An Indie Next Pick
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"
One of People's and Apple Books' Best Books of the Month
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by NPR, Time, LitHub, Paste, and PopVerse

"Outstanding . . . Purvis is adept at conjuring a mounting sense of dread, and it is a pleasure to linger in her imagination."
--Joumana Khatib, The New York Times Book Review

"Tense and absorbing . . . [The Hounding] transcends its antecedents, evolving into something more ambiguous and unexpected."
--Marin Cogan, The Washington Post

"Purvis's debut is a wildly inventive riff on the Gothic form, with enough suspense and mounting dread to rival Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery.'"
--"22 Books Coming in August," The New York Times Book Review

"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

"[Purvis] is excellent at evoking the fear of the unknown and the lure of the mob."
--Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

"A beguiling tale . . . The Hounding serves as an unsettling reminder of who is made to pay when 'all sorts of ordinary things' go wrong."
--Chloe Hadavas, Foreign Policy

"An exciting debut with great atmospheric detail, a very visual style, and a story that puts a modern twist on female hysteria."
--Melanie Fleishman, Buyer at the Center for Fiction Bookstore

"Just as with the white-hot internet theories of today, some people are more resistant than others to fantasies. A taut, tense tale, impeccably told."
--Financial Times

"This is an extraordinary debut, clever, strange and beautifully written."
--The Times (London)

"The Hounding is a vivid exploration of the darkness of human nature and the danger women face every day."
--Apple Books

"Eerie . . . If you're looking for a novel that addresses the unfairness of being a girl and how being a wild animal is almost preferable . . . this is the book for you."
--The Minnesota Star Tribune

"A master class in paranoia and strategic ambiguity. Like Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," it shows that the horrors lurking beneath small-town life are timelessly unsettling. Purvis' suspenseful and sure-footed debut breathes vivid life into its arresting concept."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A memorable and eerie read . . . Purvis' depiction of the bleak village ravaged by drought is unsettling and creates an uncertainty sure to envelope readers' thoughts throughout the entirety of this curiously written and hauntingly engrossing story."
--Kristen Shaw, Booklist

"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

"In short chapters that burst open, five villagers share their perspectives on the gossip around the Mansfield girls, creating a kaleidoscope of viewpoints and beliefs. The prose is vibrant, and each chapter leaves you with questions about what came before and what will come next."
--Freya Sachs, BookPage

"Eerie [and] atmospheric."
--"All the Books," Book Riot

"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