The Drownings

A hypnotic, suspenseful novel about the simmering obsessions, passions and rivalries between two young women and an enigmatic lecturer - unfolding on a university campus with the darkest history.

'An atmospheric page-turner that got me out of a reading drought' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Atmospheric, suspenseful, evocative and powerful' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Barkworth has a way of gripping you with every sentence she writes' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'A modern look at witchcraft under the guise of a #metoo movement' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

On a remote university campus in the north of England, famed for the wild waters that surround it, two cousins arrive for the new term.

Zara wants to be at the centre of everything Leysham has to offer.

Serena, an ex-champion swimmer, struggles to find her place.

When they meet Jane, a beguiling and ambitious postgrad obsessed with historic local witch trials, both are drawn in by her desire to expose Leysham's dark legacy - a centuries-old culture of violence among the privileged elite.

As protests flare across the campus, a simmering rivalry takes hold between the cousins. But when cracks start to appear in Jane's stories, everything spirals out of control. . .

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'Barkworth is excruciatingly good' OBSERVER

'An extraordinary story of female power and rage' KATIE BISHOP

'Breathtaking' ERIN KELLY

'I can't remember the last time I read a book that described so perfectly the powers held within and used against women's bodies' KATE VAN DER BORGH