The Hounding

The Hounding is a sweaty fever-dream of a novel. The writing is gorgeous: it bristles with rage and crackles with energy. Unsettling, vivid and irresistibly readable. I can't wait to see what Xenobe Purvis writes next.

Marni Appleton, author of I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY

Haunting and beguiling, this fever dream of a novel draws you in and colours your mind all shades of doubt and suspicion.

Stacey Halls, author of THE FAMILIARS

Xenobe Purvis has done something masterful here. The Hounding is a novel of rare grace and skill, exquisitely wrought and simmering with feral violence. This book is both lyrical and muscular; to read it is to submit to a current that every now and again pulls you under and leaves you gasping. I can't wait to devour everything she writes

Rowe Irvin, author of LIFE CYCLE OF A MOTH

A haunting, dark and visceral story . . . chilling.

Flora Carr, author of THE TOWER

Haunting and melancholy and bittersweet and just the most beautiful, evocative prose. For fans of Jeffrey Eugenides, Julia Armfield and Sophie Mackintosh.

Otegha Uwagba, author of LITTLE BLACK BOOK

The Hounding is a debut novel bound to be a cult classic. It’s a tale set centuries ago that throbs with a bloody, living heart. It’s a jewel dug from the depths of Xenobe Purvis’s imagination. It’s exquisite.

Julia Phillips, author of BEAR

Seamlessly crafted, The Hounding is an unflinchingly strange and savage novel – a rare and twisted pleasure to read. Xenobe Purvis writes about the female experience with an unsettling and startling honesty. This is an unmissable must-read for every girl who has ever been made to feel strange. In a single word, The Hounding is breathtaking.

Lucy Rose, author of THE LAMB

Haunting . . . This chilling story can be read as a parable of female empowerment or as a tale of feverish bedevilment overtaking an entire town. Xenobe Purvis has written a book so masterful, you will not be able to look away.

Laurie Lico Albanese, author of HESTER

A gorgeous, lush landscape of a book - and a haunting tale of the strangeness of girlhood. Our view of the Mansfield sisters flickers like sunlight through trees, always partially obscured, always brilliant. This novel is tender, witty, and terrifying, and I loved it.

Clare Beams, author of THE GARDEN

Purvis’s story is brimful of dark foreboding; unsettling hints of violence ripple through her prose and there’s a fearful sense that the sisters’ safety is at stake. Reminiscent of Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides, this debut is feverish, finely wrought and unforgettable.

Daily Mail

Purvis writes in spring-water clear and often disarmingly lovely prose . . . prompts thoughts of both The Crucible and The Virgin Suicides . . . a reading experience more akin to a lucid dream . . . Purvis is an exquisitely accomplished wordsmith. I'm greedy to learn what she writes next.

Claire Allfree, Daily Telegraph

A extraordinary debut, clever, strange and beautifully written

Antonia Senior, The Times

Fear, paranoia and lust drive this feminist fable that channels Bronte-ana and leaves eerie uncertainty in its wake

Hephzibah Anderson, Daily Mail

A taut, tense tale, impeccably told

Suzi Feay, Financial Times

A haunting tale that's infused with foreboding from the very first page . . . A visceral, dark book

Heat

Enjoyably vivid . . . there’s something tellingly 21st century in this folkloric tale as it takes on the patriarchy and explores female rage with purpose and guile

Observer

An irresistible page-turner . . . The Hounding is the perfect holiday book

Maria Albano, The Spectator

Purvis writes in spring-water clear and often disarmingly lovely prose . . . prompts thoughts of both The Crucible and The Virgin Suicides . . . a reading experience more akin to a lucid dream . . . Purvis is an exquisitely accomplished wordsmith. I'm greedy to learn what she writes next.

Clare Allfree, Daily Telegraph