The Hounding
‘Haunting and beguiling’ STACEY HALLS
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- ¥1,600
発行者による作品情報
A THE TIMES AND TIME MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Extraordinary . . . clever, strange and beautifully written' THE TIMES
'A rich, atmospheric novel thrumming with menace' NEW YORK 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.
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'Utterly bizarre in the best way possible' ? ? ? ? ? BOOK REVIEWER
'A glorious shimmering heat mirage of a novel' ? ? ? ? ? BOOK REVIEWER
'A visceral and consuming fever dream of a book' ? ? ? ? ? BOOK REVIEWER
'Tense, almost claustrophobic' ? ? ? ? ? BOOK REVIEWER
'Sharp and extremely enjoyable' ? ? ? ? ? BOOK REVIEWER
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Purvis attempts to channel the Brontës and Shirley Jackson in this inspired if undercooked debut about dangerous paranoia in an 18th-century English village. The "season of strangeness" in Little Nettlebed begins with the catching of an enormous "unnatural" sturgeon in the nearby Thames, which some see as a sign of the devil. The five Mansfield sisters—Anne, Elizabeth, Hester, Grace, and Mary, who live on a farm with their blind and recently widowed grandfather Joseph—elicit enmity from the villagers with their exclusive bond and seeming condescension. Thomas Mildmay, who works on the farm, becomes entranced by the eldest sister, the dark and powerful Anne, while ferryman Pete Darling nurses his resentment toward them after a handful of perceived slights. When Pete thinks he sees the Mansfield girls transforming into dogs, it's possible his grudge has clouded his reason. Either way, he spreads the claim widely, after which every awful event, including the killing of a coop full of chickens, is attributed to the sisters. Fear of the Mansfields spreads, and the novel culminates in a murder. The story alludes to modern-day paranoia and scapegoating without offering significant surprises or memorable insights, but it sustains an eerie vibe, and Purvis depicts the disturbing sisters and bucolic setting in sensual prose. Neo-gothic diehards will find enough to enjoy.
