Heatstroke: a dark, compulsive story of love and obsession

by Hazel Barkworth

Overview

'Intense and claustrophobic, this is an impressive first book' OBSERVER

'A summer sizzler...with twists, turns and revelations in all the right places' EVENING STANDARD

'Stylish and sensual' KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE

—

Unfolding over a long hot summer, Heatstroke draws us into the secrets, lies and betrayals that simmer beneath a fracturing relationship between mother and daughter, leaving them both changed forever.

In the middle of a stifling suburban heatwave, fifteen-year-old Lily doesn't come home one afternoon.

Rachel is Lily's teacher. Her daughter Mia is Lily's best friend. When they learn that Lily meant to disappear, taking nothing but lipsticks and some lacy underwear from her mother's drawer, Rachel is horrified - like any other parent.

But as Rachel becomes obsessed with Lily's secret life, and who she might be with, she grows increasingly distrustful of Mia.

Rachel knows that her daughter is hiding something... because she is hiding something too.

—

'I am addicted. . .dark and twisty with beautiful, poetic writing' EMMA GANNON

'Gripping and intensely atmospheric... you won't want to put this down' HEAT magazine's READ OF THE WEEK

'A sultry, stifling debut exploring power, consent and womanhood' COSMOPOLITAN

'A stunning new voice... I couldn't tear myself away' ERIN KELLY

'A thrilling look at mothers and daughters, adolescence, sex, suburbia and secrets' NELL FRIZZELL

'Sexy and provocative' LAURA JANE WILLIAMS

'Unsettling, challenging and utterly immersive' CLARE MACKINTOSH

'Pulls you into its sweaty interior and keeps you gripped' RENEE KNIGHT

'Compulsive, sticky and full of gorgeous writing' KIRSTIN INNES

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472265623
Publisher:	Headline
Publication date:	10/29/2024
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

Hazel grew up in Stirlingshire and North Yorkshire before studying English at Oxford. She then moved to London where she spent her days working as a cultural consultant, and her nights dancing in a pop band at glam rock clubs. Hazel is a graduate of both the Oxford University MSt in Creative Writing and the Curtis Brown Creative Novel-Writing course. She now works in Oxford, where she lives with her partner. Heatstroke is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

Barkworth has a pinsharp eye for detail. . .it's propulsive, thought-provoking and atmospheric - Daily Mail

An atmospheric read that will draw you into its tangled web—Woman & Home

Dark and unsettling—Red

Gripping and intensely atmospheric... beautifully explores the complicated relationship between mothers and teenage daughters... you won't want to put this down—Heat

A bold and beautifully written novel of desire and danger - Mail on Sunday

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—Observer

A sultry, stifling debut—Cosmopolitan

Raw, unsparing and almost unbearably tender. Perfect sentences swim gracefully across every page, overlaying a narrative that delights in wrong-footing the readers' assumptions. I couldn't tear myself away—Erin Kelly

Stylish and sensual—Kiran Millwood Hargrave

I am addicted!... A gripping, dark and twisty read with beautiful, poetic writing—Emma Gannon

Painfully real, and so beautifully written I wanted to stay within its pages forever. Heatstroke is unsettling, challenging and utterly immersive—Clare Mackintosh

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—Renée Knight

Sexy, sensual, difficult, provocative - I was hooked for every twist, turn and revelation. This is definitely one of the best reads of the summer. I was blown away—Laura Jane Williams

Igulped this whole thing down in one sitting. It's compulsive, sticky and full of gorgeous writing—Kirstin Innes

A scorching tale of obsession, betrayal and the wounds that mothers and daughters inflict on each other in the name of love—Tammy Cohen

Fevered and claustrophobic —Jane Healey, author of The Animals at Lockwood Manor

From the Publisher