What a wonderfully strange and unsettling book. Not really sure what to make of it but can say that I enjoyed reading something so different.

Please see the link for the review.

I have reviewed The Hounding for book recommendation and sales site LoveReading.co.uk. I’ve chosen it as both a Liz Pick of the month, and a LoveReading Star Book.

What an unusual story. Either we were faced with shapeshifters in the 18th century or the whole book was the description of an old man’s dream.
Whichever, we see what can happen when a person is viewed by the masses as ‘different’ - as the five sisters in this story were. Even to the reader, making no judgements, it did feel as if there was something different about them. They didn’t act like ordinary girls. They all came across as a bit wild or maybe they were feral? It’s for you to read and decide.

This had potential.
I could see what it was trying to do but it needed something more.
Maybe a little longer so they could go more into depth in some areas.
Overall it was a decent read.

Utterly bizarre in the best way possible. I adored the 18th century small village setting, I completely tore through this book! The language is truly exquisite, I'm amazed this is a debut. Cannot wait to see what Xenobe Purvis writes next!

The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis is a haunting historical novel set in 18th-century Oxfordshire, where the five Mansfield sisters become the focus of suspicion and fear in the village of Little Nettlebed. As strange events unfold and rumours of the sisters transforming into dogs spread, the community's paranoia escalates, leading to a chilling exploration of hysteria, otherness, and the consequences of defying societal norms.

The setting is one of its strongest elements; the atmospheric, rural 18th-century Oxfordshire backdrop gives the story a haunting, eerie quality that suits the slow-building folklore vibe. You can almost feel the fog, the isolation, and the tense suspicion simmering beneath the surface.

The writing style is lyrical which adds to the gothic tone, although at times it can feel a little overwrought. The narrative takes its time unfolding, which might frustrate readers looking for a punchier pace, but it does allow the creeping paranoia to settle in gradually. There is also something fascinating about how the novel explores hysteria and fear of the ‘other’. It does not always land perfectly, but it raises thought-provoking questions.

Overall, it is a decent read if you are in the mood for something a bit strange and atmospheric, but it may not stick with you the way other gothic or historical novels do.

An unconventional tale, set in 18th century Oxfordshire, 'The Hounding' draws the reader into the surreal and feral world of the Mansfield sisters. One stifling summer, witch hunts not far in the past, the five girls are accused of transforming into a pack of dogs.

A swift, sharp, biting look at girlhood, 'The Hounding’s characterisation is visceral and evocative, with plenty of complex and multi-layered interactions. However, the real strength is the atmosphere. Purvis has created a glorious shimmering heat mirage of a novel in which nothing is quite what it seems and only one thing remains true: it is dangerous to be a dog, but even more dangerous to be a girl.

I really struggled with this read. I loved the scene-setting in the first few pages, and it had tonnes of potential with gothic themes - I think I was expecting more of a thriller or more of *something* but this felt neither here nor there. Not much seemed to happen in the book and I got very lost with too many characters, none of them very developed.

The thing I found the most tricky was the writing style. It almost felt like I was reading a classic, the language used was too much for me and it felt like a slog. I almost DNFed a number of times because I simply wasn’t enjoying the reading experience.

In terms of the storyline, despite being such a short read it still felt too long for what actually happened. Things did pick up slightly towards the end, but this just wasn’t the book for me unfortunately.

Right, I think I may be in the minority here but this was not the read I was expecting. You guys know I love weird books and the blurb sounded right up my street, but I just felt a little flat after finishing.

In Little Nettlebed the Mansfield sisters are the talk of the town; they’re mysterious, parentless and not exactly welcomed by the other residents. When a bad encounter with the ferryman Pete takes place, a vicious rumour starts and people become even more untrusting of the Mansfield sisters.

I can definitely see what the author has tried to do here. The women in this book are not treated as equals, and we see this particularly in the barmaid Temperance. Also portraying how a rumour started by a man can have such a profound effect on a small town, and the Mansfield sisters falling victims to this. The issue for me was that none of the story felt it had much depth. I didn’t feel myself caring for any of the characters and the “mystery” was kind of confirmed within the first half of the book. Maybe I’ve missed something here but I was expecting to be screaming WTF for most of the book.

I really hate not raving about a book pre publication but like to keep it real over here and this one just didn’t live up to expectations.

Huge thanks to the publisher for this early copy x

Dnf really early on, just not for me, but thank you for the gifted arc. The writing style just didn't work in my brain.

The Hounding was, in the end, a perfectly okay book, while never reaching much beyond that for me. Part of it was down to the fairytale-like aspect of it. While that worked to an extent, it did also keep me at arms' length from any of the characters so I wasn't that involved in the narrative. Add onto this the feeling that, towards the middle, it started to get heavy-handed and repetitive and, to be brutally honest, exactly the same as every other book about how women are not offered the same leeway in humanity as men. It picked up towards the end, but by that point, my mind had been made up.

Wish I had more time with this one, didn't get to read it from cover to cover, but judging from whatever I managed to read with limited allowance - I consider this better writing and narrative compared to 'Virgin Suicides' or any other work compared to this . A conveniently clumped together genre - girlhood, unhinged bildungsroman. Either ways, don't be fooled, this is better than what the blurbs have conveyed. Keen to get a copy as soon as possible.

Loved loved loved this book! The atmosphere and the narration are so brilliant, there is only one way to describe this tale: read it!

It's a short prose and a great hook, definitely worth reading in one sitting!

The five Mansfield sisters live with their grandfather, Joseph, near a small 18th-century Oxfordshire village. They are deeply mourning their recently deceased grandmother. They don’t interact much socially, but keep to the farm, busying themselves with daily chores. The oldest, Anne, tends to Joseph’s health and watches over her younger sisters. One day a new farm hand, Thomas, is hired to help with the haying and a slow connection grows as he fancies himself falling in love with the taciturn Anne.

When rumours surface that the girls have been seen turning into dogs, it’s up to Thomas to protect them. The more the stories are repeated, the larger and more outrageous they become. Purvis’ speculative fiction has a strong supernatural gothic vibe giving us a dynamic visualisation of the surroundings and characters. The river symbolises the divide between the pub gossips and the villagers who are ferried back and forth across a fast-shrinking river in a summer of deadly heat and drought. As the river declines, the rumours increase, despite attempts by the pub landlady to stop them. For me the novel spoke loudly of willingness to believe the worst of others with little to no evidence, which carries timely thoughts of our modern age. The story closes in a somewhat open-ended way, but I enjoyed the journey and the eeriness of the Oxford landscape is superb. Recommended.

Wonderful. This is a short book, which I easily finished in one day. It’s a folk story style book, not creepy but there are vibes.

Set in a small village. A rumour from an unreliable source about girls turning into dogs, and the fallout from gossip…

I became very immersed in the story, and felt right amongst it, the writing is excellent. I will certainly pick up books by this author again.

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The books setting in the small 18 th century village was fab, there was always a deep sense of foreboding. There were explorations of various topics such a as community, gender and patriarchy.
There are a whole load of fabulously strong characters.
A brilliant well researched historical fiction.

“Lies could be told with such liberating ease - they tasted better on the tongue than hard facts.”

Pete Darling is the ferryman between two small villages in the south of England. Pete grows resentful after an encounter on the ferry leaves him feeling slighted by the Mansfield sisters, granddaughters of a wealthy local farmer. Emerging from the pub one night he spots something out of the ordinary, and wastes no time in spreading the rumour that the Mansfield sisters have been turning into large, violent dogs. In the god-fearing villages of Little and Greater Nettlebed, this is an accusation that could hold grave consequences for the Mansfields - but is it even true?

At its core, this is a novel about truth; who determines what is and isn’t true, and whether truth even matters when it gets in the way of good gossip. The Mansfield sisters are not well-liked in their community, seen varyingly as snobby, uptight and prideful, and so the villagers see it as no great leap to accept Pete’s claim that they are also unholy, violent beasts - despite his almost total lack of evidence. Temperance Shirly, barmaid at the village pub, tries to act as the voice of reason and stop things from growing out of hand, but this is not a village where women’s voices will be heard and listened to.

I found this very sharp and extremely enjoyable. Each of the pretty sizeable cast of characters has such a distinct voice, and it’s a lot of fun to delve into their psyches. The tone is perfectly balanced - there are frequent reminders of the pure absurdity of the accusation and really funny moments that capture this, but the very real danger that this accusation puts the girls in is also felt at all times. It’s dealing with big ideas about how easily a society seems to accept blatant misogyny, but with propulsive, engaging prose and an eerie gothic vibe. This is a really impressive debut novel and well worth your time.

“Her world was not his world. She lived in a separate, simple place. Angels never alighted there; girls never turned into dogs.”

A lot of novels have been published recently dealing with the subject of witchcraft and witch trials, but The Hounding – Xenobe Purvis’ debut – is something different. Set in 18th century Oxfordshire, after the fervour for witch hunting has largely died down, it explores the dangers of being different in a small community where superstition is rife.

The five Mansfield sisters, who live with their blind grandfather on his farm, have become the subject of gossip in the village of Little Nettlebed. Their grandmother has recently died and the sisters are in mourning, but it seems that people have little sympathy for them. The Mansfields have always been seen as odd by the other villagers and since their grandmother’s death, a rumour has begun to spread that the girls have the power to turn themselves into dogs.

It’s Pete Darling, the drunken, misogynistic ferryman who starts the rumour after one of the girls refuses to speak to him, causing him to feel disrespected. As a summer heatwave descends on the village and the river begins to dry up, Pete’s trade is affected, giving him less to occupy his days and more time to drink. When he sees what he believes are the Mansfield sisters undergoing a strange transformation, it’s not quite clear what has actually happened. Has Pete had some kind of hallucination brought on by heat and alcohol? Is his own dislike of the girls causing him to see what he wants to see and conveniently giving him a way to punish them? Or are the sisters really turning into dogs in front of his eyes? Sadly, the girls are not popular in the village and other people are easily convinced that Pete’s story is true.

From calm, serious Anne, the eldest, down to little Mary, a solemn six-year-old – and in between pretty Elizabeth, shy, timid Grace and tomboyish Hester – the girls share a close bond and keep themselves to themselves, which leads to them being viewed as arrogant and unwelcoming. To Farmer Mansfield, however, they are his beloved granddaughters and he just wants them to be happy and safe. Other characters in the book also have their own views of the girls and these include newcomer Thomas Mildmay, who has been hired to help with the haymaking on the farm; the innkeeper’s wife, Temperance Shirly; and two local boys, Robin and Richard Wildgoose. The perspective we never really get is that of the sisters themselves, but seeing them through the eyes of others helps us to build up a picture of who the sisters really are and what they are like.

I found this a very atmospheric book; Purvis successfully creates a tense, almost claustrophobic feel through her descriptions of the relentless hot, dry weather and the small-mindedness of the villagers. A mixture of superstition, prejudice and fear of things they don’t understand makes the people of Little Nettlebed ready to think the worst of the Mansfield sisters and the girls don’t really do much to dispel these misconceptions because they do behave increasingly oddly when other people are around – almost as if becoming a dog is a safer option than being seen as different. I really enjoyed this fascinating and unusual novel!

Set in eighteenth century England, this story of five sisters who are rumoured to transform into hounds, has plenty of suspense, superstition and mystery. Although the author has succeeded in conveying the claustrophobic tension of a stiflingly hot summer and has presented the reader with a cast of creepy characters, including a perpetually drunk misogynistic ferryman, there isn’t much complexity or tension in the storyline and no clear protagonist to root for.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Spooky goings on in eighteenth century Oxfordshire - an isolated village, a drought and 5 unusual girls. A tale of misunderstanding, irrational fears and the power of gossip. What is so wrong with being different?