One of People's Must Read Books of Summer 2026

"When filmmaker Ruby is invited to spend a week at her mentor's English country mansion, she finds herself ensnared in twisted mind games enacted by the famed feminist director and her seductive daughter. A psychologically rich and delectably dark look at the price of women's artistic ambition."
--People

"Give Me Everything You've Got explores power, exploitation and the cost of making art . . . Imogen Crimp evokes a vivid sense of place in this enclosed environment, gradually revealing it to be no Eden, but an ominous house with locked doors and mysterious passageways . . . Crimp is an extremely promising young novelist, who consciously evokes literary forerunners from Charlotte Brontë to Emily Dickinson to Elizabeth Bowen."
--Irish Independent

"[A] psychologically rich story of mind games and manipulations. . . . Crimp handily conveys Ellen and Ruby's uneven power dynamic and the ways in which Ellen exploits her own reputation."
--Publishers Weekly

"In her sophomore novel, Crimp returns to the theme of women in the arts, and her hypnotic first-person narration runs together with the dialogue. . . . The slightly creepy, claustrophobic mood is like a gathering storm."
--Kirkus Reviews

"A hugely talented writer."
--Sarah Waters, bestselling author of Fingersmith and The Little Stranger

"Hypnotic and immersive, dreamlike and ferociously paced. A novel in which every sunlit surface pulses with menace and dread. Utterly addictive."
--Colin Walsh, internationally bestselling author of Kala

"Stylish, devastating and very hot, Imogen Crimp has given us a deliciously claustrophobic novel about artists behaving badly at the summer retreat from hell. You want to scream at the characters to get out, but that would ruin all the fun."
--Daisy Alpert Florin, author of My Last Innocent Year

"Like the best perfumes, Give Me Everything You've Got makes you lean in closer. Classic notes of atmospheric suspense (Rebecca, The Turn of the Screw) linger underneath a woozy blend of ambition, sex, and manipulation. An intriguing and seductive bouquet of a novel."
--Meg Howrey, author of They're Going to Love You

"A mesmerizing treat that takes the reader on a gripping, labyrinthine exploration of power and corrupted feminism. Imogen Crimp executes a stylish and sensuous game of cat and mouse, as elegant as it is disturbing."
--Aisling Rawle, author of Good Morning America Book Club pick The Compound

"A subtle, claustrophobic seduction of a novel. I loved its dreamy, hazy surface, and its uncomfortable undertow."
--Claire Fuller, author of Bitter Orange

"The book of the summer."
--Harper's Bazaar

"From Manderley in Rebecca to Brideshead Revisited and Saltburn, a sprawling, beautiful house is bound to be hiding some sinister secrets (while also featuring covetable herb gardens and marble fireplaces). So when budding screenwriter Ruby is invited to her idol's country house, her best bet would be to write a polite 'no, thank you' card. Instead, she's ensnared by feminist director Ellen and her wayward daughter, Lara, who both seem to be playing a game that Ruby can't quite fathom--all while being utterly beguiled by the house itself."
--Stylist magazine

"Tense, intelligent, excruciating . . . A cross between Notes On A Scandal and The Safekeep."
--Daily Mail

"I love Imogen Crimp's writing, and this novel is sexy, evocative and unsettling in all the best ways. "
--Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things

Praise for A Very Nice Girl

"Absorbing and gripping . . . Like Raven Leilani's Luster, Naoise Dolan's Exciting Times, or Sally Rooney's Conversations with Friends."
―The Guardian

"Crimp [is] channeling the Sally Rooney style: interior and complex, but also unafraid to incorporate corporeal forces among all the others that govern us."
―Vogue

"Enthralling . . . A Rooney-esque exploration of power and class in women's relationships."
―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Imogen Crimp's enjoyable debut novel . . . is an all-too-real reminder of what it is to be a woman in your 20s, searching for who you are, trying on identities or stuck in a complicated pseudo-relationship even when you know you shouldn't be. It's a book about assessing your worth through other people's eyes--parents, friends, a lover--and about being observed: by an overprotective mother, by men on the tube, by those who assess her auditions, by classmates competing for her slot, and ultimately by the audience."
--The New York Times

"Tender, devastating, witty. And deeply true. Sweetbitter meets Normal People."
--Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and Bliss

"A blazing, darkly funny debut . . . It has an honesty and tenderness that will stay with me for a long time."
--Rachel Joyce, New York Times bestselling author of Miss Benson's Beetle and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

"Transfixing from the start, A Very Nice Girl steals the show. Gorgeous prose, bone-dry humor and brutally shrewd observations make Imogen Crimp's debut sing in this perilous love story about a talented young woman learning to wield her voice. Intimate and intoxicating, A Very Nice Girl absolutely dazzles."
--Beck Dorey-Stein, New York Times bestselling author of From the Corner of the Oval

"In A Very Nice Girl, Imogen Crimp explores complicated relationships, the creative life, and the challenges of your twenties, with precision and subtlety. Touching on feminism, power, finances, and the pleasures and dangers of a new relationship, this book is an assured debut."
--Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground

"An exquisitely detailed novel--Crimp absolutely nails the intricate inner workings of the opera world. Humorous, biting, and unnervingly honest, the story explores one young woman's path to finding herself."
--Addie Woolridge, author of The Checklist

"Imogen Crimp captures the glittering thrill of being young and choosing your own life with a dark, unflinching undercurrent of desire, power and control."
--Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater