussing, Jacob’s gentle kindness, Beatrice’s cajoling harangues, and her father’s emotional cruelty. Wane creates a haunting emotional roller coaster as Iseult’s tale explores parental love and the obligations of marriage." —Booklist

Exquisitely Written

Pohlig beautifully creates a portrait of an unseemly character who makes you feel uncomfortable. Yet you end up sympathizing and rooting for her. Thoroughly enjoyed this book!

More than a great gothic read!

I loved this so much! Words to describe this...gothic, unsettling, beautiful, bloody, and macabre. It is a gothic ghost story of sorts with a twist. The narrator was absolutley perfect! I highly recommend this!

That ending though!

Mental health is no joke. I literally cried over this character's pain. It's like the Yellow Wallpaper on steroids!

Harsh much?

This book is slow. Very slow.
Is it high on my recommend list? No, no it's not.

The main character is a sad girl, who can't catch a break, and really nothing happens through the entire book.
I wasn't a fan of the reader, she did some really weird voices, most of the sounded awkward to me, and I didn't enjoy it.

In general if you like slow, going nowhere stories, then this is the one for you, but if you need a little more plot then don't get this book.

I only finished it, because I wanted to know what more could this author put her character through.