The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis

'There was something unnatural about the five sisters.'

​An atmospheric and chilling tale set in the eighteenth century, in a village called Little Nettlebed in Oxfordshire, about five sisters who appear to the locals to be rather odd. Yet some take their interest to obsessive levels.

The story opens with the ferryman, who drinks too much and struggles with his guilty feelings about being 'unclean'. He has set views on how men and women should behave and it irks him if folk don't conform. Other perspectives come from a young man who has come to help at the farm for the harvest, a neighbour who doesn't appear or feel manly enough, the sisters' grandfather and the bartender at the local public house. All characters are wonderfully real and sympathetic.

The events unfold during a heatwave and the river dries up, the local wildlife displays unusual behaviours and there are eerie noises that sound like dogs...The landscape is evocatively portrayed and adds to the mood. I loved reading about this. 

Haunting folk horror with strange happenings, reminiscent of The Crucible in the way rumours can get out out of control and girls being the centre of it all. Beautifully worded, enticing, and delving deeply into the human psyche, this is my favourite book of the year so far. Highly recommended.

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Published by Random House, Cornerstone on 26 June 2025.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.

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