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WORK TITLE: Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue
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WEBSITE: http://www.katepearsall.com/
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PERSONAL
Female.
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CAREER
Writer. Has worked as a copywriter.
AVOCATIONS:Museumgoing, exploring.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
[open new]Author Kate Pearsall has tapped into her Appalachian heritage and love for folklore in her fantasy fiction for young adults. She was raised alongside sisters who made for an appreciative audience for her earliest efforts at magic-laden storytelling. Her mother grew up in West Virginia, and Pearsall often clamored for bedtime stories about her mother’s Appalachian childhood. Part of the inspiration for her debut young-adult novel came from the realization that, millions of years ago, the Appalachian Mountains and Scottish Highlands were part of the same range. Pearsall related to Connie Read of YA Books Central that with this discovery, she knew she “wanted to write something that explored the intersection of the folklore and folk magic traditions between those two places.” The titles of Pearsall’s debut and its sequel feature the monikers of noteworthy Appalachian plants.
Bittersweet in the Hollow introduces the four supernaturally talented James sisters of Bittersweet Farm, West Virginia, who serve up food at the family restaurant by day and useful magic by night. Third sister Linden has the ability to feel and taste other people’s emotions and have an influence on them. A year ago on the summer solstice, while attempting to summon the Moth-Winged Man—a local legend who may have once been involved in a boy’s disappearance—Linden got swept up in mystery: she was found a day later, injured but with no recollection of what happened. Now, boyfriend Cole has grown chilly, townspeople find her suspicious, and the disappearance of friend Dahlia leads to a terrible discovery. Linden, her three sisters, and forthright Aunt Sissy hope to unravel the mystery, with flashbacks meanwhile re-creating the amnesiac drama as Linden gradually recollects it.
Reviewing Pearsall’s debut in School Library Journal, Tamara Saarinen affirmed that the “writing is tense and suspenseful with each new discovery bringing more questions,” as the “compelling story” unspools with the revelation of secrets in the James family as well as in town. A Kirkus Reviews writer proclaimed Bittersweet in the Hollow to be a “multifaceted book” that excels as a “satisfying paranormal mystery, a family narrative …, and a paean to the immense Appalachian forest” and its communities. Further commending Pearsall’s “luscious prose,” the reviewer praised her debut as “complex, well-realized, and engrossing.”
Taking the lead in Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue is eighteen-year-old second sister Rowan James, who can smell untruths. As the town of Caball Hollow grows antsy, with poachers stealing ginseng, content creators seeking the Moth-Winged Man, and people losing and forgetting things, Rowan is dispatched to a Forest Service lookout station to take a breather. Surprisingly showing up there is Hadrian Fitch, the farmhand with whom she clashed in the previous novel, who disappeared weeks ago, and who is now dazed and bleeding. The perplexity in town, Hadrian’s plight, and increasing peril for Rowan prove tied together as more secrets come to light.
Enjoying the “atmospheric writing” and “simmering tension between Hadrian and Rowan,” Saarinen in School Library Journal hailed Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue as an “engrossing supernatural story with a nice slow burn romance.” A Kirkus Reviews writer appreciated how Pearsall’s second “gothic Appalachian mystery … weaves together complex characters and storylines”: the plot is “intricately crafted, … the pacing is steady yet filled with tension,” and the novel proves “sparkling and darkly atmospheric.”[close new]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2023, review of Bittersweet in the Hollow; December 15, 2024, review of Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue.
School Library Journal, October, 2023, Tamara Saarinen, review of Bittersweet in the Hollow, p. 85; December, 2024, Tamara Saarinen, review of Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue, p. 128.
ONLINE
Kate Pearsall website, https://www.katepearsall.com (June 29, 2025).
Nerd Daily, https://thenerddaily.com/ (January 5, 2025), Elise Dumpleton, “Q&A: Kate Pearsall, Author of ‘Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue.’”
YA Books Central, https://yabookscentral.com/ (October 10, 2023), Connie Reid, “Interview with Bittersweet in the Hollow (Kate Pearsall).”
Kate Pearsall is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Bittersweet in the Hollow. When she’s not writing, she can be found willfully indulging her curiosity by disappearing into museums, exploring new places, and becoming deeply submerged into obscure topics that inevitably make their way into future stories.
Q&A: Kate Pearsall, Author of ‘Lies On The Serpent’s Tongue’
Elise Dumpleton·Writers Corner·January 5, 2025·4 min read
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We chat with author Kate Pearsall about Lies On The Serpent’s Tongue, which is the haunting companion to Bittersweet in the Hollow following a girl who can smell the lies of others as she uncovers the incendiary mysteries of her small Appalachian town.
Hi, Kate! Welcome back! How has the past year been since we last spoke?
Hi! Thanks for having me. It’s been an absolutely wild and wonderful year since the release of my debut novel, Bittersweet in the Hollow. I wrote it mostly tucked away in a room alone, and I knew how much I loved it, but definitely questioned if maybe it was too strange a concept, or a mix of too many genres, and if it would find its audience. And then it went out into the world and received some lovely starred reviews, and was selected as an Indie Next Pick, a 2024 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick, and a Kirkus Best YA Book of 2023, which was all beyond my wildest dreams. But my favorite part has been hearing from readers who really connected with it about how much it meant to them and how excited they are for the next book.
With it being the new year, have you set any goals for the year?
I’d really love to meet more readers this year, especially in places I haven’t been before, so that’s a big a goal for the new year.
Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue is the sequel to Bittersweet in the Hollow and it’s out January 7th 2025! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
One of my favorite things about having each book told from the viewpoint of a different sister is that they can be read completely independently, so Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue can function as a sequel or a standalone!
Five words is so tough, maybe: haunting, uncanny, incendiary, treacherous, and spellbinding
What can readers expect?
My editor and I jokingly refer to Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue as 2 Bitter 2 Sweet because we wanted to take all the things we loved about Bittersweet in the Hollow and dial them up. There are more twists and turns, more eerie folklore legends, more sisterhood, more mystery, and more romance.
Where did the inspiration for Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue come from?
Truly, the inspiration began with Rowan herself. She burst onto the page in Bittersweet in the Hollow with her brazen attitude and fiery temper and that was where I started when I was dreaming up Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue. I knew I wanted to explore another Appalachian folk legend and also that this story would pick up a few weeks after the ending of the first book, which put us into ginseng season in West Virginia and opened up a lot of fun plotlines to explore.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?
One of the elements I really wanted to explore in Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue was what it meant to see the world through Rowan’s eyes instead of Linden’s and how her perspective would change things. To that end, one of my favorite scenes to write was a flashback to a situation that happened in the previous book, but this time we see it from Rowan’s perspective and it adds so much nuance and detail to her motivations that we didn’t get before when we were observing what happened from Linden’s perspective.
See also
Q&A: Kellan McDaniel, Author of ‘Till Death’
Did you face any challenges? How did you overcome them?
Second books are notoriously difficult and Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue was no exception. Part of it, and likely what I struggled with the most, is that suddenly there were these expectations. I was no longer writing just for myself, and didn’t want to let down anyone who had loved my first book and was looking forward to the second. But writing Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue was a huge growth experience for me as an author. One thing that really helped was focusing, not on what would happen when the book was finished—which was mostly out of my control—but on the joy I found in exploring Rowan’s character and the story I needed to tell.
Were there any key lessons learned between working on the two books?
Yes, I learned so much! A big one was about how the publication process itself works. And also writing an entire novel from start to finish on deadline, unlike Bittersweet in the Hollow, which I wrote before I was agented or under contract. My background is in copywriting, so I thought I was very used to writing to a deadline, but this was a whole different thing. Especially because the publication schedule meant that I was working on Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue while we were launching Bittersweet in the Hollow and my first ever reviews were coming in. But my editor at Putnam is wonderful and kindly guided me through the process with supernatural levels of patience and understanding.
What’s next for you?
Nothing I’m allowed to talk about yet! But I will say watch for more twisty stories about deep, dark woods, mysterious circumstances, and magical sisterhoods coming soon.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up in 2025?
My TBR list for 2025 is packed with so many amazing books! I was lucky enough to ready early copies of The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith and The Wildest Things by Andrea Hannah and both were incredible! I’m also really looking forward to All the Stars Align by Gretchen Schreiber, Boys with Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell, and When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur.
Interview With Bittersweet in the Hollow (Kate Pearsall)
October 10, 2023No Comments
Written by Connie Reid, Site Manager and Staff Reviewer
Posted in Interviews, News & Updates
Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Kate Pearsall (Bittersweet in the Hollow)!
Meet the Author: Kate Pearsall
Kate Pearsall developed a love for storytelling at a young age, often spinning tales of magical worlds and exciting adventures with her sisters. When she’s not writing, she can be found willfully indulging her curiosity by disappearing into museums, exploring new places, and becoming deeply submerged into obscure topics that inevitably make their way into future work.
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About the Book: Bittersweet in the Hollow
In this beautifully dark and enthralling YA, four sisters with unusual talents investigate a mysterious disappearance in their secluded Appalachian town. For fans of House of Hollow and Wilder Girls!
In rural Caball Hollow, surrounded by the vast National Forest, the James women serve up more than fried green tomatoes at the Harvest Moon diner, where the family recipes are not the only secrets.
Like her sisters, Linden was born with an unusual ability. She can taste what others are feeling, but this so-called gift soured her relationship with the vexingly attractive Cole Spencer one fateful night a year ago . . . A night when Linden vanished into the depths of the Forest and returned with no memories of what happened, just a litany of questions—and a haze of nightmares that suggest there’s more to her story than simply getting lost.
Now, during the hottest summer on record, another girl in town is gone, and the similarities to last year’s events are striking. Except, this time the missing girl doesn’t make it home, and when her body is discovered, the scene unmistakably spells murder.
As tempers boil over, Linden enlists the help of her sisters to find what’s hiding in the forest . . . before it finds her. But as she starts digging for truth—about the Moth-Winged Man rumored to haunt the Hollow, about her bitter rift with Cole, and even about her family—she must question if some secrets are best left buried.
Amazon * B&N * Indiebound
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
The very first seeds were likely planted long before I even realized, when I would beg my mother for bedtime stories about her childhood growing up in West Virginia. Many years later, I discovered that the Scottish Highlands and the Appalachian Mountains were once part of the same ancient range and I knew I wanted to write something that explored the intersection of the folklore and folk magic traditions between those two places. As I researched, I began to wonder if, when the first Scots-Irish immigrants arrived in Appalachia, to mountains that looked like home, the lore they brought with them could have been more than just stories. And that’s when the idea for the book really took root.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
It’s so hard to pick just one because each of the characters felt so vivid to me from the moment they burst onto the page. I especially love the four James sisters and how different they each are, with their own unique perspectives on their family history, home, and special gifts, yet how unbreakable the bond is between them. I’m one of three sisters and the sibling relationship was really important for me to get right. That said, I also really loved writing Hillard Been. He wasn’t even in my outline, but he just kept showing up.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
The idea for the novel came first, but the title came to me very early in the drafting process and it never changed. Both Bittersweet in the Hollow and the second book, Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue, feature the names of native Appalachian plants that have a specific purpose within the story. And in West Virginia, a “hollow” is a small, sheltered valley between mountains. Spelled “hollow” on road signs, you’ll most likely hear it pronounced “holler” in practice and there’s a deep connection to the land and those who came before for the people who live there.
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
To trust my instincts. When I was first attempting to write a novel, I would try to map out the beats without a full grasp of what they meant and I couldn’t understand why everything felt so disconnected, like a series of events rather than a story. It wasn’t until I ignored the way I was “supposed” to do it and instead just trusted the instincts I’d developed from a lifetime of reading that everything clicked. No two writers have the exact same process. Mine changes from book to book. Take the advice that works for you and ignore the rest.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
Jessica Jenkins, the cover designer, and Imogen Oh, the amazing artist who created the cover art, worked so hard to capture the story with the right balance of eerie, magical, and Appalachian. All the natural elements—the luna moth, the American bittersweet, and the rhododendrons—are native to West Virginia and feature in the story. And I really love that some of the leaves are dead or dying, a touch that feels rather foreboding.
YABC: What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2023?
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez. Isabel was my Pitch Wars mentor in 2019 and she’s amazing. She has such a deep understanding of story and her instinct for romantic tension is unmatched.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
I’m hard at work on my second novel, Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue, which takes place after the events of Bittersweet in the Hollow and is told by a different sister.
YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?
It’s important to treat periods of rest as being just as integral to the creative process as periods of drafting or revising. Remember to take time to refill your creative well. Sometimes you have to write the completely wrong story before you find the right one. So much of publishing is out of our control, but the time you spend improving your craft is never wasted.
Book’s Title: Bittersweet in the Hollow
Author: Kate Pearsall
Release Date: 10.10.2023
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Genre: Horror, Romance, Dark Fantasy, Supernatural, Siblings
Age Range: 12 and up
PEARSALL, Kate. Bittersweet in the Hollow. 384p. Putnam. Oct. 2023. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780593531020.
Gr 9 Up--The James women are special; some people in Bittersweet Hollow, WV, even call them witches. The talent of Linden, the third of four sisters, is feeling and tasting people's emotions and the ability to influence people's feelings. The previous summer, she disappeared on Solstice when she and classmates gathered in the woods to call up the Moth-Winged Man, a local folk legend in their parts. She was found suffering from amnesia. A year later, Linden discovers her friend Dahlia's body in the woods and is determined to find her killer. Dahlia's case is tied to a young boy who went missing in the same area almost 20 years ago, and the Moth-Winged Man myth. The teen's investigation leads to her family being vilified, their business vandalized, and her life threatened. Throughout, she struggles with her relationship with Cole, the local golden boy, who seems to shun her since her disappearance. Aided by her three sisters and their supernatural talents, along with their Aunt Sissy's willingness to share family secrets, Linden slowly unravels where folklore meets reality and the sacrifices her family has made, lire story flashes back and forth from the present to the night she went missing as she recovers more of her memories. The writing is tense and suspenseful with each new discovery bringing more questions. VERDICT A compelling story as the James women struggle to deal with their own secrets, and in the process, reveal some the darkest ones in town. A first purchase.--Tamara Saarinen
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
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Saarinen, Tamara. "PEARSALL, Kate. Bittersweet in the Hollow." School Library Journal, vol. 69, no. 10, Oct. 2023, p. 85. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A766727759/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f632d5f2. Accessed 7 June 2025.
Pearsall, Kate BITTERSWEET IN THE HOLLOW Putnam (Teen None) $18.99 10, 10 ISBN: 9780593531020
Mystery and magic unfold in a West Virginian town surrounded by Appalachian forest.
The James women are insular not by choice but because they are feared as well as loved by the small-town denizens who patronize their restaurant by day and purchase their magic by night. Narrator Linden, one of "four sisters born in as many years," can taste other people's emotions; the women in her family each have their own small but potent powers. But no magic can repair the fallout from Linden's disappearance last summer solstice. She went into the woods and tried to summon the local bogeyman called the Moth-Winged Man, only to vanish for a day and be found injured and with no memory of what had occurred. Her father has moved out, her nightmares won't stop, and suspicion trails her, especially when another girl disappears a year later. This multifaceted book successfully manages to be many things: a satisfying paranormal mystery, a family narrative examining the damage of secrets kept and the ways in which silence allows violence to grow, and a paean to the immense Appalachian forest and the small communities nestled between the trees. Luscious prose and a compelling setting make the book hard to put down as the mystery slowly and steadily unfolds over the course of just a few days. Main characters read white.
Complex, well-realized, and engrossing. (Fantasy. 12-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Pearsall, Kate: BITTERSWEET IN THE HOLLOW." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A762668840/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4b5c680b. Accessed 7 June 2025.
PEARSALL, Kate. Lies on the Serpent's Tongue. 320p. Putnam. Jan. 2025. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9780593531051.
Gr 9 Up--This novel begins a few months after the events of Bittersweet in the Hollow and is told from the perspective of Rowan, the James sister who smell lies and in the previous book fought with Hadrian, their farm helper. As Caball Hollow deals a content creator searching for the Moth-Winged man, ginseng poachers, and townspeople who are losing items and memories, Rowan finds her temper flaring. Her grandmother banishes her to a Forest Service outlook station. At the station, Rowan finds creatures that don't belong--an adder and magpies. A car accident resulting in an unclaimed body and an unconscious man found in the woods seem connected to strange events she witnesses in the forest and in town. When Juniper, the youngest sister, contacts the accident victim with disastrous consequences, Rowan finds herself seeking out Hadrian's help. He is part of the link the James family has with the Bone Tree and Otherworld. Slowly, Rowan peels back layers of deception, learns more about family members, and navigates tricky deals with Hadrian to save her family. The simmering tension between Hadrian and Rowan leads to romance as they work together. The atmospheric writing captures the impact of the supernatural on real-world events. A surprise at the end hints at another book about the James family. VERDICT An engrossing supernatural story with a nice slow burn romance. The first book does not need to be read but provides readers with a better understanding of the characters. Strong first buy.--Tamara Saarinen
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
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Saarinen, Tamara. "PEARSALL, Kate. Lies on the Serpent's Tongue." School Library Journal, vol. 70, no. 12, Dec. 2024, pp. 128+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A836879496/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=426d73f8. Accessed 7 June 2025.
Pearsall, Kate LIES ON THE SERPENT'S TONGUE Putnam (Teen None) $19.99 1, 7 ISBN: 9780593531051
An 18-year-old girl is confronted with the mysteries and magic of her small town.
Rowan James and her sisters, born with magical gifts, live in Caball Hollow, West Virginia, where the townspeople treat them with a mixture of awe and suspicion. Rowan has a special ability to smell lies, so she becomes confused when she can't detect dishonesty where she expects to find it. This discovery leads her to realize that people in town are losing not only personal belongings but also their memories. While staying in a remote cabin and volunteering with the Forest Service at a fire lookout tower, Rowan is stunned when Hadrian Fitch, the farmhand who worked for her family and vanished weeks earlier, reappears on her doorstep, unconscious and bleeding. As more strange occurrences unfold--including a death tied to the mysterious events sweeping through town--Rowan finds herself at the heart of an escalating mystery. Her investigation grows increasingly dangerous as startling secrets come to light, and she must determine who in Caball Hollow can be trusted: Hadrian, a group of paranormal YouTubers, or even her own family members. This gothic Appalachian mystery works as a stand-alone but weaves together complex characters and storylines from 2023'sBittersweet in the Hollow. The plot is intricately crafted, with key information held back until the novel's explosive conclusion. The pacing is steady yet filled with tension, ensuring that each revelation lands with an impact. The main characters are cued white.
Sparkling and darkly atmospheric.(Supernatural thriller. 13-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Pearsall, Kate: LIES ON THE SERPENT'S TONGUE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A819570123/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b220917b. Accessed 7 June 2025.