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Surprising, compulsive and gripping, Heatstroke is a tantalisingly dark story about power, obsession and life on the verges of acceptability. Psychologically and morally complex and addictively executed, Hazel Barkworth’s debut announces the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction.
This summer burns with secrets...
It is too hot to sleep. To work. To be questioned time and again by the police.
At the beginning of a stifling, sultry summer, everything shifts irrevocably when Lily doesn't come home one afternoon.
Rachel is Lily's teacher. Her daughter Mia is Lily's best friend. The girls are fifteen - almost women, still children.
As Rachel becomes increasingly fixated on Lily's absence, she finds herself breaking fragile trusts and confronting impossible choices she never thought she'd face.
It wasn't supposed to happen like this.
Intoxicating and compulsive, Heatstroke is a darkly gripping, thought-provoking novel of crossed boundaries, power and betrayal, that plays with expectations at every turn.
Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
ISBN: 9781472265609
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 520 g
Dimensions: 236 x 160 x 30 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Barkworth has a pinsharp eye for detail, perfectly catching the moment when girls transition to adults. Overall, it’s propulsive, thought-provoking and atmospheric.' - The Mail
'Barkworth is excruciatingly good at encapsulating that point in life where Mia and Lily stand - on the edge of growing up... Intense and claustrophobic, this is an impressive first book' - The Observer
'A sultry, stifling debut' - Cosmopolitan
'Gripping and intensely atmospheric... beautifully explores the complicated relationship between mothers and teenage daughters... you won't want to put this down' - Heat
'An atmospheric read that will draw you into its tangled web' - Woman & Home
'Dark and unsettling' - Red
'Painfully real, and so beautifully written I wanted to stay within its pages forever. Heatstroke is unsettling, challenging and utterly immersive' - Clare Mackintosh
'Stylish and sensual' - Kiran Millwood Hargrave
'Tense, sultry, unsettling, sweaty and evocative ... A thrilling look at mothers and daughters, adolescence, sex, suburbia and secrets' - Nell Frizzell
'Pulls you into its sweaty interior and keeps you gripped to the end. Darkly atmospheric and so well written' - Renee Knight
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“An addictive and powerful story”
Heatstroke is an intense story set across a couple of weeks during the summer.
Rachel Collins is a secondary school English and drama teacher. When one of the girls from her school, 15 year old Lily, goes missing,...
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“atmospheric”
A story of obsession, betrayal, motherhood, womanhood set against the backdrop of an intense heatwave .
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“A brilliant, intoxicating story”
This is a brilliant, head-swimming story - beautifully written and totally gripping. No spoilers, but it unfolds in a really unexpected way
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