The Undoing of Violet Claybourne
06 November 2025Imprint: Zaffre
Synopsis
'An evocative mystery . . . atmospheric and gripping' Good Housekeeping
'A brilliant claustrophobic study of gaslighting and manipulation, as a family's ambitions overwhelm their better impulses' Daily Mail
'Atmospheric and chilling, this is one to curl up with' Heat Magazine, Book of the Week
TO BECOME ONE OF THEM, SHE WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES...
1938. Gillian Larking is used to blending in and going unnoticed, until she is befriended by her new roommate at boarding school, the vibrant and spirited Violet Claybourne. As the Christmas holidays approach, Gilly can't believe her luck when Violet invites her to spend them at her home, the crumbling Thornleigh Hall.
At Thornleigh, Gilly is dazzled by the family's faded grandeur, and above all by Violet's beguiling older sisters who seem to accept her as one of their own. But following a terrible incident in the house's grounds, Gilly begins to realise the Claybourne sisters aren't quite what she thought they were. And if she's to survive in their world, she may have to become just like them . . .
*LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA DAGGER AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR*
*FROM THE AUTHOR OF INDIE BOOK OF THE MONTH ONE PUZZLING AFTERNOON*
'A brilliant claustrophobic study of gaslighting and manipulation, as a family's ambitions overwhelm their better impulses' Daily Mail
'Atmospheric and chilling, this is one to curl up with' Heat Magazine, Book of the Week
TO BECOME ONE OF THEM, SHE WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES...
1938. Gillian Larking is used to blending in and going unnoticed, until she is befriended by her new roommate at boarding school, the vibrant and spirited Violet Claybourne. As the Christmas holidays approach, Gilly can't believe her luck when Violet invites her to spend them at her home, the crumbling Thornleigh Hall.
At Thornleigh, Gilly is dazzled by the family's faded grandeur, and above all by Violet's beguiling older sisters who seem to accept her as one of their own. But following a terrible incident in the house's grounds, Gilly begins to realise the Claybourne sisters aren't quite what she thought they were. And if she's to survive in their world, she may have to become just like them . . .
*LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA DAGGER AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR*
*FROM THE AUTHOR OF INDIE BOOK OF THE MONTH ONE PUZZLING AFTERNOON*
Details
06 November 2025400 pages
9781804185117Imprint: Zaffre
Reviews
An evocative mystery . . . atmospheric and gripping. An ideal read for winter days.Good Housekeeping
A stern boarding school, a dilapidated country mansion and an old-fashioned asylum are the gloomily atmospheric settings for a gothic-tinged story that explores the troubled minds and volatile emotions of the Claybourne sisters and their erstwhile friend, the impressionable Gillian Larking in 1930s England . . . Taut, tense and melancholy, it's a brilliant claustrophobic study of gaslighting and manipulation, as a family's ambitions overwhelm their better impulses.Daily Mail
Atmospheric and chilling, this is one to curl up with.Heat Magazine, Book of the Week
A powerful and convincing portrayal of the bitter consequences of human frailty and ambition, this novel pulls the reader into its dark depths like quicksand. I couldn't put it down. Hester Musson
