Xenobe Purvis

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

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.

A taut, tense tale, impeccably told

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

A extraordinary debut, clever, strange and beautifully written

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

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

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

Unsettling? Very. But the haunting narrative of Xenobe Purvis’s debut novel is made even more disturbing by the fact that it’s based on a real-life case of “barking” girls in Oxfordshire recorded in the 1700s. Just below the surface of the narrative lies a penetrating social commentary

'Extraordinary . . . clever, strange and beautifully written' THE TIMES 
 
'Prompts thoughts of both THE CRUCIBLE and THE VIRGIN SUICIDES . . . Purvis is an exquisitely accomplished wordsmith.' DAILY TELEGRAPH 
 
'A taut, tense tale, impeccably told' FINANCIAL TIMES 
 
'Feverish, finely wrought and unforgettable.' DAILY MAIL 
 
'An unflinchingly strange and savage novel – a rare and twisted pleasure, and an unmissable must-read for every girl who has ever been made to feel strange.' LUCY ROSE, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE LAMB 
 
'Haunting and beguiling, this fever dream of a novel draws you in and colours your mind all shades of doubt and suspicion.' STACEY HALLS, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FAMILIARS 
 
'Melancholy and bittersweet.' OTEGHA UWAGBA, Sunday Times bestselling author of LITTLE BLACK BOOK 
 
'A novel of rare grace and skill, exquisitely wrought and simmering with feral violence.' ROWE IRVIN, author of LIFE CYCLE OF A MOTH 
 
Many stories are told about the five Mansfield sisters. They are haughty, thinking themselves better than their neighbours in the picturesque village of Little Nettlebed. They have taken the death of their grandmother hard. They are liars, troublemakers, untamed and dangerous... Accounts of their behaviour differ, but the villagers all agree that the girls are odd. 
 
One long summer, a heatwave descends. Bloated sea creatures wash up along the parched riverbed, animals grow frenzied, ravens gather on the roofs of those about to die. As the stifling heat grips the village, so does a strange rumour: the Mansfield sisters have been seen transforming into a pack of dogs. 
 
With the witch trials only a recent memory, hysteria sets in. Slowly but surely, the villagers become convinced that something strange is taking root in Little Nettlebed. And when a bark finally leads to a bite, the sisters will be the ones to pay for it. 
 
Visceral and richly atmospheric, The Hounding plunges its reader into 18th century Oxfordshire, where the power of a man’s word is absolute, and it is safer to be a wild animal than an unconventional young woman. 
 
*** 
 
'Utterly bizarre in the best way possible' &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; BOOK REVIEWER 
 
'A glorious shimmering heat mirage of a novel' &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; BOOK REVIEWER 
 
'A visceral and consuming fever dream of a book' &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; BOOK REVIEWER 
 
'Tense, almost claustrophobic' &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; BOOK REVIEWER 
 
'Sharp and extremely enjoyable' &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; BOOK REVIEWER

Xenobe Purvis

Praise for The Hounding

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

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 ...

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 ho ...

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

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 ...

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 ho ...

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

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 ...

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 ho ...

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