An Academy for Liars
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  • Published: 11 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9781804993651
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 464
  • RRP: $26.00
Categories:

An Academy for Liars

Formats & editions
Paperback
11 Nov 2025
Tr. Paperback
17 Sep 2024
EBook
12 Sep 2024
Audiobook
12 Sep 2024
Hardback
12 Oct 2024
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They are born with magic in their blood but they must be taught how to wield it . . .
In a mysterious college a student will find that the hardest lessons are learned outside the classroom in this stunning dark academia novel from the acclaimed author of The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger.

‘Saturated with violence, desire, and power. It's a book with blood on its lips, and I loved it completely.’ ALIX E. HARROW

'Alexis Henderson is one of the best Gothic writers out there.' HANNAH WHITTEN

‘Dark academia stunner infused with Henderson's signature style – it's lush, atmospheric, imaginative and impossible to put down.’ RACHEL HARRISON

'A modern-day Anne Rice, Henderson has a gift for creating a world engorged with desire and death.' THE NEW YORK TIMES

Lennon Carter’s life is falling apart.

Until she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to sit the entrance exam for somewhere few have heard of – Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah.

Lennon doesn’t know it yet, but she is special. She possesses the innate gift of persuasion: the ability to wield her will like a weapon, controlling others, and even matter itself. But this is a devastating power than Lennon must learn how to master.

While persuasion takes a heavy toll on her body and her mind, she is captivated by all that surrounds her – her studies, Drayton’s lush campus and, most of all, Dante – the charismatic adviser who both intimidates and enamours her.

But the longer that Lennon spends at Drayton, learning to wield her uncanny abilities, the more she uncovers about Drayton’s unsettling history, and Dante’s tragic and violent past.

For it seems that the ultimate test is to embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption and darkness . . . and it’s a test she’s terrified she is going to fail.
  • Published: 11 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9781804993651
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 464
  • RRP: $26.00
Categories:

About the author

Alexis Henderson

Alexis Henderson is a speculative fiction writer with a penchant for dark fantasy, witchcraft, and cosmic horror. She grew up in one of America’s most haunted cities, Savannah, Georgia, which instilled in her a life-long love of ghost stories. When she doesn’t have her nose buried in a book, you can find her painting or watching horror movies with her feline familiar. Currently, Alexis resides in the sun-soaked marshland of Charleston, South Carolina.

portrait photo of Alexis Henderson

Also by Alexis Henderson

The Year of the Witching
House of Hunger
See all

Praise for An Academy for Liars

A modern-day Anne Rice, Henderson has a gift for creating a world engorged with desire and death.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

An Academy for Liars is propulsive, thought provoking, and sexy - Alexis Henderson is in a class of her own.

HANNAH WHITTEN, author of The Foxglove King

Alexis Henderson turns her incredible eye for the upsetting to academia, and delivers a campus novel saturated with violence, desire, and power. It's a book with blood on its lips, and I loved it completely.

ALIX E. HARROW, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January  

Dark academia stunner infused with Henderson's signature style – it's lush, atmospheric, imaginative and impossible to put down.

RACHEL HARRISON, author of Cackle

This darkly gorgeous story is a lavish feast for fans of gothic horror. One of my top reads of the year!

SUNYI DEAN, author of The Book Eaters

Perfect for the darker nights, this atmospheric novel is one for lovers of dark academia.

HEAT magazine

The perfect blend of gothic horror and dark academia. It grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until long after its final pages. Lennon’s is a vicious and gloriously unsettling tale of power, betrayal, and the bloody price of ambition.

FRANCESCA MAY, author of Wild and Wicked Things