Krystelle Bamford's work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, bath magg, Under the Radar, The Scores, and numerous anthologies including the Best New British and Irish Poets 2019-2021. She is a 2019 Primers poet and was awarded a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. Raised in the US, she now lives in Edinburgh with her partner and children. Idle Grounds is her first novel.

An NPR Book of the Day

One of Town & Country's Best Books of February

A Lit Hub, TAG24, Dazed Digital, and Cosmopolitan UK Most Anticipated Book

"A chilling exploration of privilege, memory, and the unsettling weight of inherited history. It's a spiraling tale that you'll feel compelled to finish in one sitting, quick-moving and innovative. Bamford shines light into the inner lives of children - their strange fixations and values - and make you feel like a child yourself, immersed in a world where everything feels a bit scary and a bit magical."
--Oprah Daily

"Arch and haunting...in barbed, poetic prose, Bamford captures the cousins' uneasy communal existence. It's a fresh spin on the well-worn trope of a family with secrets."
--Publishers Weekly

"An eerie and powerful exploration of family and identity, Idle Grounds is truly a read like no other."
--TAG24

"Darkly comedic...an unsettling and atmospheric journey."
--Town & Country

"Pensive and lush, yet sharp and funny, Idle Grounds is such a unique novel. Bamford's style is bright and clever, and the book is easy to read and challenging in the way of great literature. It is weird, wonderful and highly recommended."
--Bookreporter

"A literary journey rich with magical realism, beautiful and eerie all at once...Idle Grounds is a gorgeous first offering by an author with prodigious skill."
--Booklist

"Glimmering with foreboding, Bamford's debut is an eerie consideration of family secrets in a sun-dappled setting...The novel casts an atmospheric spell with its surreal episodes and hints of unhappiness...Curious and original."
--Kirkus

Publisher: Scribner Book Company

Pub date: 2026-02-10

Length: 208 pages