The Hounding

A Novel

By: Xenobe Purvis

Narrated by: Olivia Vinall

National Bestseller • A New York Times Editor’s Choice Pick • Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by NPR, TIME, LitHub, Paste, and PopVerse • One of PEOPLE'S Best Books of August 2025

The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this haunting debut about five sisters in a small village in eighteenth-century England whose neighbors are convinced they’re turning into dogs.

“A wildly inventive riff on the Gothic form, with enough suspense and mounting dread to rival Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery.’” —The New York Times Book Review

Even before the rumors about the Mansfield girls begin, Little Nettlebed is a village steeped in the uncanny, from strange creatures that wash up on the riverbank to portentous ravens gathering on the roofs of people about to die. But when the villagers start to hear barking, and one claims to see the Mansfield sisters transform before his very eyes, the allegations spark fascination and fear like nothing has before.

The truth is that though the inhabitants of Little Nettlebed have never much liked the Mansfield girls—a little odd, think some; a little high on themselves, perhaps—they’ve always had plenty to say about them. As the rotating perspectives of five villagers quickly make clear, now is no exception. Even if local belief in witchcraft is waning, an aversion to difference is as widespread as ever, and these conflicting narratives all point to the same ultimate conclusion: Something isn’t right in Little Nettlebed, and the sisters will be the ones to pay for it.

A richly atmospheric parable of the pleasures and perils of female defiance, The Hounding considers whether in any age it might be safer to be a dog than an unusual young girl.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company

Whimsical surreal

Beautiful and original. It’s a story that takes you to people’s thoughts that you would otherwise dismiss.

Great story. And narrator

Really good, great ending. Lived up to the good reviews. I highly recommend this be listened to, instead of read.

The ending was not worth the read

The ending was not worth the read. I kept waiting for the climax. And then it just ended.

Genius Narration

Could not stop listening. Simple as that. Brilliant story. Beautifully read. This is a debut novel? Wow.

Eh

I read a lot of novels, and I was excited for this book, as it’s been heralded as one of the top books of the year. I thought the writing was pretty good, but the story itself failed to grip me until maybe the last 20 mins.