The Four
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3.6 • 38 Ratings
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
‘An engrossing read' The Sunday Times
'Sharp, powerful, tragic, addictive' Chris Whitaker
‘Dark, compelling and beguiling’ Kate Mosse
‘Intensely gripping’ Karin Slaughter
‘Thrilling and deeply atmospheric’ Lucy Clarke
***
Rose is sixteen when she arrives at High Realms boarding school, excited for the beginning of the rest of her life.
By the time she leaves, she and the three other scholarship students will have made the choices that decide their future.
Each one as heartbreaking and tragic as the last.
***
Readers are RAVING about THE FOUR:
'A shockingly powerful debut… raw and unflinching, not for the faint of heart' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Beautifully written and utterly brutal' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Complex and heart wrenching and oh so gripping' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘If you can handle true emotional pain in your fiction, then don't let this one pass you by’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reviews
‘Haunting and tragic, a tale revealing the ugliness of adolescence – and humanity’ Cecelia Ahern
'A dark, stylish debut, it hooks you until the final denouement' Sunday Independent
‘Poignant and tragic, visceral and cruel, it’s about the best and the worst of what makes us human’ Emma Flint
'Dark academia fans rejoice: this should be on your to-be-read pile… At times bittersweet, at others extremely sad, this is a tragically beautiful tale that embraces everything that adolescence offers' Belfast Telegraph
‘Very stylishly done and chilling too’ Georgina Moore
‘The Four shakes up A Secret History with Mallory Towers to concoct a horrifically thrilling, emotionally gripping story of adolescent fear, pride, and loyalty’ Louisa Young
'This dark, intense novel is hugely addictive' Fabulous
'Immersive academic noir set in a boarding school dominated by a toxic ruling cadre, with four teens striving for survival in the baroque horror of that claustrophobic world' Harriet Tyce
‘The Four is a dark, thrilling and deeply atmospheric thriller. Impossible to put down!’ Lucy Clarke
'One of the best debuts I've read in a long time' Caroline Corcoran
'An enjoyable melodramatic romp' Gloss
'A spellbinding story' Glamour
About the author
Ellie Keel is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Four, an Olivier Award-nominated theatre producer, and the youngest ever winner of The Stage’s Producer of the Year Award. She is the Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, the leading award for female and non-binary playwrights from the UK and Ireland. With her company EKP, she has produced over twenty-five new plays to critical acclaim in London, at the Edinburgh Festivals, and on tour across the UK. Her journalism and short stories have appeared in The Guardian, The Daily Express, and The Stage. She is a Trustee of the Brontë Society and London Youth Theatre, and in 2017 she collaborated in the founding of leading LGBT+ youth charity, Just Like Us. Her first play, SKYE: A Thriller, debuted at Edinburgh Fringe in 2025. She lives in London.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Shades of Donna Tartt’s classic The Secret History colour Ellie Keel’s debut, a dark academia novel, centring on four scholarship students—Rose, Marta, Lloyd and Sami—who are subjected to ruthless bullying at an elite boarding school. Their situation deteriorates further when the friends are implicated in a hazing incident involving another student, setting up for a tragic escalation of events. Narrated retrospectively from Rose’s adult perspective, Keel spares no details of the cruelty that the group of outsiders are subjected to by their privileged peers, and there are references to assault, abuse and self-harm (among other traumatic themes) throughout. To that end, The Four balances on the tricky cusp of young adult and adult literature: while the high school setting invites a teenage audience, the graphic descriptions of violence tip the scales of suitability in favour of older readers. Read at your own discretion, but don’t be entirely deterred—this twisty page-turner is thoroughly worthwhile.
Customer Reviews
Public school’s worlds
The most impressive factor of this debut book is the refined language. I liked the atmosphere. That unusual suspension between old and modern times which populate any public school. But at some point in the middle, I got a bit lost and found my way towards the third part of the story. I was confused between the backstory of some characters in connection with the plot of the book. But I liked some observations like the fact that all students who are given an education at home are always lonely people and the life lasting friendships which often emerge from boarding schools. And last but not least, the darkness of some personal stories of public schools pupils and their families.
Spellbinding!
I was completely enraptured by this novel - a beautifully-written, adult version of a school story with a very dark underbelly. For those of us who loved Malory Towers and St. Clare’s as children and have grown up to be fans of psychological thrillers, it’s just perfect! Loved it!
Brilliant
Raw and uncomfortable but such a good read - different!