~ ARC provided by NetGalley ~

"The Hounding" by Xenobe Purvis was an atmospheric, historical fiction about five sisters who are being accused of a small English village of turning into dogs. I was initially drawn to this book when it was described to me as "The Virgin Suicides" meets the Salem Witch Trials. Upon reading it, this comparison fits the book. The five sisters live together with their grandfather, who is visually impaired, which adds such an interesting layer to the story. Multiple townspeople have points of view and stories of seeing the girls change, but the one person who is meant to be their protector cannot. Purvis constructs a harsh landscape that, at times, felt so tragic. I worried for these characters, especially those who seemed to be the victims of a witch hunt. I enjoyed this, but ultimately I felt like the pacing was slow and I wanted it to go into the bizarre a little bit more. There were definitely some moments of horror and tension, but I feel like the premise could have carried so much more of both elements. The last several chapters accomplish a lot, but getting to that point was not as compelling as I would have hoped.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really loved the way the girls didn't have the chance to speak for themselves in the text. We only see them through the side characters, though they are arguably the main characters in the book. Very tragic and mysterious, but ultimately it wasn't a satisfying read for me. I think I would only be able to recommend this to a very specific type of reader.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

The Hounding takes place in a small medieval town that has become fixated on the Mansfield girls, 5 young women that are raised by their blind grandfather. The town finds them peculiar and off-putting, but there is no concrete reasoning as to why. One day, a man in the town claims that he saw the girls turn into dogs, and the story spreads like wildfire. The town starts to wonder if something more sinister is behind the girls’ strange behaviors.

I thought the writing was very accessible and easy to get into, and I also liked the small medieval town setting. I appreciate the themes and overall story, but I found myself a bit underwhelmed and hoping for more. I did enjoy the ambiguity of the plot as it served to emphasize the feverish uncertainty of the town. I do wish that the book was a bit weirder/creepier. I still enjoyed this and would recommend this for sure!

It’s a searingly hot summer in an unnamed year in the English countryside. There’s been no rain for weeks and the river through Little Nettlebed keeps thinning. Nerves are already frayed when a strange water creature is pulled from the dwindling river. The ferryman’s nervousness ratchets up each day as he sees his livelihood creak toward futility. If people can walk across the dry creek bed, they’ll have no use for his ferry.

And then people start hearing the howling, and someone claims to see something unnatural. Superstitions bake and crack in the summer sun as odd happenings continue.

The Mansfields are in mourning. The young women were raised by their grandparents, but now it’s only five girls and an indulgent grandfather with failing eyesight. They’re a bit different, a bit untamed, but harmless. Until one of them is seen transforming into a dog — or was she?

As tensions mount and rumors fly, the villagers attempt to cling to normalcy, but haymaking is dusty and deathly hot, and evenings at the tavern are poisoned by seditious accusations. There’s no doubt the things are about to boil over and the Mansfield girls are going to get scorched.

He had come from up the road where the girls had been walking, but Robin didn’t want to connect the two things. He wanted to exist in murkiness, in the uncertain summer dusk. In that moment, certainty appalled him… . ~Loc. 691

Author Xenobe Purvis pulls from classic stories of witchcraft, morality, and manners. With a characters named Hester (like Prynne), Cassandra (who tries to warn the villagers to tamp down their fears), Anne (like the sensible Bronte sister), and Grace (like the long-suffering servant of the madwoman in the attic), the novel has shades of allegory.

Yet, importantly, it is foremost a well-written story that builds tension through the points-of-view of multiple characters. It is immensely enjoyable in is own right and a reader needn’t catch any of the references to delight in it. The reader sees the accusations ricochet and facts change as they are filtered by varying perspectives. As the inevitable climax inches nearer, the unlikely truth becomes more than possible.

Ultimately, Purvis creates a world where the slightly uncanny makes the most sense.

My thanks to Henry Holt (Macmillan) for the review copy. Read via NetGalley.

I know very little about this book book going in, only that it is a strange coming of age story about some sisters. I love creepy sister stories, and this title seems to refer to a strange culture, maybe a cult. It looks good and weird!

"Come to think of it, there had been several occasions when people had found something unusual in the girls. Sharp teeth—yes, they’d always had sharper-than-normal teeth. And dark hair. And glowing eyes, like the eyes of hungry dogs." p80

Final Review

(thoughts & recs)Well I loved this book until the second to last paragraph. And I was turned off enough by what I read there that it made me dislike the entire book. Let me say this loudly for the "feminists" in the back: women and girls with mental illness are not animals. We wouldn't be better off as animals or happier as animals. We like being human; the problem is society, not us. This trope stigmatizes women with mental illness in a dangerous way.

I don't recommend ableist books and I don't recommend this one.

My Favorite Things:

✔️ "The way they held themselves, the whispering folds of their dresses, their habit of tucking their hair behind their ears— it was at once both fascinating and foreign. Last year he had seen for the first time a bear being baited at a tavern in town, and he felt now a little as he had then. He’d marvelled to encounter the creature up close: its greasy fur and persistent scent, the pink of its tongue, the chain biting into its neck. The bear had left him light-headed, and these girls had done the same." This paragraph is extremely forboding and clever in its construction, where genteel girls are compared to a grisly trophy. This is excellent foreshadowing.

✔️ "She believed herself to be better than him, that was what he’d come to understand. The look she gave him sent violence coursing through his body. It made him want to do unmentionable things." p40 Men are so good at blaming their violence on the victims of their violence. This kind of peek into the thoughts of secondary characters, their reactions to the sisters, is actually great setting work. Life is hostile for the sisters because they reflect everyone's fear back at them.

✔️ "“Why should they want to scare you?” He gave her an ugly smile. “They’re wilful girls. They need no reason.”" Independent girls are evil to this town. I love the old feeling of the setting. It raises the stakes, because these people were bored, and boredom always leads to trouble for the least members of a community.

✔️ A little slow moving, but the pace works for the suspense and mystery, which play with each other I interesting ways in this story.

✔️ The style is concise, which I like. but sometimes the descriptions are too tight and I can't visualize what the author is describing to me.

✔️ I feel a keen desperation reading this and all I can say is this is exactly what it feels like to be a mentally disabled girl or woman. No one sees who you are and everyone thinks they know what you are.

✔️ "He longed not to be there, in the crackling heat. He longed to be far away— far from Pete, who seethed with anger, and Thomas, deliriously faithful to the girls, and Richard, biting his lip behind Robin, and the Mansfield sisters, whom he feared might actually turn into dogs and eat Pete Darling before his very eyes. He wanted no part in the rage which ringed them all together. It horrified him; it made him sick." p161 I feel this. The suspense is thick!

Notes:

1. content warnings: mental illness stigma, possession, devils, animal attacks, dogs, gaslighting, dangerous heresay, alcohol consumption, alcoholism, drunkenness,

Thank you to the author Xenobe Purvis, Holt, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of The Hounding. All views are mine.

This is the story of five sisters that live in a small, rural English town with their grandfather. Their grandmother has recently died, and he is nearly blind. They are a relatively wealthy family, and not all in the village like them. The ferryman sees what he thinks is one of the girls turning into a dog, and the rumors begin to fly, along with tempers. I was intrigued by the description of the book, but felt like it didn't really have much of a climax. I liked the author's character development and writing style, and could really visualize the setting. But it felt like it was a bit too long, and maybe would have made a better novella or short story..

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Beautiful, eerie writing. When Little Nettlebed's ferryman—and contender for world's worst person, in my opinion—takes a dislike to the Mansfield sisters, strange things start to happen in the village. Soon rumors spread about the girls transforming into dogs and the mysterious barking does not help...

The story has a slow, luxurious pace and tension and mystery abound. I was very invested in the fate of the Mansfield sisters and enjoyed the read.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

In a small English village, summer is turning to drought, the river is drying up, and rumors are running a little wild. Pete, the local ferryman whose business will dwindle with the river, claims that five sisters have turned into dogs, and are responsible for various canine violence around town. It takes a little while for the gossip to take hold, but once it gets the minster's attention, it really does. Is Pete just making up another one of his stories? Is there something odd about the girls? And how to explain the happenings? It all gets a little conspiratorial and witch hunt-ish, a cross between old time Salem and present times, when apparently all you need to believe something totally outlandish is for someone to say it loudly and often enough. Of course, there's a bit of a twist at the end- although not an altogether shocking one.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

I'm not going to lie, when I was at the halfway point, I kept thinking - "I'm enjoying this, love the writing, but literally nothing is happening." Cut to me at the end of this getting a little teary eyed lol. This is a slow-burn but it's well worth it.

The writing is beautiful and intentional. There's a quote about truth in here that I absolutely love -
"THE TRUTH IS LIKE A WATER CREATURE,” HE CONTINUED. “TOO LARGE FOR ANY SINGLE MAN TO CATCH. HE CAN TAKE HOLD OF ONE TENTACLE, OR A SILVER TAIL, OR A FIN, BUT HE’LL NEVER CATCH THE WHOLE CREATURE. NOT ON HIS OWN”

The comparisons to The Crucible and The Virgin Suicides are spot on. This is a study on town gossip and rumors and how one man's mistrust and disdain for these girls leads to irreversible damage. The more I think about this, the more I love it. It may end up being a five star read for me, but for now I'll give it four stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy for review!

A nice addition to the ‘Girl who’s a dog’ narrative, as well as the ‘insecure man ruins Everything’ narrative.
‘The Hounding’ didn’t really inspire any new thoughts, but it held it’s own and did poke at my unusual girl sore spot in my chest. Perhaps the scapegoat aspect of the Mansfield sister’s story, how easily the townspeople believe the unbelievable because it’s easier, and it feels vindicating- that was interesting. Along with our villain being a miserable man who obsessively tears down a woman for seeming ‘above him’ - interesting and apt. The way the girls are envied, stifled and unable to do anything ‘right’ in their misogynistic community was depressingly authentic. The writing flowed well and I liked it.
Sometimes a girl just needs to run around outside and bark, honestly.
4.5 stars.

Can't stop thinking about this one! This is a book that is bizarre in the best way. It would be great for a book discussion group! Is it about misogyny? Is it about transformations? Is it about gender expectations? This is a book that when midway through you'll think - what is happening? Keep going. What a ride. When you finish reading, let me know so we can discuss!

2.5 stars rounded up. This bizarre little book had so much potential, but in the end, I think it fell flat.

What initially drew me to the book was the cover. I think it’s so lovely, and combined with the synopsis, I thought this could be a top book of the year.

I wish that one of the povs that we got was from the girls because we only ever hear their perspective from outsiders. I think that was supposed to make it even more mysterious, but I just felt confused a lot. It was clear that these girls were unique and quirky, and for that, a lot of people in the village hated them. It’s the classic “you should smile more” situation. I think if we’d had an insight to the girls’ thoughts and motivations, it would have made it so much more compelling. Instead, when it ended I literally said, “that’s it?” Ultimately, it was a bit of a disappointment.

4.5 Stars round up

This haunting feminist historical tale simmers with quiet rage, and I loved it for that. The Hounding tells the story of women simply existing, minding their own business, only to be vilified for being “not normal” in the eyes of their community. It’s an infuriating and all too familiar narrative about how rumors, fear, and patriarchal control can spiral into cruelty, especially when directed at girls who never stood a chance.

The writing is beautiful and lyrical, full of simmering tension and sharp truths. Purvis captures the slow, suffocating dread of mob mentality with precision, and the story’s ambiguity only adds to its impact. The ending, in particular, was brilliantly timed and left me thinking for a long time and will no doubt continue to do so.

I did wish for a bit more character development between the sisters to deepen the emotional weight, but honestly, that’s a small gripe in an otherwise powerful story.

If you’re drawn to unsettling, quietly furious stories about the societal cost of misogyny, and don’t mind a bit of weirdness, The Hounding is a short, sharp read you won’t soon forget.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt and Co., and Xenobe Purvis for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Misogyny, class, and a drought-ridden summer collide in this literary tale about five sisters in an eighteenth-century English village whose neighbors become convinced they’re turning into dogs. In a format reminiscent of “The Virgin Suicides”, we never get the perspective of the Mansfield girls themselves as paranoia heightens around them, we see them only through the eyes of the men who—whether they love them or hate them—are unsettled by their difference. The expectations placed on the girls, and their diversions from them, drive conflicting feelings in these men, and heighten tension until it becomes real horror.
The prose in this story was beautifully done and the format served the plot extremely well. I found the themes to be slightly heavy-handed at times. But overall, I thought this story was a well-executed take on the dangers of misogyny and a lovely debut!

I feel like I really loved the concept of this one, but not the execution. The idea of seeing the girls' story through the townsfolk's points of view was really cool, but I don't think the girls interested me enough to make up for it.

decent writing, i feel i really enjoyed this but i think the comparisons of to virgin suicides made me have a different idea of what it was going to be. either way i loved the read

A simple morality tale that you've kind of read before. The story is told from maybe to many perspectives but they each add depth to the story that is necessary because the plot is thin. I wasn't ever quite bored but I didn't feel very intrigued by the story either. Still it's a solid novel that I can see many enjoying.

This seamless blend of Virgin Suicides and The Crucible was expertly executed among a fresh and yet familiar setting. Unreasonable hatred towards young women fuels the plot and..... WHEW!

The five Mansfield girls are each unique and special, but their biggest crime is behaving like it. The ferryman's obsession with them triggers an absurd series of events, bring unsettling rumors to the surface.

I really enjoyed this novel, and Purvis' writing style. Her portrayals of the girls through different villagers' eyes painted an incredibly layered and nuanced picture. As a 21st century young women, I related to the Mansfield girls and I felt as though I knew and understood each of the other characters.

The Hounding is a debut novel by Xenobe Purvis that chronicles a particularly sweltering summer in a 17th-century English village, where a rumor spreads that a group of standoffish and rebellious young sisters are transforming into dogs. We alternate within the heads of several other members of the community, from the girls’ loving and blind grandfather and caretaker, to a love-struck boy helping on the farm, to the kind-hearted childless bartender appropriately named Temperance, as everyone struggles to make sense of these five weird girls, and yet never actually see from their perspectives.

The metaphor of women as dogs is obvious - with even recent cultural touchstones as the book-turned-movie Nightbitch and Sabrina Carpenter’s upcoming album Man’s Best Friend floating around the culture. With that premise along, I came into the book expecting an unsettling tale of paranoia, fearmongering, body horror, and the ways women are forced into submissive roles in society and will be in turn demonized for straining against them. What I got was…essentially that, with lots of the color drained out. There's not much horror here, not much vivid imagery, not much energy at all, like the book itself is too tired from the heat to do much more than shrug.

It’s not that the book is bad, per se - everything is perfectly competent, and yet I never could tell what about this version of this idea compelled Purvis to write it. It’s a blunt metaphor, simply assembled and pointed to, without any new angle or insight. Nowhere is this bluntness more evident than in it’s central villain figure: the mysogynistic, likely gay and repressed drunkard Pete. Pete never thinks in anything other than the most obvious, unsubtle ways possible. This isn’t to say that the world isn’t filled with Petes - it definitely is - but every time we slip into his head he’s only thinking the most pointed “I hate women and myself!” thoughts. He, like most other people in this story, aren’t really characters in a grounded psychological drama. They stand in for various ways to be positioned within the confines of gendered expectations: the parental figure who loves their daughters’ idiosyncrises but tries to rid them of it because the world won’t let them have it, the well wishing older woman who loves their bravery but is powerless to stop the town’s anger, the boy who actually likes these strange girls but can’t concieve of them outside his romantic intentions. This would be okay if the book was going for more of a surreal, mythic atmosphere, but as it stands, it’s a lukewarm middle ground between realism and mythic that fails to have the strengths of either.

The Hounding just never achieves anything beyond what its initial premise promises. A group of young girls are incoherently different from the restrictive world around them, and the petty judgments of their fellow townsfolk turn from dislike to fear to violence. It’s a spare novel with simple prose that leaves any confirmation of actual supernatural transformation vague. Personally, I find these kinds of stories boring and cowardly. It’s like several generations of writers feel that it’s too gauche to portray the supernatural, so they have to leave us like the spinning top at the end of Inception, forever caught beween a dull reality and a winking dream. It just leaves me cold, wondering what was the point of the whole endeavor.

This review has ended up being a little harsher than maybe I intended originally. Like I said before, I think the book is perfectly competent, but it sits as an example of a type of book I’m just not much interested in.

Rating: ** 1/2

The Hounding is set to publish August 5th, 2025.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into The Hounding, but it completely drew me in. The narrator's dry wit and sharp observations hooked me from the first few pages—there’s something so satisfying about a mystery told with intelligence and just the right touch of humor. I found myself highlighting lines not just for plot clues, but because they made me feel something—curiosity, tension, even amusement.

The atmosphere was one of my favorite parts: eerie without being overdone, and grounded in emotional realism. There’s a subtle thread of grief and identity running through the story that really resonated with me, and made the mystery feel more personal and layered. The pacing dragged just slightly in the middle, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment overall.

If you like a good mystery with a literary feel and a narrator who isn’t afraid to call things like she sees them, The Hounding is worth picking up. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more by this author.