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Explore membershipsThe Hounding
A Novel
Narrator
Olivia Vinall
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Length
6 hours 36 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“Fear mounts in Little Nettlebed when rumors of five Mansfield sisters turning into dogs spark a dark, fevered hysteria. Xenobe Purvis masterfully channels paranoia and gothic tension through shifting village viewpoints, crafting a hauntingly atmospheric debut that lingers. The Hounding is a beautifully written, unsettling tale of fear, transformation, and the human cost of collective hysteria. ”
— Kristina • Bookshop Santa Cruz
Bookseller recommendation
“I loved this book. Haunting and immersive, this had echoes of The Scarlett Letter.”
— Kristian • The Cupboard Maker Books
Bookseller recommendation
“The narrator’s voice conveys this disturbing tale of a rumor captivating a towns’ imagination of growing horror. Well told and leaves you wondering what is true and what is a dream gone wrong. ”
— Mollie • HearthFire Books
Bookseller recommendation
“A beautiful and thrilling study on how scarcity affects society, creating mass hysteria and violence. This combined with wide spread misogyny create a terrifying and very real witch hunt, the likes of which we still see today. ”
— Ingrid • McNally Jackson Books
Bookseller recommendation
“A biting exploration of the ways men, whether friend or foe, seek to control women and center themselves in the narrative of women's lives. Are the Mansfield sisters turning into dogs? Or are they simply quietly willful girls? Which is truly worse in the eyes of their community? ”
— Chelsea • The Lakewood Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“Forget the man vs. bear debate. This novel offers a new question: whether it’s safer to be a wild dog or a strange girl in this world. It is a haunting tale of sisters who are first alienated, then demonized by their village for being softly ungovernable. ”
— mags • Endless Wonders
Bookseller recommendation
“A fantastic gothic story with a sprinkling of The Virgin Suicides, The Scarlet Letter, and The Crucible. Excellent! ”
— Kristian • The Cupboard Maker Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Reading it will make you angry. Oh, will it make you angry. You know the people in this town, their gossip, their jealousy. How threatened they are by free girls. But are they really seeing what they say they are seeing or are they just driven by hate? This book will become a classic. ”
— Andrea • Molly's Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“I SO enjoyed listening to this novel of the way rumors and gossip shape our worldview, the many ways women are dismissed throughout their daily lives, and how quickly suspicion can spread. Wish I could write a term paper on its themes and symbols! For fans of Lauren Groff and Diane Setterfield.”
— Abbi • Prelude Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“Love live feral girlhood! ”
— Erin • Massy Books
Bookseller recommendation
“A haunting, lyrical debut set in 18th-century Oxfordshire, where five orphaned sisters live independently, stirring unease among villagers. When a ferryman claims they turn into dogs, rumor spreads fast. A fascinating exploration of fear, jealousy, and how society punishes girls who defy convention. ”
— Erica • Author's Note
Bookseller recommendation
“F*cking magnificent. In this weird, masterful little book, an 18th-century village located on the shore of the River Thames becomes embroiled in a malicious misogyny-rooted rumor that accuses five sisters of turning into devil-allied dogs. Wonderfully ambiguous and scathingly written, this novel is perfect for readers of Ottessa Moshfegh, Rachel Yoder, and Fiona Mozley. Don’t miss it, diva. ”
— Josh L. • The Underground Bookshop
National Bestseller • A New York Times Editor’s Choice Pick • Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by NPR, TIME, LitHub, Paste, and PopVerse • One of PEOPLE'S Best Books of August 2025The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this haunting debut about five sisters in a small village in eighteenth-century England whose neighbors are convinced they’re turning into dogs.“A wildly inventive riff on the Gothic form, with enough suspense and mounting dread to rival Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery.’” —The New York Times Book ReviewEven 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 to see the 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 girls—a little odd, think some; a little high on themselves, perhaps—they’ve 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 isn’t 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 Hounding considers whether in any age it might be safer to be a dog than an unusual young girl.A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company
Xenobe Purvis was born in Tokyo in 1990. She studied English Literature at the University of Oxford, has an MA in creative writing from Royal Holloway, and was part of the London Library’s Emerging Writers Programme. She is a writer and literary researcher, with essays published in the Times Literary Supplement, the London Magazine, and elsewhere.
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Audiobook details
Author:
Xenobe Purvis
Narrator:
Olivia Vinall
ISBN:
9781250403261
Length:
6 hours 36 minutes
Language:
English
Publisher:
Macmillan Audio
Publication date:
August 5, 2025
Edition:
Unabridged
Libro.fm rank:
#232 Overall
Genre rank:
#31 in Historical Fiction
Reviews
One of the Los Angeles Times Must-Read Books of Summer 2025
One of Harper’s Bazaar’s “Best Beach Reads to Keep You Occupied All Summer Long”
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by NPR, Time, LitHub, Paste, and PopVerse
An Indie Next Pick
“What takes this novel past conceit to commentary lies in its exploration of interiority among all of the characters, not simply the suspected women, but those who observe, accuse and fear. When a community cannot explain misfortune, who suffers? Purvis makes a clever but careful case for combining the Gothic with the paranormal.”
—Los Angeles Times
“You had me at ‘The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides.’ Add, perhaps, ‘meets Nightbitch,’ considering the main complaint that the residents of Little Nettlebed have about the Mansfield sisters is that they are maybe, probably, definitely turning into dogs. I’m game.”
—LitHub
“With hints of superstition akin to Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and the puritanical overtones of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Purvis’s The Hounding taps into universal themes of fear, violence, lust, and also empathy.”
—Shelf Awareness
“The Hounding is a debut novel bound to be a cult classic. It’s a tale set centuries ago that throbs with a bloody, living heart. It’s a jewel dug from the depths of Xenobe Purvis’s imagination. It’s exquisite.”
—Julia Phillips, author of Bear
“Five unusual sisters set a village on edge in this haunting tale of a bewitching madness set in 1700 England. Are the girls a true danger to their neighbors? Will rumor alone put them on the path to destruction? This chilling story can be read as a parable of female empowerment or as a tale of feverish bedevilment overtaking an entire town. Xenobe Purvis has written a book so masterful, you will not be able to look away.”
—Laurie Lico Albanese, author of Hester
“The Hounding is a lush and atmospheric warning of the dangers of individuality for girls indifferent to the gaze of others. Every word in this spare, sharp novel cuts and implicates the small-minded townsfolk who chase rumors like wild dogs chase prey. A virtuosic debut from a brilliantly keen mind and eye. Certainly, Xenobe Purvis shares a bloodline with Shirley Jackson.”
—Diane Cook, author of The New Wilderness
“A gorgeous, lush landscape of a book—and a haunting tale of the strangeness of girlhood. Our view of the Mansfield sisters flickers like sunlight through trees, always partially obscured, always brilliant. This novel is tender, witty, and terrifying, and I loved it.”
—Clare Beams, author of The Garden
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