Dark Matters

A haunting novel of political torture, lesbian identity, and the enduring power of memory.

In a dawn raid, Kate is arrested. She is imprisoned, beaten, kept awake, and tortured. She has no idea what has happened to her partner, Mercedes. The uncertainty plagues her. It is as if she has no history. Trying to retain her sense of self in a swirling psychic state, she invents stories and remembers stories of her mother, her grandmothers and aunts, the rich mythic traditions of Greece. She rearranges them and writes poems in her head.

After Kate's death, her niece, Desi, is going through boxes of papers, trying to make sense of her aunt's life. Desi travels to South America and unlocks the history of Mercedes' family: a history of political torture, disappearance, and escape. Susan Hawthorne's dark story uncovers the hidden histories of organized violence against lesbians. She traces fear and uncertainty and finds a narrative of resilience created through the writing of poems. For readers interested in LGBTQ+ literature, political thrillers, and the strength of the human spirit, Dark Matters is a poetic and terrifying exploration of how we pass on stories hidden by both shame and resistance to shame.