The Compound

‘Lord of the Flies meets Love Island – dark, thrilling, and delightfully twisted’ LOUISE O'NEILL

'So gripping and propulsive that it beats reality tv at its own game. Why watch TV when Aisling Rawle does it better?' TORREY PETERS

'A clever and delicious treat' ZAKIYA DALILA HARRIS

'Page-turning, nail-biting… utterly bingeable' OLIVIA GATWOOD

You wake up in a compound in the middle of the desert, along with nine other women.

All of you are young, all beautiful, all keen to escape the grinding poverty, political unrest and environmental catastrophe of the outside world.

You realise that cameras are tracking your every move, broadcasting to millions of reality TV fans.

Soon, ten men will arrive on foot – if they all survive the journey.

What will you have to do to win?

And what happens to the losers?

LORD OF THE FLIES meets LOVE ISLAND in this explosive, addictive debut novel, as bingeable as the best reality TV, with dark undercurrents of literary dystopia and consumerist satire.

Reviews

'Lord of the Flies meets Love Island – dark, thrilling, and delightfully twisted' LOUISE O'NEILL, author of Idol

'A debut so gripping and propulsive that it beats reality tv at its own game. Why watch TV when Aisling Rawle does it better?' TORREY PETERS, author of Detransition, Baby

'A clever and delicious treat that’s even more addictive than the reality television it lambasts… I dare you not to tear through The Compound at lightning speed' ZAKIYA DALILA HARRIS, bestselling author of The Other Black Girl

'In The Compound, Rawle has built an eerily familiar yet unparalleled landscape—one that expertly juggles the most gruesome and tender human traits—with page-turning, nail-biting force. Just like the reality shows we all can’t stop watching, this book is utterly bingeable' OLIVIA GATWOOD, author of Whoever You Are Honey

'I couldn’t put The Compound down – it is that rare combination of propulsive and brilliant. I read it in one big gulp and then brought it up at two different dinners to talk about its mix of gender dynamics, capitalism, and power' MEGAN GIDDINGS, author of Lakewood

'The Compound is a blistering takedown of reality TV in our capitalist world, where the gamification of love and power is sold as entertainment. Aisling Rawle masterfully ratchets up the stakes in this sinister and juicy read until the line between paradise and dystopia becomes dangerously blurred' MICHELLE MIN STERLING, New York Times bestselling author of Camp Zero

'Addictive… Rawle’s fast-paced plotting keeps the reader turning pages, as does Lily’s intriguing character development. This portrait of a vapid world contains remarkable depth' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

About the author

Aisling Rawle is an ex-bookseller from Leitrim in the West of Ireland, and now works as a secondary-school English and music teacher in Dublin. THE COMPOUND is her first novel.