Palo Alto, CA – Debut author J. E. Weiner pens “The Wretched and Undone” (History Through Fiction, March 18th, 2025). A Killer Nashville Top Pick for 2024 and Claymore Award Finalist for Best Southern Gothic.
This captivating saga blends real historical events with fiction as Weiner draws from her lived experiences with the supernatural in the Texas Hill Country. “The Wretched and Undone” offers a fresh take on Southern Gothic with a unique and genre-bending dash of Texas Noir and the traditional Western – genres traditionally dominated by male authors – lifting up voices silenced and lessons still not learned.
On the eve of the Civil War, Polish immigrants Marcin and Agnieszka Anderwald arrive in Bandera, Texas, seeking a fresh start in a new land of faith, fertile soil, and freedom. But their dreams quickly become nightmares when Marcin provokes a sinister specter hell-bent on revenge. A battle ensues for the hearts, minds, and souls of the Anderwalds and their extended family of immigrant outcasts, Arab camel wranglers, wounded warriors, and a songstress on the verge of madness. As the generations unfold, each faces its own harrowing ordeal against unrelenting evil. Will the Anderwalds break free or remain forever wretched and undone?
“A genre-bending thrill ride through Old Texas. Once in a while, a book catches you off guard with its depth, innovation, and storytelling. This is that book.”
– CJ Howell, author of The Salt Cutter
“The Wretched and Undone”
J.E. Weiner | March 18, 2025 | History Through Fiction
Historical Fiction, Southern Gothic
Hardcover | 978-1963452105 | $33.95
Paperback | 978-1963452112 | $19.95
Ebook | 978-1963452129 | $9.99
J.E. Weiner is a writer and novelist based in Northern California. Her debut novel, “The Wretched and Undone”, is a searing and genre-bending Southern Gothic tale set in the heart of the Texas Hill Country and inspired by real people and actual events. The book manuscript was named a Killer Nashville Top Pick for 2024 and a Claymore Award Finalist for Best Southern Gothic.
Weiner’s previous work has appeared in the literary journals Madcap Review, Five Minutes, HerStry, and Chicago Story Press, as well as the recent grit-lit anthology “Red-Headed Writing” (Cowboy Jamboree Press, 2024). Weiner is a founding member of the Pacific Coast Writers Collective, and while living and writing in blissful exile on the West Coast, her heart remains bound to her childhood home, the Great State of Texas. Learn more about J. E. and her writing at her website.
Follow J. E. Weiner on social media:
Facebook: @J.E.Weiner | Instagram: @jeweinerauthor
Advanced Praise for “The Wretched and Undone”
“A tale from a promising writer that grabs readers from the very first line!” – Kirkus Reviews
“A compelling, slow-burning horror story of a cursed family, haunted across the generations…The author takes her time, building the suspense with an Old Testament sense of inevitable damnation while masterfully pulling from the rich and violent history of Texas and its immigrant settlers…”
– Jim Nesbitt, author of the award-winning Ed Earl Burch hard-boiled Texas crime thrillers
“A grand saga of a novel by J.E. Weiner, “The Wretched and Undone” is set in the heart of the Texas Hill Country and, although a deftly crafted work of historical fiction, was inspired by real people and historical events. Author J.E. Weiner’s singularly effective and distinctive storytelling style has created an inherently fascinating and entertaining read from start to finish. One that will linger in the mind and memory long after the book is finished and set back upon the shelf.”
– Midwest Book Review
In an interview, J. E. Weiner can discuss:
- The real-life experiences with the supernatural propelled her to write this gripping Southern Gothic novel
- How the story engages the universal themes of family, faith, grief, forgiveness, hope, and the resilience but not infallibility of the human spirit
- How her debut is one of few books that blends Southern Gothic, Texas Noir and Western genres, genres long dominated by male authors such as Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry, and most recently Taylor Sheridan
- How immersing herself in history, particularly in Bandera, Texas, helped her craft the plot for “The Wretched and Undone”
- The “trope-defying” aspects of the novel: a unique spin on the traditional Western with paranormal elements and the commentary on societal disenfranchisement of the period
- How the novel embraces an “on the nose” style that delves into tough truths about dark and morally ambiguous times in Texas and US history
- The role music, and specifically the history of country music plays as a backdrop to the story
- How her training as a historian shaped her approach to background research for the novel, including the adaptation of family and oral histories for historical fiction writing
An Interview with J.E. Weiner
1. Tell us a bit more about the personal experiences that inspired “The Wretched and Undone.” Is there an autobiographical element to the story?
All stories are autobiographical in some way, and this novel is no exception. Many of the characters in the book are drawn from historical records, memoirs, and family oral histories, but it was one particular story that surfaced from multiple sources that inspired “The Wretched and Undone.” Several witnesses described strange encounters with a mysterious woman in white on an old cattle ranch near Bandera, Texas.
2. The presence of ghosts haunts the Anderwald family. What do you think the “ghosts” might represent in the broader context of history, and do you believe in ghosts?
The ghosts of “The Wretched and Undone” are the manifestation of each character’s struggle to navigate love and loss, sin and redemption, good and evil, and faith and loss of faith. So, too, are the demons. But they also represent the enduring and universal human condition and the resiliency of the human spirit in this world and beyond. Do I believe in ghosts? Though I am trained as a historian, attuned to the critical power of facts and data, and a bit of a skeptic, I cannot discount the experiences of those I know, trust, and respect, or my own personal encounters with the seemingly unexplainable. So, my answer: I absolutely, one hundred percent believe in ghosts.
3. What about Bandera and the Texas Hill Country compelled you to write this story?
The ghost on that old ranch down along the Medina River drew me to this story, and the ruggedly beautiful topography of the Texas Hill Country drew me to the place, but it was the complex and fascinating history of Bandera and the region that consumed my imagination as both a historian and a writer. The intrepid pioneers who crossed the Atlantic on a cramped steamship and made their way over 300 miles by oxcart from the Port of Galveston to Bandera on the eve of the American Civil War had no idea what hardship awaited them at a tough and morally ambiguous crossroads in the history of Texas and the United States. They persevered over the generations, loyal to their families, faith, and land, often at their own peril. And the history of the self-proclaimed “Cowboy Capital of the World” is as quirky and funny as it is tragic. The story of Bandera is a quintessential American tale.
A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.
Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.
