The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien
Book •
Brit Griffin's 'The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien' is a gothic novel set in the silver-boom landscape of early 1900s northern Ontario, centering on Modesto O’Brien, a fortune-teller and detective bent on revenge.
When the Nail sisters arrive and Lucy goes missing, O’Brien's investigation uncovers ancient myths, supernatural forces, and pervasive male violence tied to the ravaged land.
The novel explores themes of power, gender, ecological violence, and the persistence of haunting from personal and environmental traumas.
Griffin draws on local history and folklore—Irish and regional—to populate the landscape with liminal creatures and the psychological weight of the boomtown.
Richly atmospheric, the book blends literary gothic tradition with regional specificity and feminist reimaginings of monstrous power.
When the Nail sisters arrive and Lucy goes missing, O’Brien's investigation uncovers ancient myths, supernatural forces, and pervasive male violence tied to the ravaged land.
The novel explores themes of power, gender, ecological violence, and the persistence of haunting from personal and environmental traumas.
Griffin draws on local history and folklore—Irish and regional—to populate the landscape with liminal creatures and the psychological weight of the boomtown.
Richly atmospheric, the book blends literary gothic tradition with regional specificity and feminist reimaginings of monstrous power.
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Holly Ghadery
Brit Griffin, "The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien" (Latitude 46, 2025)
