Fitcher's brides

Set in 1843 in New York's Finger Lakes district, Fitcher's Brides follows the three Charter sisters — Vernelia, Amy, and Catherine — whose lives are upended when their father falls under the sway of Elias Fitcher, a mesmerizing preacher who has built a utopian religious community in the "Burned-Over District." Fitcher sets his sights on Vernelia first; after their hasty marriage she moves to his estate, separated from her family, and discovers the depths of his darkness and the rumored fates of his previous wives.

When Vernelia disappears, Fitcher marries Amy — and when Amy vanishes too, it falls to Kate to uncover what has really happened to her sisters and stop Fitcher's murderous spree. Unlike the original fairy tale, where Bluebeard takes a single bride, Fitcher takes three, and the novel examines each sister's particular vulnerability to his hold. A haunting tale of religious fervor gone wrong, grounded in the historic revivalism of the era.