The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis

The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this haunting debut about five sisters in a small village in 18th century England whose neighbors are convinced they’re turning into dogs.

Even before the rumors about the Mansfield girls begin, Little Nettlebed is a village steeped in the uncanny, from strange creatures that wash up on the riverbed to portentous ravens gathering on the roofs of people about to die. But when the villagers start to hear barking, and when one claims to see the Mansfield sisters transform before his very eyes, the allegations spark fascination and fear like nothing has before.

The truth is that the inhabitants of Little Nettlebed have never much liked the Mansfield girls—a little odd, think some; a little high on themselves, perhaps—but they’ve always had plenty to say about them and, as the rotating perspectives of five of the villagers quickly make clear, now is no exception. Belief in witchcraft is waning but an aversion to difference is as widespread as ever, and these conflicting narratives all point to the same ultimate something isn’t right in Little Nettlebed, and the sisters will be the ones to pay for it.

As relevant today as any time before, The Hounding celebrates the wild breaks from convention we’re all sometimes pulled toward, and wonders if, in a world like this one, it isn’t safer to be a dog than an unusual young girl.

A strange, haunting historical debut about the Mansfield sisters: five wild girls who are rumoured to turn into a pack of dogs

'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