OUR WICKED HISTORIES

A social outsider faces a weekend of nightmares, hoping to return to the school and life she yearns for.

English teen Meg eagerly accepts an invitation to a Halloween party at the foreboding Irish countryside estate of her classmates, the Wren twins—Lottie (her best friend) and Seb. She’s seeking to earn redemption for a drunken misdeed that landed her a suspension from their elite London art school, Greyscott’s. Bullied by her wealthy peers for being on scholarship and having a mum who’s a cleaner at the school, Meg also harbors a secret: a forbidden crush on Seb. The story unfolds as Meg’s reflections on the past are interspersed among the present-day scenes, and the growing sour atmosphere at the party forces her to relive the terrible incident and subsequent fallout that led her classmates to mistrust her. Escalating frights—flickering lights, a failing fuse box, tales of a local banshee, unusual paintings, and more—leave Meg questioning her senses and fearing for her life in this simmering, tension-filled novel that hinges on twisted secrets. Hinting at Poe’s classic “The Fall of the House of Usher,” this fresh reimagining explores classism and privilege. The main characters, who are cued white, nod to the complex, oppressive history of English aristocratic wealth, which intersects with Irish legend as mysteries that are as thick as the cloying weeds of a murky lake are slowly and satisfyingly revealed.

Deftly blends classic gothic style with a contemporary sensibility.