Herculine: A Novel
Grace Byron
Oct 2025 · Sold by Simon and Schuster
star
4 reviews
Ebook
272
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
shoppingmode80% price drop on Oct 1
About this ebook
One of the Best Books of the Year
ELLE • Autostraddle • Debutiful • Chicago Review of Books • MUBI • Dazed • LitHub • Library Journal • them • Loosey
“Devious and diabolical, Herculine is a jaw-dropping and completely unpredictable literary bewitchment about trauma, desire, and identity.” —Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
A “witty, often-chilling, compulsively readable” (Vogue) horror debut following a woman who seeks refuge at an all-trans girl commune only to discover that demons haunt her fellow comrades—and she’s their next prey!
Herculine’s narrator has demons. Sure, her life includes several hallmarks of the typical trans girl sob story—conversion therapy, a string of shitty low-paying jobs, and even shittier exes—but she also regularly debates sleep paralysis demons that turn to mist soon after she wakes and carries vials of holy oil in her purse. Nothing, though, prepares her for the new malevolent force stalking her through the streets of New York City, more powerful than any she’s ever encountered. Desperate to escape this ancient evil, she flees to rural Indiana, where her ex-girlfriend started an all-trans girl commune in the middle of the woods.
The secluded camp, named after 19th-century intersex memoirist Herculine Barbin, is a scrappy operation, but the shared sense of community among the girls is a welcome balm to the narrator’s growing isolation and paranoia. Still, something isn’t quite right at Herculine. Girls stop talking as soon as she enters the room, everyone seems to share a common secret, and the books lining the walls of the library harbor strange cryptograms. Soon, what once looked like an escape becomes a trap all its own.
While trying to untangle the commune’s many mysteries, the narrator contends with disemboweled pigs, cultlike psychosexual rituals, and the horrors of communal breakfast. And before long, she discovers that her demons have followed her. And this time, they won’t be letting her go.
ELLE • Autostraddle • Debutiful • Chicago Review of Books • MUBI • Dazed • LitHub • Library Journal • them • Loosey
“Devious and diabolical, Herculine is a jaw-dropping and completely unpredictable literary bewitchment about trauma, desire, and identity.” —Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
A “witty, often-chilling, compulsively readable” (Vogue) horror debut following a woman who seeks refuge at an all-trans girl commune only to discover that demons haunt her fellow comrades—and she’s their next prey!
Herculine’s narrator has demons. Sure, her life includes several hallmarks of the typical trans girl sob story—conversion therapy, a string of shitty low-paying jobs, and even shittier exes—but she also regularly debates sleep paralysis demons that turn to mist soon after she wakes and carries vials of holy oil in her purse. Nothing, though, prepares her for the new malevolent force stalking her through the streets of New York City, more powerful than any she’s ever encountered. Desperate to escape this ancient evil, she flees to rural Indiana, where her ex-girlfriend started an all-trans girl commune in the middle of the woods.
The secluded camp, named after 19th-century intersex memoirist Herculine Barbin, is a scrappy operation, but the shared sense of community among the girls is a welcome balm to the narrator’s growing isolation and paranoia. Still, something isn’t quite right at Herculine. Girls stop talking as soon as she enters the room, everyone seems to share a common secret, and the books lining the walls of the library harbor strange cryptograms. Soon, what once looked like an escape becomes a trap all its own.
While trying to untangle the commune’s many mysteries, the narrator contends with disemboweled pigs, cultlike psychosexual rituals, and the horrors of communal breakfast. And before long, she discovers that her demons have followed her. And this time, they won’t be letting her go.
One of the Best Books of the Year
ELLE • Autostraddle • Debutiful • Chicago Review of Books • MUBI • Dazed • LitHub • Library Journal • them • Loosey
“Devious and diabolical, Herculine is a jaw-dropping and completely unpredictable literary bewitchment about trauma, desire, and identity.” —Eric ...
Discover more
Ratings and reviews
4 reviews
Lina Campbell
- Flag inappropriate
- Show review history
November 19, 2025
spoilers I loved this book at times I hated this book at times. this book is not for everyone. it's heavy. it's horny. it's somewhat scary. it's sad. It had me glued but disappointed. Some people will enjoy it, The romance sections were 10/10 The editing in chapter 1 through 3 needs work. This book the pacing of revelations about the protaganist backstory was very disjointed. The set up about the protaganist being so studied in Scripture feels somewhat moot. Same with the grandmother side plot. In a world where demons are confirmed to be real how does she still not call on Jesus. Who cast out legion in the gospels. I'm a 30 yr old trans fem episcopalian with orthodox leanings. faith is important to me. I wanted a story the author didn't intend to write. I was hoping maybe she'd find faith. maybe it was meant to be subversive. While the heroine overcomes her demons. the ending is too status quo and she doesn't seem to grow much as a person. even implying she is still haunted.
About the author
Grace Byron is a writer from the Midwest based in Queens. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, New York magazine, The Nation, and Vogue, among other outlets. Find her @EmoTrophyWife. Herculine is her debut novel.
Grace Byron is a writer from the Midwest based in Queens. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, New York magazine, The Nation, and Vogue, among other outlets. Find her @EmoTrophyWife. Herculine is her debut novel.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
