Amphibian

Sissy has long lived an isolated itinerant existence with her single mother, Mou, who suffers from bouts of debilitating depression. The pair attempt a fresh start in a small town in the damp West Country of England, where Sissy strikes up a secret friendship with the charismatic, apparently fearless, Tegan.

The two of them soon become so close that they feel like one being, wrapped around each other in bed at sleepovers, sending photographs to men they meet online in the MSN chat rooms of the 1990s, and scaring each other with reports of the girls being snatched at night in their small town.

Sissy and
Tegan seek to shed their innocence with a "spell" that marks Sissy's passage from the mythic woods of childhood into a girlhood in which she is both in danger and deemed dangerous. In its aftermath, Sissy is confronted with past tragedies and present-day traumas, as her mother's mental illness escalates and Sissy's actions draw the unfortunate attention of the authorities. All the while her body beings to undergo strange changes, in a transformation that quickly turns from thrilling to harrowing.

With deft notes of magical realism and a constant psychological acuity, Amphibians is a contemporary treasure for fans of Julie Buntin, Carmen Maria Machado and Melissa Febos.