The Hounding

by Xenobe Purvis

The 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.

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 riverbed 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.

As relevant today as any time before, The Hounding celebrates the wild breaks from convention we’re all sometimes pulled toward, and wonders if, in a world like this one, it isn’t safer to be a dog than an unusual young girl.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Mystery, Audiobook

240 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2025

About the author

Xenobe Purvis was born in Tokyo in 1990. She read 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.

Her debut novel THE HOUNDING will be published in 2025.

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

dog- errr god forbid women have hobbies

[emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

seems like there are worse ways to live than being convinced you're turning into a dog.

i felt destined to like this book, due to my love of books about women going insane, and books about the violence of womanhood, and a general appreciation for canines, but...

this was not that good.

it has a lot of really confused and inconsistent imagery, and 1000 perspectives that are pretty identical, and a lack of actual insight into the girls becoming dogs in question that at first feels purposeful and eventually, as it becomes clear nothing much is going to happen, just gets boring.

i'm all for books with no plots but they should at least be character-driven.

barring that, give me some excitement in the form of a look in the mind of a girl barking.

bottom line: i like dogs and i like books but i may not like the twain where they meet.

(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)

[Elizabeth (Plant Based Bride) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young girls don’t smile at local man: A Cautionary Tale (more at eleven)

In all seriousness, this was great.

I’ll let my thoughts percolate and expand on this review at some point…


Read for my upcoming Aardvark reading vlog!


Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, death, animal death & cruelty, sexual harassment, misogyny, toxic masculinity, infertility, alcoholism, grief




You can find me on...

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[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was... not good at all. Similar to Hungerstone, this is a retelling that does not deviate nearly enough from the source material. From the synopsis alone, you can guess exactly where this starts and ends. The entire book builds up to a foreboding denouement, only to breeze through it with the most heavy-handed dialogue and predictable conclusion.

The book follows the general plot arc of the The Virgin Suicides directly, and borrows an identical narrative style (e.g., the five sisters themselves are never given explicit POV chapters). Where The Virgin Suicides leaves a lot of intrigue and mystery surrounding the sisters and their true motives, The Hounding simply does not. The very literal dialogue squashes any sense of intrigue, and the 'mystery' at the core of the book is one that exists only to the characters and not the reader. Given we know the truth and the characters are unwilling to change their perspectives regardless of the evidence presented, you're left slogging through 200+ pages just to end up exactly where you expected on page 1.

The thesis of the book essentially boils down to "misogyny is bad" which is true but hardly novel or explored with any nuance. It doesn't help that several recent titles use the same imagery (women as dogs is a central theme in both Organ Meats and Nightbitch) or use a similar closed, historical setting but with more subversions for the reader (Lapvona and The Water Cure).

I think if you have never read The Virgin Suicides and only like a bit of ambiguity in your books, you might enjoy this more. But if that's the case, I'd recommend reading The Virgin Suicides instead and saving yourself the disappointment.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

[Ashley (back!)]

i don’t know how i feel about this one

-

i got the physical arc!! i will read ANYTHING akin to the virgin suicides


thank you so so much to henry and holt for the physical copy <33

[Quirine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn’t groundbreaking or even relating the girlhood experience in a new way, but I still ate it up. It was VERY reminiscent of The virgin suicides in atmosphere and the way the story is told: through the eyes of everyone but the sisters. I loved the feverish heatwave setting too, there’s something so alluring about the nastiness of a blistering hot small village where everyone drinks and stinks and slowly goes insane

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

As per usual a man is the problem but the women get the blame.

[Hannah Greendale (Hello, Bookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This proved to be a much quieter read than expected. Purvis' prose is wonderfully dark and gloomy, and her characters are well drawn, but I'd have liked to see the themes explored more deeply.

"Come to think of it, there had been several occasions when people had found something unusual in the girls. Sharp teeth—yes, they'd always had sharper-than-normal teeth. And dark hair. And glowing eyes, like the eyes of hungry dogs."

Some thoughts now that I've finished the book:

- We spend a lot more time getting to know the villagers of Little Nettlebed than expected.

- It takes much longer than anticipated to arrive at any whisperings of the Mansfield girls turning into dogs.

- While the blurb promises a village where strange, uncanny things happen, we see few examples of that throughout the book.

- There's only a peripheral exploration of the book's themes of toxic masculinity and female persecution, most notably when Peter blatantly thinks to himself that he hates women and again when the Mansfield girls acknowledge that they're being punished for being nonconformist girls.

- The ending didn't scratch my itch, especially given that the most crucial scene is witnessed by... someone with considerably impaired vision. There's probably a deeper meaning at play here about our willingness to see and/or our ability to see the truth, but that doesn't change the fact that I wanted more.

- The writing style sometimes brought to mind We Have Always Lived in the Castle and O Caledonia. In other words, the moody prose was my favorite part of the book.

My heartfelt thanks to St. Martin's Press for sending me this highly anticipated book.

[Taylor Penn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update: read for the second time in a year and still just as obsessed with the Hounding.

Described as "The Cruible meets the Virgin Suicides" I knew I was going to love this book from the jump. "The Hounding" is delicious and atmospheric- centered around the five Mansfield sisters told through the perspective of their blind grandfather, the village ferryman, the town bar maid, and two young boys hired by the Mansfields for the hay harvest. Despite being set in the eighteenth century, the language is easy to follow. It does not rely on the headiness of old english to spin a devastatingly beautiful prose. Every single word is deliberate and necessary- creating an all too real sense of dread. The ending leaves us with the heavy question: Is it safer to be a woman or a dog?

Thank you, Netgalley, Xenobe Purvis, and Henry Holt & Co for the eARC. I really, truly loved every second.

[Christy fictional_traits · Rating 4 out of 5]

'They were not normal, those girls. The story confirmed for everybody what they had always known: there was something unnatural about the five sisters.

Anne, Elizabeth, Hester, Grace and Mary are five sisters growing up in rural 18 Century Oxfordshire but they've had a hard time of it. Both of their parents passed years ago and now their beloved Grandmother has also passed, leaving just their nearly blind Grandfather to try and keep them in line, keep the farm going, but he requires more help than he can give. The girls are in effect on their own and their forced independence has locals questioning just what is going on with them, no one more than the local ferryman Pete, 'It was as though they spoke a silent language he couldn't understand, it unsettled him. It made him feel less strong, less good....'. As Pete increasingly worries about his future marriage and his business rapidly drying up as the summer drought persists, he insists that these girls have turned into dogs, yes real b**ches, in front of his very eyes. Like a flame set to the tinder dry grass that surrounds them, the rumour takes flight, even among those loathe to truly believe it.

Such a unique and beautifully written story, it's hard to believe it's a debut. In true literary style, there are many messages in its lovely prose but how you interpret them is up to the reader. Told across a few POVs, the overarching point is how a vicious rumour can spread like a cancer, infecting the good sense of people who feel vindicated of their jealousy find themselves thrilled at the drama of cancelling those who defy convention. I feel that many literary lovers will enjoy contemplating this one too.

'We went out when we weren't supposed to, we were too free, and this - all of this - is our punishment. It has nothing to do with the idea of us becoming dogs, and everything to do with the fact of us being girls'.

[Ilenia Zodiaco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un rovesciamento molto solido - forse poteva azzardare di più - di "Abbiamo sempre vissuto nel castello". Se lì il punto di vista era quello di due sorelle che si tenevano lontane da un villaggio da cui diffidavano, "La persecuzione delle sorelle Mansfield" è, all'opposto, il racconto di diversi abitanti di un villaggio diventato isterico per la siccità che comincia a diffidare della ricca e anticonvenzionale famiglia Mansfield. Si iniziano a diffondere malevoli pettegolezzi secondo i quali le cinque sorelle sarebbero capaci di trasformarsi in cani pericolosi. Sarà vero? Non leggiamo mai la loro prospettiva ma questo è il punto del romanzo: non dobbiamo sapere, dobbiamo dubitare, insospettirci, accusare. È così che funziona il pregiudizio. Avevo letto critiche severe al libro, invece ha un tono di voce molto convincente. E non è facile. Niente di rivoluzionario ma un solidissimo romanzo d'atmosfera per la spooky season.

[Wynter · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A book in which a drunken misogynist that nobody likes being around can spread vicious rumors about a group of young girls turning into dogs (bitches) and somehow that’s more believable than the possibility that those girls just like to play outside in the dirt and don’t want to smile at random men.

Thank you so much to Henry Holt for gifting me an ARC of this strange, wonderful little book and a huge congratulations to Xenobe Purvis on her debut novel!

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

All it takes is one sonofabitch to stir up an entire village. Grrrr.

The Hounding is a historical fiction novel about five sisters living on a farm in a small village filled with superstitious people. The sisters have been raised by their grandparents after being orphaned and are mourning their recently deceased grandmother. Many of the townsfolk are wary of them because they’re not demure, mild-mannered creatures. Their grandfather has allowed them to run free and wild. They’re a little loud, they laugh freely, and they keep themselves to themselves. So, OF COURSE, that makes some of the local men feel a certain way. One day their grieving is mistaken for howling and rumors spread that they are able to change into dogs. They then get blamed for everything ailing the town.

It’s an infuriating look at human nature but it makes for an interesting read. I loved learning more about these unconventional siblings, their lovely grandfather who fears he’s failed them, and the decent men and boys in the community. There are some beautifully written passages here.

“He and his wife had brought them up as they had brought up their own son with interests and dreams. Perhaps it had been a mistake, he thought. To let them believe they could reach beyond what the world expected of them, the world expected so little.”

If that doesn’t break your heart, I don’t know what will. When compassion and freedom and equality are seen as a flaw/impossibility for some, it allows the dredges of humanity to act on their worst urges.

Anyhow, some terrible things happen here but they’re very much implied and not on the page which was perfectly fine by me because I was absolutely not in the mood to read that kind of explicit detail. I thought during reading, and especially after I finished reading this book, that turning into a dog wouldn’t be the worst thing in their world and also in this one because people can be atrocious.

I see this book being compared to a lot of things, but it kept giving me shades of We Have Always Lived in the Castle and I’m sticking with that mood. Most of it was its own thing and I’m glad to have listened to it on audio. The narrator has a lovely cadence that suited the time period and material.

I received my audio copy from Netgalley after my very long absence from ARC reviews and I’m glad I chose this one. This review, like all of the reviews I write, are nothing but my initial feelings and gut reactions after having finished.

[Brandy Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

God forbid girls have personalities

[aliciareadingbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe all folklore tales are simply women having the courage to have fun

[DianaRose · Rating 4 out of 5]

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

4.5 stars — kicking myself for not listening to this sooner, because for such a short novel, it was jam packed with small town drama and fear that spread like fire.

i saw a mutual compare this novel to the virgin suicides, and while i hated that classic (it was so boring and misogynistic) it is a very good comp; we never get the pov of any of the five sisters — the whole story is about them, but only told through the povs’ of the townspeople. yes, the houndings emphasizes misogyny and mob mentality, but did it in a better way than the virgin suicides.

all the men in this book sucked except for robin wildgoose😭 he was such a gentle young man and although he was a coward at times due to his conforming to what the men in town expected of him, ultimately he was the only good man in town.

as for the narrator, she did a great job!

overall, this was a phenomenal read!!

[Julia Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite and bizarre

[Brenda ~The Sisters~Book Witch · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

It's the season of strangeness in Little Nettlebed, 18th-century England, and the strangeness begins with the five Mansfield sisters - Anne, Elizabeth, Hester, Grace, and Mary. Living on a farm with their blind, recently widowed grandfather Joseph, the sisters quickly become the center of fear, rumor, and hysteria.

What Lit My Mood
A unique and beautifully written gothic tale with sharp feminist themes. I loved how it explored paranoia, scapegoating, and the way rumors can warp reality until the whole village is vibrating with fear. Seeing the story through the eyes of five different villagers but never the sisters themselves heightened the unease and tension of the rumors.

Where My Mood Flickered
Even though I adored the themes and atmosphere, the pacing dragged in places. My focus wavered, and there were moments I didn’t feel pulled back to it as strongly as I wanted.

Audiobook vs. Reading
I dipped into both formats and enjoyed them, but the audiobook pulled me in more. The narration carried the eerie atmosphere beautifully.

Witchy Mood Reader Rating
Almost Aligned: The vibes were rich, haunting, and atmospheric, but the slower pace kept the spell from fully enchanting me.

Verdict
Add it to your altar and summon it when you crave a gothic tale where rumor turns to ritual and fear prowls like a hound at the door.

I received an audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley and an a copy from Edelweiss

[˚₊꒰ა Jii ໒꒱₊˚ (catching up) · Rating 4 out of 5]

˙₊➴ ꒰ 4-stars★ ꒱ ꒷⊹࣪˖

❝ Anne, the eldest sister, stood ahead of the others, and the advancing rabble watched her warily. Some said she had been the first to change, barking in the barren lane by their home. No, others insisted, it started with the littlest, then leapt through the rest like a contagion: Mary first, timid Grace went next, then Hester the tomboy, pretty Elizabeth, and lastly puzzling, peculiar Anne. ❞

What started as a whisper soon spiraled into a dangerous rumor. In the small countryside called Little Nettlebed, five sisters lives in the Mansfield farm, though the town no longer calls them girls. These sisters are said to be something far monstrous, twisted creatures with yellowed teeth, bushy tails, and long snouts. Whispers say they’re not just different, they’re a looming menace and will soon be the greatest danger to the town.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ੈ Characters

⟡ Mansfield sisters - are the granddaughters of Joseph Manfield. Anne, Elizabeth, Hester, Grace, and Mary live with him on his farm, helping with the chores and his daily needs. They are the unbothered and indifferent sisters, keeping to themselves and rarely mingling with the rest of Little Nettlebed. Yet, they’re the constant subject of town gossip. Whispers claim the sisters are changing, growing yellow teeth, bushy tails, and long snouts, as if turning into something not quite human.

⟡ Pete Darling - is the ferryman of Little Nettlebed, tasked with rowing townsfolk across the river each day. A typical figure in the village, he starts his mornings at the river, spends his days trading gossip, and spends the rest of his night drowning himself in ale. Pete holds himself in high regard after all, he’s a man, as he’s quick to remind others. He carries a barely concealed irritation toward anything he deems weak: women, children, and animals all fall beneath his contempt.

⟡ Temperance Shirly - is the owner of the town’s alehouse alongside her husband, John. Ironically, she despises ale and the way it changes those who drink it. While she's strong-willed, Temp keeps much of her true self hidden. In Little Nettlebed, being different is frowned upon, and anyone who doesn’t fit in is quietly pushed aside and receives all the town's hatred. So, Temp plays her part, all while quietly resenting the role she's expected to fill.

⟡ Joseph Mansfield - is the owner of the farm and grandfather to the Mansfield girls. Due to his old age, his eyesight is failing, and he's slowly going blind. Because of this, his granddaughters help him manage the farm and take care of his daily needs. Despite owning land, Joseph remains anxious about money and deeply concerned about what the future holds for his granddaughters.

⟡ Thomas Mildmay - is the new farmhand at the Mansfield farm, hired to help with the haymaking for the upcoming summer and farmwork. Thomas comes from Milton and is driven to work, earn, and support his brothers and to build a better future for himself. Though locals have warned him about the Mansfield sisters, he pays little attention to the rumors. To Thomas, they seem more like a wild, spirited family than the dangerous creatures the townspeople make them out to be.

⟡ Robin Wildgoose - is also a resident of Little Nettlebed, living near the Mansfield farm where he grew up near the sisters. As the eldest in his family and one of the most hardworking, he carries a quiet burden. Deep down, Robin sees himself as weak and different from the other men in town. This fear drives him to mimic the actions, personalities, and mannerisms of those around him desperately trying to fit in, terrified that someone might one day see through the act and discover who he really is.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ੈ Thoughts

‧˚ ꒰ 🦴 ꒱ plot & writing ₊˚⋆

❝ Lies could be told with such liberating ease—they tasted better on the tongue than hard facts. ❞

What started as a curious story ended up becoming an uneasing, foreboding, and thought-provoking one. It started with introducing us to the townspeople, their personalities and grievances, how they Little Nettlebed goes on with their days eyeing every move and action one makes and never not having other people's names touch their tongue, and slowly to how the rumor about the Mansfield sisters spread like the plague.

Xenobe Puris, what did you put in this that made it sooo addicting? This was a debut? Holyyy that was good! You surely know how to make one heck out of a simple rumor felt throughout the pages, as the hounding was told through the eyes and minds of Little Nettlebed’s people. With that, you as a reader, felt like one of them, feeding on the silent rumors and whispered gossip circulating in the air, grasping on the what-if or no way that was real thoughts. I believe that this solidified the story. If Pete Darling's largest sins were drunkenness and hatred, mine would be gossiping. This type of storytelling was more like gossiping than reading, and it was one heck of a tea session.

‧˚ ꒰ 🥩 ꒱ characters ₊˚⋆

❝ He searched within his soul and saw a terrible truth: that he’d rather they were dogs than damaged girls. Dogs lived ignorantly and happily; they didn’t know the extent of human pain. He wanted to preserve them from all the fears and the threats with which life might present them. ❞

With the story being told through the townspeople’s perspective, you also get to know more about who they are, how they think, and what they believe. This not only introduced you to them, but you also saw through their eyes. Xenobe crafted each of the characters with substance and uniqueness that you simply can’t ignore. (I for one hated Pete Darling dearly, but there was just something that made him so interesting despite being such a narcissistic, egotistical, simplton of a man).

As the story shifts between different character POVs, you also start to feel something slowly building. And as their stories slowly come together, the tension only grows larger. You’re left with the sense that everything is inching closer to a breaking point, and when it finally snaps, it will change everything.

‧˚ ꒰ 🌾 ꒱ final thoughts ₊˚⋆

❝ Wherever we go, however we behave, there’ll always be something to drive us inside. That’s where people want us to be. That was our mistake, right at the start of this whole business… We went out when we weren’t supposed to, we were too free, and this—all of this—is our punishment. It has nothing to do with the idea of us becoming dogs, and everything to do with the fact of us being girls.❞

I originally picked this up just to earn two gr achievements for a single read, but I ended up discovering a book I truly enjoyed! It was definitely a win-win, but I got a bonus jackpot attached to it! From the clever storytelling and intriguing townspeople to the thought-provoking ending, everything about it drew me in. I was genuinely surprised to learn this was a debut as it was that well-written. While there were themes I wish had been explored more deeply + I would’ve loved a few more pages toward the end, it still left such a lasting impression. As it made me think about all the possibilities long after I finished the book (and I absolutely love it when books do that).

Were they really dogs, maybe? Tbh the rumor could be taken in different ways, the girls being rumored as dogs = them being/called bitches. God forbid a girl ignore you (Pete) for being an insufferable, narcissistic, and egoistic man. Anyway, solid 4-star read! Looking forward to Xenobe Purvis’ future work❗️🤍


˚₊ ⟢┊pre-read 🖇️┊⊹࣪⋆

Another gr summer challenge read! This is under debut darlings and lightning round, so I'm hitting two birds with one stone + people say this is a weird one and hearing weird, it just makes me want to read it more 👀✨

[Siobhaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The horrors of girlhood (the villagers thinking you’re turning into dogs)

[Liz Hein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reads both so old and so new at the same time. Like it could have been written during the Salem Witch Trials or in August of 2025. I loved pondering the question: is it safer to be a dog than an unusual young girl? We think on this through the lens of different villagers as things get more and more unsettling and you want to turn the pages faster and faster. This was a strange little book, bizarre yet beautiful, and is leaving me grateful for the women (dogs?) I surround myself with.

[Dona's Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

*edit
Dear fellow reviewers:

I realize many of you love this book for its clear feminist overtones. I did too! But there is a thread to this text that bothers me because it is an ableist trope of the worst kind-- that hormonal young girls can't be trusted, or rather, can only be trusted to be animals. I know a lot of you did not see this thread, which is great! You get to read and interpret books however you want! And as a disabled woman with mental illness, and with a graduate degree in writing fiction, and with many decades of reading experience, I am confident in how I read books. Don't stop commenting how you didn't see what I saw, you're allowed! But I thought I would just add a short explanation here, where it doesn't seem like I'm arguing with anyone. Happy reading!

Pre-Read Notes:

I know very little about this book book going in, only that it is a strange coming of age story about some sisters. I love creepy sister stories, and this title seems to refer to a strange culture, maybe a cult. It looks good and weird!

"Come to think of it, there had been several occasions when people had found something unusual in the girls. Sharp teeth—yes, they’d always had sharper-than-normal teeth. And dark hair. And glowing eyes, like the eyes of hungry dogs." p80

Final Review

(thoughts & recs)Well I loved this book until the second to last paragraph. And I was turned off enough by what I read there that it made me dislike the entire book. Let me say this loudly for the "feminists" in the back: women and girls with mental illness are not animals. We wouldn't be better off as animals or happier as animals. We like being human; the problem is society, not us. This trope stigmatizes women with mental illness in a dangerous way.

I don't recommend ableist books and I don't recommend this one.

My Favorite Things:

✔️ "The way they held themselves, the whispering folds of their dresses, their habit of tucking their hair behind their ears— it was at once both fascinating and foreign. Last year he had seen for the first time a bear being baited at a tavern in town, and he felt now a little as he had then. He’d marvelled to encounter the creature up close: its greasy fur and persistent scent, the pink of its tongue, the chain biting into its neck. The bear had left him light-headed, and these girls had done the same." This paragraph is extremely forboding and clever in its construction, where genteel girls are compared to a grisly trophy. This is excellent foreshadowing.

✔️ "She believed herself to be better than him, that was what he’d come to understand. The look she gave him sent violence coursing through his body. It made him want to do unmentionable things." p40 Men are so good at blaming their violence on the victims of their violence. This kind of peek into the thoughts of secondary characters, their reactions to the sisters, is actually great setting work. Life is hostile for the sisters because they reflect everyone's fear back at them.

✔️ "“Why should they want to scare you?” He gave her an ugly smile. “They’re wilful girls. They need no reason.”" Independent girls are evil to this town. I love the old feeling of the setting. It raises the stakes, because these people were bored, and boredom always leads to trouble for the least members of a community.

✔️ A little slow moving, but the pace works for the suspense and mystery, which play with each other I interesting ways in this story.

✔️ The style is concise, which I like. but sometimes the descriptions are too tight and I can't visualize what the author is describing to me.

✔️ I feel a keen desperation reading this and all I can say is this is exactly what it feels like to be a mentally disabled girl or woman. No one sees who you are and everyone thinks they know what you are.

✔️ "He longed not to be there, in the crackling heat. He longed to be far away— far from Pete, who seethed with anger, and Thomas, deliriously faithful to the girls, and Richard, biting his lip behind Robin, and the Mansfield sisters, whom he feared might actually turn into dogs and eat Pete Darling before his very eyes. He wanted no part in the rage which ringed them all together. It horrified him; it made him sick." p161 I feel this. The suspense is thick!

Notes:

1. content warnings: mental illness stigma, possession, devils, animal attacks, dogs, gaslighting, dangerous heresay, alcohol consumption, alcoholism, drunkenness,

Thank you to the author Xenobe Purvis, Holt, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of The Hounding. All views are mine.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

this gagged me tbh
Think if ottessa moshfegh did a kinda surreal 1800s historical story. It’s not quite as ‘weird’ as the summary suggests; the whole girls turning into dogs thing is mostly left open-ended for most of the story, and the book is told from several different townspeople’s perspectives but never the girls themselves. It’s an obvious allegory that’s done in such a fresh and interesting way, and the writing is haunting and lyrical. This deserves to be a big buzzy book this summer!

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Hounding is a debut novel by Xenobe Purvis that chronicles a particularly sweltering summer in a 17th-century English village, where a rumor spreads that a group of standoffish and rebellious young sisters are transforming into dogs. We alternate within the heads of several other members of the community, from the girls’ loving and blind grandfather and caretaker, to a love-struck boy helping on the farm, to the kind-hearted childless bartender appropriately named Temperance, as everyone struggles to make sense of these five weird girls, and yet never actually see from their perspectives.

The metaphor of women as dogs is obvious - with even recent cultural touchstones as the book-turned-movie Nightbitch and Sabrina Carpenter’s upcoming album Man’s Best Friend floating around the culture. With that premise along, I came into the book expecting an unsettling tale of paranoia, fearmongering, body horror, and the ways women are forced into submissive roles in society and will be in turn demonized for straining against them. What I got was…essentially that, with lots of the color drained out. There's not much horror here, not much vivid imagery, not much energy at all, like the book itself is too tired from the heat to do much more than shrug.

It’s not that the book is bad, per se - everything is perfectly competent, and yet I never could tell what about this version of this idea compelled Purvis to write it. It’s a blunt metaphor, simply assembled and pointed to, without any new angle or insight. Nowhere is this bluntness more evident than in it’s central villain figure: the misogynistic, likely gay and repressed drunkard Pete. Pete never thinks in anything other than the most obvious, unsubtle ways possible. This isn’t to say that the world isn’t filled with Petes - it definitely is - but every time we slip into his head he’s only thinking the most pointed “I hate women and myself!” thoughts. He, like most other people in this story, aren’t really characters in a grounded psychological drama. They stand in for various ways to be positioned within the confines of gendered expectations: the parental figure who loves their daughters’ idiosyncrasies but tries to rid them of it because the world won’t let them have it, the well wishing older woman who loves their bravery but is powerless to stop the town’s anger, the boy who actually likes these strange girls but can’t conceive of them outside his romantic intentions. This would be okay if the book was going for more of a surreal, mythic atmosphere, but as it stands, it’s a lukewarm middle ground between realism and mythic that fails to have the strengths of either.

The Hounding just never achieves anything beyond what its initial premise promises. A group of young girls are incoherently different from the restrictive world around them, and the petty judgments of their fellow townsfolk turn from dislike to fear to violence. It’s a spare novel with simple prose that leaves any confirmation of actual supernatural transformation vague. Personally, I find these kinds of stories boring and cowardly. It’s like several generations of writers feel that it’s too gauche to portray the supernatural, so they have to leave us like the spinning top at the end of Inception, forever caught between a dull reality and a winking dream. It just leaves me cold, wondering what was the point of the whole endeavor.

This review has ended up being a little harsher than maybe I intended originally. Like I said before, I think the book is perfectly competent, but it sits as an example of a type of book I’m just not much interested in.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.

[Jillian B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone in Little Nettlebed knows the Mansfield girls. After losing their parents young, the five sisters, now ranging in age from six to 18, have been raised by their grandparents. They’re always together, wrapped up in their insular sisterly world. And then the rumours start. A local man claims that he saw them transforming into dogs, and people begin to look at them with suspicion. Soon, a full-blown canine witch-hunt has begun. But is there any truth to the rumours?

I loved this book. The comparisons to The Virgin Suicides are apt, because while this book is told from several POVs, we never get a glimpse inside the girls’ heads. This casts the readers as part of the crowd, on the outside looking in. So much of this book is mysterious and ambiguous, and it really does feel like trying to piece together the facts behind a rumour. I also found some of the depictions of misogyny in this book to be incredibly realistic and relevant, despite its 18th century setting. Characters like the ferryman who bitterly resents the girls for not making conversation with him and the male friend who tries to act tough around crowds of other men will feel sadly familiar to many female readers.

This was one of my most anticipated summer releases and it did not disappoint!

Thank you to the publisher for giving me access to an eARC.

[Niharika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything about this looks cool as fuck.

[Ann (Inky Labyrinth) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I was turning into a dog in the English countryside. 😔

[Shaylah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Xenobe Purvis's debut novel, "The Hounding," is a stunningly haunting tale interweaving the uncanny with the deeply human. Set in the eerie village of Little Nettlebed, the story follows the enigmatic Mansfield sisters, who find themselves at the center of supernatural rumors claiming they are transforming into dogs. Purvis's prose is both lyrical and chilling, perfectly capturing the unsettling atmosphere of eighteenth-century England.

What makes this novel truly compelling is its multitude of perspectives based on gossip, jealousy, and lies, thus revealing the villagers' fears and prejudices. The initial rumor begins with a man who feels hatred for the oldest Mansfield sister, Anne after being "disrespected" by her simply because she did not speak to him. He imagined he deserved complete control over all women, and Anne was not one to give up her control.

Each villager's or character's viewpoint adds layers to the narrative of the sisters' ability to turn into raging mad dogs, showcasing how suspicion and fear of the unknown can lead to tragic consequences. The sisters, portrayed as misunderstood and odd, evoke empathy from a few and hatred from many who say they are from the devil as the girls navigate the perilous waters of societal judgment, isolation, and the need for doctors and the village vicar to cast the evil away.

Themes of conformity and the fear of difference resonate powerfully in today’s world, making the story feel timeless and relevant. Their sweet (almost blind) grandfather tries everything to get the girls to submit to village norms and expectations and considers moving the family to a new village that doesn't know them. But Anne refuses to run away from their problems, explaining that they shouldn't have to conform to others and leave their livelihoods and family lands behind. Purvis showcases in such a clever way the darkness of human nature and the fear that women (and girls) must endure daily. We, as women, are not made to add comfort to men; we are not made to provide them a sense of control or superiority, and we should feel safe to walk through our villages (neighborhoods) whenever we please. The author expertly blends these harsh realities with folklore, creating a riveting, thought-provoking, and unsettling tale.

"The Hounding" is a masterful exploration of how society often punishes those who dare deviate from the norm (there were several very interesting relationships and characters to read more about), the fine line between conformity and individuality, and the true freedom of women. This book is a must-read for anyone who appreciates beautifully crafted narratives that probe the depths of human nature. Five stars!

** Also - This cover is gorgeous!

Thank you, #NetGalley, #XenobePurvis, and #HenryHolt&Company, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review of #TheHounding.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it safer to be a woman or a dog?
The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this hauntingly beautiful debut set in an isolated 18th-century English village. The five Mansfield sisters — “the fierce one, the pretty one, the tomboy, the nervous one, the youngest” — live quietly with their ageing grandfather, until strange rumours start to spread. Through multiple (and wonderfully distinct) points of view, we see just how quickly superstition can snowball into full-on mob mentality.

I absolutely loved the atmosphere and the touch of magical realism — a tricky genre to get right, but Xenobe Purvis really pulls it off. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

[Book Riot Community]

The Best New Books of August in Every Genre:

The Mansfield girls have always been a little...odd, and Little Nettlebed has always been a bit...unusual. That was even before someone claimed one of the Mansfield sisters transformed into a dog right in front of their eyes. This is eighteenth-century England, and people may not believe in witches anymore, but they certainly believe in the weird. If you ask five of their neighbors, the Mansfields have always been weird, and if their strangeness is starting to affect Little Nettlebed, maybe it's time to do something about that.—Rachel Brittain