"Like Shirley Jackson, Carmen Maria Machado, and other evocative masters of the gothic, Perry circles closer to answers without ever dispelling the magic that holds her narrative in breathless suspense. A mysterious fable about honesty and deceit, love and self-loathing, and our sometimes-doomed quests for inner peace." -- Kirkus Reviews "A beautiful, dream-like, unsettling narrative in which every word, like a small jewel, feels carefully chosen, considered and placed. Rarely do debut novels come as assured and impressive as this one." -- Sarah Waters "A dark, marvelous novel.pour yourself a cool drink and bask in a dazzling new writing talent." -- Daily Telegraph "Deeply creepy and startlingly well-written." -- Times Literary Supplement "Inexplicably gripping from the first page .

a hypnotic performance with an understated, dreamlike conviction." -- Sunday Times "Impressive.Casts a spell that is at once sinister and seductive.We search for our own meaning while succumbing to Perry's elegant prose and dark magic." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "A taut summer thriller." -- Harper's Bazaar "Will haunt the reader long after the final page." -- Guardian "An original and haunting book.a mix of elegant, alluring, but subtly sinister characters.

a talented writer." -- Daily Mail (UK) "Perry's work harnesses the mythic power of religious and historical texts to lend weight and wonderment.she is adept at peeling back the skin to reveal a detailed anatomy of psychological motivation.A gripping, memorable, impressive debut." -- Independent on Sunday (UK) "Atmospheric, haunting, disturbing." -- Wall Street Journal.