The Hounding: A Novel [Hardcover]

National Bestseller ANew York TimesBook ReviewBook Club Pick ANew York TimesNotable Book Indies Choice Awards Finalist Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR,TIMEandKirkus Reviews The CruciblemeetsThe VirginSuicidesin this haunting debut about five sisters in a small village in eighteenth-century England whose neighbors are convinced theyre turning into dogs.

ONE OFPEOPLES, APPLE BOOKS, AND AMAZONS BEST BOOKS OF AUGUST 2025

A wildly inventive riff on the Gothic form, with enough suspense and mounting dread to rival Shirley Jacksons The Lottery.
The New York Times

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 riverbank to portentous ravens gathering on the roofs of people about to die. But when the villagers start to hear barking, and one claims toseethe Mansfield sisters transform before his very eyes, the allegations spark fascination and fear like nothing has before.

The truth is that though the inhabitants of Little Nettlebed have never much liked the Mansfield girlsa little odd, think some; a little high on themselves, perhapstheyve always had plenty to say about them. As the rotating perspectives of five villagers quickly make clear, now is no exception. Even if local belief in witchcraft is waning, an aversion to difference is as widespread as ever, and these conflicting narratives all point to the same ultimate conclusion: Something isnt right in Little Nettlebed, and the sisters will be the ones to pay for it.

A richly atmospheric parable of the pleasures and perils of female defiance,The Houndingconsiders whether in any age it might be safer to be a dog than an unusual young girl.