The Book Review Book Club: Let's Talk About 'The Hounding' by Xenobe Purvis
Jan 30, 2026
Gregory Cowles, senior editor who breaks down characters; Emily Eakin, critic who frames themes; Joumana Khatib, editor offering close readings. They discuss Xenobe Purvis’s gothic fable about five sisters pursued by a fearful village. Conversation covers shifting narrators, ambiguous supernatural hints, misogyny and mob dynamics, striking animal imagery, and drought as symbolic pressure.
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Fable Meets Historical Fiction
- Zeneby Purvis blends historical realism with fable to explore misogyny, groupthink, and climate stress in a compact novel.
- The book's taut writing and layered allusions invite multiple readings beyond its gothic conceit.
Ambiguity Through Outsider Perspectives
- Purvis never gives the Mansfield sisters their own narrating voice, heightening the novel's ambiguity.
- Readers must judge events through biased townspeople, which deepens the mystery about what really happened.
A Single Paragraph Hooks The Reader
- The opening paragraph grabbed reviewers with spare, evocative prose that sets an immediate, ominous tone.
- Emily Eakin praised the sentence-level control as a signal of a distinctive, confident debut voice.
