The Hounding

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
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
A taut, tense tale, impeccably told – Suzi Feay * Financial Times *
A haunting, dark and visceral story … chilling. – Flora Carr, author of THE TOWER
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 *
Fear, paranoia and lust drive this feminist fable that channels Bronte-ana and leaves eerie uncertainty in its wake – Hephzibah Anderson * Daily Mail *
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
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 *
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

Xenobe Purvis was born in Tokyo in 1990. She read English Literature at the University of Oxford, has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, and was part of the London Library’s Emerging Writers Programme. She is a writer and literary researcher, with essays published in the Times Literary Supplement, the London Magazine, and elsewhere. Her debut novel The Hounding will be published in 2025.

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