Heap Earth Upon It

by Chloe Michelle Howarth

A creeping story of sapphic obsession with Gothic undertones and a delicious mid-century feel, from the author of the Polari Prize-shortlisted Sunburn.

January 1965. The orphaned O'Leary siblings - Tom, Jack, Anna and Peggy - arrive in the village of Ballycrea, tight-lipped about their troubled past and desperate for a fresh start.

After being met with suspicion from most of the locals, the family are thrilled when they're taken under the wing of their well-respected neighbours, Bill and Betty Nevan, who offer them work, companionship and an opportunity to fit in.

But for one of the O'Learys, this new friendship sparks an intense attachment that makes the dynamic dangerous for all. It's difficult to bury secrets, but almost impossible to bury feelings...

Crackling with suspense, Heap Earth Upon It revisits the rural Ireland of Howarth's critically acclaimed debut and delves into claustrophobic relationships and tangled identities, leaving you wondering who to trust until the very last page. It combines the emotional intensity and slow-burn sapphic obsession of Julia Armfield's Our Wives Under the Sea and K. Patrick's Mrs S. with the unsettling gothic undertones of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Shirley Jackson's fiction.

Genres: Lesbian, Queer, Fiction, LGBT, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Gothic

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2025

About the author

Chloe Michelle Howarth was born in July 1996. She grew up in the West Cork countryside, which has served as an inspiration for her writing. She attended university at IADT in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, where she studied English, Media and Cultural Studies. Chloe currently lives in Brighton. Sunburn is her debut novel.

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

UPDATE #2: i’m throwing up she’s done it again 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩


UPDATE: the bookstore employees no longer have to be scared of me, I GOT AN ARC

i’m seated. the bookstore employees are scared and asking me to leave because it ‘hasn’t even released yet’ but i’m simply too seated.

[C]

show me to me rachel 😭

[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv) · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5 stars] Admittedly, I went into Heap Earth Upon It with apprehension. Sunburn was a five-star read and one of my all-time favorite reads. Chloe Michelle Howarth perfectly encapsulated queer yearning and repression with her beautiful prose. I feared that whatever she released next wouldn't live up to the legacy of her debut. Oh, how wrong I was.

This book is stylistically very different, but executed just as well. Sapphic yearning takes on an entirely different dimension here, built entirely upon lust and obsession. The rotating perspectives are disorienting and, at times, obfuscate reality, but as the truth emerges, it's really something special. I thought this was headed in a certain direction, but in the final dozen pages, my expectations were subverted a final time.

I think the less you know about this book going in, the better. Howarth tackles complicated subjects like grief, loss, attachment, feminism, and guilt in such nuanced ways. The enigmatic quartet of siblings we follow vaguely reminded me of The Virgin Suicides but with the perspectives reversed. If you enjoyed Cursed Bread, The Water Cure or Creep: A Love Story, you'll enjoy similar elements in this title. Even if you're not a fan of 'unlikeable' narrators, I think Anna's character is superbly executed because I found myself constantly flipping between pity and revulsion for her. A delicate balance to achieve, but Howarth does it in stride.

All this to say, Howarth has released two stellar reads, and she is an emerging literary talent to watch. Between two titles, she has shown incredible range and precision, and I can't wait for others to enjoy this as much as I did.

Thank you to Melville House for the e-ARC!

[Léa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chloe Michelle Howarth is such a master at her craft, I'm endlessly floored by her writing and Heap Earth Upon It was NO different.

This book is stylistically very different to Sunburn but in a way, that makes the story all that more haunting and suspenseful but still so full of yearning! At once a family drama and simultaneously a novel steeped in sapphic desire and lust, I can see the comparisons to Shirley Jackson and Julia Armfield (would equally recommend this to those who loved Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh). The gothic undertones throughout the entire novel were breathtaking, with atmosphere so vivid that reading it during the autumn was such a visceral experience and one I would highly recommend!

My only comment on the book negatively is that at times, the plot felt slower than I would've preferred (absolutely recognising however that this is likely something that I didn't want in my current reads), and it unfortunately started taking me out of the story quite often. All that to say however that this is a book ABSOLUTELY worth adding to your radar!

[mags]

chloe michelle howarth is back and i am so close to making a sacrilegious comparison right now

[alex]

gnawing at the bars of my enclosure holy shit i need this book so bad

[katarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heap Earth Upon It is a perfectly executed family drama rooted in one sibling’s obsession. The lingering secrets that haunt the narrative keep you intrigued, with each nugget of information you start to piece together the past of these characters.

The different POVs in this book were all so compelling, the O’Leary’s and Betty each had their own distinct voice. Being in each of their heads were all so different, there was never a lull and I truly was invested in what all of them were currently tackling. I liked being able to see multiple sides to everything as it became interconnected.

The sapphic obsession in this was all consuming. The quotes I highlighted out of it phew, I had such a tough time narrowing them down for my journal spread. Outstanding writing as always.

This book really started taking over my thoughts at all hours, especially the last 30% which I ended up reading in one sitting. I was absolutely locked in to see how everything would all tie up.

What a story! That’s all I can say, I’m still blown away thinking about it a couple days later. If this wasn’t already on your radar you better put it on there now, because seriously you guys all need to read this.

Thank you so much to Melville Books for providing me with this eARC.

[sin · Rating 3 out of 5]

girl help i’m lost in rural ireland and everyone’s repressing something.

it’s been a while since a book made me feel nothing. as someone whose life was changed after reading sunburn, this one just felt painfully underwhelming and anticlimactic. the prose is gorgeous (easily the book’s saving grace) but even that beauty grows tiring after a while. the endless internal monologues start to feel less like depth and more like a performance of it. for all the elegant writing, i ended up feeling emotionally drained. and i always fw gothic tropes and also make it gay? i eat that up. this book, however, felt both gothic thriller and gothic ennui at the same time.

i did like that everyone here is an unreliable narrator, but the shifting povs left me confused and, honestly, exhausted. lillian haunting the narrative gives serious You (the series) energy. like joe goldberg multiplied by four, each version just as untrustworthy as the last. everyone here needs sunlight and therapy, in that order.

as for the sapphic yearning? sorry, sunburn fans. this is sapphic obsession, and it’s entirely one-sided. anna is working overtime to make anything actually happen in this book. all the suspense and thrill come from her alone. as i’m writing this, i keep thinking of that line: “For years, I have been a woman among men; I’m used to looking a little bit mad.” anna is truly the star of this story.

i did appreciate how the novel touches on gender roles and the suffocating weight of patriarchy and how it distorts women’s desires, fears, and sanity. maybe anna is innocent. maybe she’s mad. either way, no one will ever really know but tom, jack, and peggy. the real mystery was why i kept reading.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO GOOD. a masterclass in suspense. so different from sunburn but i loved the jump chloe michelle howarth made. she’s one to watch for sure.

[Quill&Queer]

i could just rate this 5 stars now and save time

[ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

anna i love whatever is wrong with you

[imogen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Once again, I am blown away by Howarth’s writing and how she manages to create such beauty in even the most mundane moments. Heap Earth Upon It is quite different to Sunburn, but still shows Howarth’s literary prowess through the vivid setting and exemplary characters. Lots of beautiful passages that I’m excited to post once the book comes out!

Heap Earth Upon It is slice of life novel that explores the relationships between siblings in Ballycrea, Ireland, 1965. Anna, Peggy, Tom and Jack have moved to the villiage to start anew, and the three eldest siblings narrate their experiences and opinions over the course of the year. There is a mystery imbedded in the text; we are patiently awaiting answers as to why they moved away, the relationship to their parents, why they feel in ways different to everyone else. I loved the gothic-esque setting of the Irish countryside woven with the themes of shame and responsibility. Hogarth writes an exceptional novel about siblings and secrecy, and of course, love. Five stars!!

Thank you very much to New South Books for the advanced copy in exchange for review :)

[sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

i live here now.

[suzannah ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i absolutely DEVOURED this!!! so different from sunburn but just as incredible. addictive writing and storytelling, just an outstanding book. dark, intense, mysterious and shocking. i would give this more than 5 stars if i could.

[jer]

needed this book yesterday plsplspls

[Taylor Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

chloe….. i cannot believe the words you write. i will continue to read every single one of them. this is prob closer to 4.5 stars but don’t care

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK.

Set in 1965 Ireland, Heap Earth Upon follows 4 siblings trying to escape a mysterious past that haunts each of them in different ways. It is character driven, intense in a slow, claustrophobic kind of way, and you don't know who or what to trust. I absolutely agree with the comparison to Rebecca - the mystery element almost works as a dual timeline story as we slowly learn about the past while we follow our characters struggle with their identities.

I have been looking for a book with genuinely messy lesbian obsession that does not shy away from the physicality of desire and acknowledgment of the body. No cutesy sapphic love here. This is all about raw, claustrophobic repression.

The chapters are short and even though I wanted to race to the end to find out what happened, I wanted to savour it. The prose was sharp and beautiful and had me hooked on every single word.

And then the ending! Fantastic.

Heap Earth Upon It is out on the 30th of October.

[cheska]

gothic sapphics, please just take me now

[Jo Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

2 novels, 2 5 🌟 reviews. Chloe Michelle Howarth is at the very top of her game. Her writing is stunning.

I loved Sunburn and nearly peed my pants when I seen this available to request on NetGalley, but you know how that goes, can it be as good? Surely not? While it’s a very different experience it’s absolutely as good, if not even better. I’ve obviously gone with the audio version but in my mind the book is a scrawl of highlighted lines , the ink of the notes in the margins has doubled the books weight.

Set in 1960’s rural Ireland, we meet the O’Leary siblings, they’ve blown in overnight on a donkey and trap to the small village of Ballycrea. Eldest brother Tom is desperate to fit in, little Peggy is a joy but she’s looking for some friends and some love, Jack is insular, burdened heavily by the thing that made them leave and it’s really his love for Peggy that’s keeping him afloat, Anna is the reluctant resentful woman of the house, until Betty Nevan befriends her, she and her husband Bill offer work, friendship and a little place in village life for the family, but their past is hot on their heels and never far from their thoughts. A darkness hangs over them and is slowly seeping out.

Loved it. Zero complaints.
All the stars 🌟
#Jorecommends

The audio narration is beautiful, I love a full cast and they don’t miss a beat. Each character is given a voice that springs them into existence.

Huge thanks to W F Howes LTD via NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧

[fatima]

sapphic and gothic in the same sentence??!! i need it now😩

[BookishlySonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those novels where the prose itself is the main event; it’s lush, incisive, sometimes breathtakingly beautiful. Sentence by sentence, the book is a pleasure. The author clearly knows how to craft an image, build a mood, and inhabit a character’s interior world.

But once the beauty of the writing settles, the cracks in the storytelling become hard to ignore.

The first half, in particular, is surprisingly boring. We spend so much time inside the protagonists’ heads, listening to their anxieties, their grievances, their internal spirals, that the narrative begins to stagnate. It’s not introspective in a way that deepens the story; instead, it feels like circling the same drain. The plot depends on these characters doing something, anything, yet for long stretches they simply brood and complain. The result is a sense of inertia that makes the novel’s early chapters feel far longer than they actually are.

When the story finally moves, it does so along entirely predictable lines. Major developments are heavily telegraphed, and the supposed twists land with a kind of weary inevitability. The characters, too, remain uniformly unlikable and sadly not in the captivating, morally complex way, but in a way that makes their emotional struggles feel more repetitive than compelling.

And here’s where my personal frustration peaked: the way the novel treats obsession. Anna’s fixation on Betty is portrayed as ruinous, corrosive, almost pathetic and yet Tom’s obsession with Bill is presented far more gently, even sympathetically. The imbalance grated on me. If we’re meant to interrogate the destructiveness of obsession, why does only one character, the woman, seem to pay the emotional toll? It’s entirely possible that I would have been more open to such an overused theme, but frankly I am exhausted by books outside of the fantasy/SFF genre slapping the sapphic label on a story and then punishing the character responsible for it. Especially when being sapphic didn’t add anything to the story; Anna could have easily been obsessed with Liam and the story would have remained the same: a woman being the scapegoat for men. A tale as old as time. But no, let’s make the gay character the crazy one, how inventive.

Still, the prose is undeniably gorgeous, and there were moments where the language alone carried me through pages I wasn’t otherwise invested in.

[Helena · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty shallow and not particularly compelling or satisfying to read.

Feel like it kinda displayed that Howarth was able to get away with things (lack of depth, lack of subtlety, monotony of tone) in Sunburn due to the force of Lucy's feelings kind of carrying the reader along. But, unlike Sunburn, Howarth didn't play to her strengths here at all.

It was hard to get swept up in any of the characters' feelings in the same way as in Sunburn due to the frequent switching of perspective, which is fine as a general narrative device but not when there's a significant lack of distinctive voice for any of the individual characters - they all seemed to talk/think/narrate the same way. Made it feel unfocused.

The lack of subtlety also made it a pretty hard read. Being whacked in the face with an over-explanation of each character's feelings every few pages was disorienting and also just wasn't fun. Definitely felt like it needed more show and less tell on that front.

The reveal at the end was also a bit of an anticlimax imo, and the way Anna was dealt with may have been historically accurate but it was far too abrupt and left a bad taste in my mouth. She was a weird character anyway - I understood the siblings were all in a state of arrested development due to trauma but it didn't ring true to me. I think again it was just a big lack of subtlety in how she was portrayed.

Well anyway. Not for me soz.

[alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful and engrossing. A great sophomore novel, but I do think I like Sunburn more.

—

Got the arc!!!

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh I really wanted to love this like I loved sunburn 😩 beautiful writing as always but the plot just didn’t hit for me

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supporting women’s rights and women’s wrongs

[annatheworstbanana · Rating 5 out of 5]

well that was INCREDIBLE!!!

[meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was SO good. very different to sunburn but also beautifully written - i loved the dark, gothic atmosphere and the slow build up of tension throughout the novel! all of the characters were so interesting to read about too, especially anna. highly highly recommend!

[Ioanna Papari-Kosiori · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Howarth’s writing is adamantly poetic, I was very disappointed by this. The multiple povs did a disservice to the storytelling, while the concept was truly intriguing the execution was poorly done. I couldn’t differentiate between the character’s minds, they felt flat and uninteresting to me. We focused so much on their desires, the illusionary visions of “her”, and obsessive tendencies, their world felt underdeveloped. I will say that I enjoyed the ambiguous ending, as their unreliable narration promoted a partial blindness to their integrity—nothing seemed to be real or a lie. It didn’t help that I read Mrs. Dalloway before this; the end felt performative, and an attempt to camouflage pseudo depthness. I do understand how others might enjoy this, it was a fast read, by all means give it a go.

[fulcrum]

sapphic obsession? i’m in

[Benny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chloe Michelle Howarth you are a generational yearner. the human condition is FICKLE and TREASONOUS