On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield
Judith Rice has never left the house she grew up in. At forty-one years old, Jude has lived under her mother’s roof for the entirety of her life. Her only companions are her emotionally and physically abusive mother and her aunts, both of whom refuse to intervene in the violence that Jude faces at the hands of her mother. It’s only after a deeply violent interaction that Jude takes her mother’s car and starts driving as fast as she can in the opposite direction of the only home she’s ever known.
Jude ends up in the Southern Georgia town of Whitnee, where she stops due to exhaustion. A White woman who runs a local inn contemptuously allows Jude to sleep a couple of hours in a closet, then directs Jude to lodgings deep in the nearby Okenfenokee woods. She does this knowing that the house has been vacant for years because no one has been able to stand living there, with legends of ghosts, malevolence, and strangeness shrouding the structure. Jude traverses the woods, but not without running into the strange beast-creature that lives within. Jude feels lucky to escape with her life and seeks shelter in the house simply known as “Candle.” Jude and Candle are initially wary of each other, but come to recognize a similar spirit in one another.
For many years, Jude lives in the woods, undisturbed and alone––except for the creature in the woods. Now more settled in her new surroundings, Jude has begun to leave offerings for the creature, who returns the favor by bringing Jude gifts of dead animals to sustain herself. Jude enjoys her solitary life, passing the time by quilting, reading, picking flowers, and sunbathing at a nearby body of water.
Thirteen years after Jude first set foot in the woods, another woman appears. Nemoira instantly captures Jude’s attention, and Nemoira moves into Candle alongside Jude; but something is not quite right about Jude’s new companion, and both Jude and the house know it. Then, tragedy strikes: Nemoira suddenly disappears for three months and Jude fears the worst, mourning the only friend she’s ever known. It’s not until Nemoira reappears that Jude finally demands answers and realizes the biggest secret of the woods is what they’ve been hiding all these years.
ON SUNDAYS SHE PICKED FLOWERS by Yah Yah Scholfield is a haunting, visceral debut literary horror novel that thrilled and shocked me in equal parts. I was deeply invested in Jude’s story, artfully told through a narrative heavy with generational violence, family brutality, and sapphic love. Scholfield presents a masterclass in the nuanced, complex characters and world that they have created. This novel is perfect for fans of literary horror in the vein of MEXICAN GOTHIC and THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS.
ON SUNDAYS SHE PICKED FLOWERS by Yah Yah Scholfield released on January 27, 2026 from Saga Press.
Written by Hannah Martian; edited by Akira Park. Photography by Alexa Christie.
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