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A review by emilypoche
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis
4.0
Thank you to Henry Holt & Company for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis is a short but masterfully crafted story of five sisters in a sleepy English village who are rumored to be transforming into dogs. The book, in its description has been likened to both The Crucible and The Virgin Suicides. I would say that the comparison to The Virgin Suicides is particularly apt; the story is very much centered around five enchanting but strange sisters, but is told from the point of view of the others, particularly the men in the community.
I think what sets this story apart, in the witch hunt cannon, is that the motivations of the people in town, especially that of Pete Darling are not for the reader to surmise on their own. The messaging is a little more heavy handed. There is hatred, revulsion, and a sense of fear of these girls. While they are often admittedly scared of these girls, many of them find themselves attracted to them nonetheless.
I thought that the author did a very good job of using language, that while not antiquated or time-specific, didn’t feel anachronistic. The daughters, even the ‘wild’ ones, weren’t so outside of the realm of possibilities. I thought that despite the undercurrent of magic and the spiritual that the world has a feeling of firm grounding in reality.
Not exactly the same as multiple narrators, the story does shift its attention between several characters with different attitudes and degrees of separation from the girls. I think that this was a very masterful way of achieving the feeling of the disconnected messaging around the girls and how the perceptions of them differed.
In all, I think that this is a great piece of literary fiction with elements referencing other very strong works. It is brief, but well worth reading. 4/5 stars!
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis is a short but masterfully crafted story of five sisters in a sleepy English village who are rumored to be transforming into dogs. The book, in its description has been likened to both The Crucible and The Virgin Suicides. I would say that the comparison to The Virgin Suicides is particularly apt; the story is very much centered around five enchanting but strange sisters, but is told from the point of view of the others, particularly the men in the community.
I think what sets this story apart, in the witch hunt cannon, is that the motivations of the people in town, especially that of Pete Darling are not for the reader to surmise on their own. The messaging is a little more heavy handed. There is hatred, revulsion, and a sense of fear of these girls. While they are often admittedly scared of these girls, many of them find themselves attracted to them nonetheless.
I thought that the author did a very good job of using language, that while not antiquated or time-specific, didn’t feel anachronistic. The daughters, even the ‘wild’ ones, weren’t so outside of the realm of possibilities. I thought that despite the undercurrent of magic and the spiritual that the world has a feeling of firm grounding in reality.
Not exactly the same as multiple narrators, the story does shift its attention between several characters with different attitudes and degrees of separation from the girls. I think that this was a very masterful way of achieving the feeling of the disconnected messaging around the girls and how the perceptions of them differed.
In all, I think that this is a great piece of literary fiction with elements referencing other very strong works. It is brief, but well worth reading. 4/5 stars!