We Don’t Talk About Carol operates within the literary tradition of the domestic thriller, a subgenre of suspense fiction that finds horror within the supposedly safe confines of the family and community rather than external threats. Popularized by novels like Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and revitalized by 21st-century works such as Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, the domestic thriller thrives on the discovery of long-buried secrets, questioning the reliability of memory and the true nature of loved ones. A central trope is the protagonist who uncovers a dark truth that forces them to reevaluate their entire family history and identity. This journey often involves piecing together fragmented clues from the past, such as diaries, old photographs, or the reluctant testimony of older relatives, to solve a mystery that has been deliberately suppressed.

Domestic thrillers often center around a female protagonist, through whom broader dynamics such as abuse, privilege, misogyny, and motherhood can be explored, a phenomenon present in both the genre’s literary and film iterations (Berman, Judy. “Domestic Thrillers Aren’t Just a Trend. They’re the Defining Metaphor of Our Time. Time, 30 Jan. 2026). A major trope of the genre is the difference between a public façade and the private reality within the home or community, and Kristen Berry uses these genre conventions to explore themes specific to the experience of Black people in the US, specifically the hidden history of systemic racial violence and official neglect. By centering the mystery on a series of missing Black girls from the civil rights era, the novel joins a growing number of works by Black authors like Alyssa Cole and Kellye Garrett using the thriller framework to address social and racial injustice. In this context, the novel’s mystery becomes a microcosm of a larger societal silence surrounding the vulnerability and victimization of Black girls.