An Observer top ten best new novelist for 2024
‘A simmering debut, heady with the possibilities of language and the righteousness of female rage’
Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies
‘Lush and dreamlike – a sweltering novel, where the sunlight pulses with nightmarish dread’
Colin Walsh, author of Kala
‘This lusciously verdant novel is rich in grit and dirt, in sensuality and oblivion’
Lara Williams, author of Supper Club
‘A modern-day Dionysian cult of women in the woods – haunting and exhilarating’
Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne
‘Emma Cline’s The Girls meets Lord of the Flies . . . compelling, cultish and utterly feral’
Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller
______
They thought they knew everything about us. The kind of women we were.
Iris is adrift when she meets the beguiling Hazel, who lives on a women’s commune. As she is drawn into commune life, Iris is soon seduced by the possibility of a new start away from a world of men who have only let her down. At Breach House the women are free to live and eat abundantly, to be loud and dirty, all whilst under the leadership of their gargantuan matriarch, Blythe.
But is Breach House truly the haven it seems? And just how much can Iris trust her new family? When an unforgivable transgression threatens the commune’s existence, Iris and the other women find themselves hurtling towards an act of devastating violence.
Fierce and unapologetic, Spoilt Creatures is an intoxicating debut that pulls back the skin of the patriarchy and examines the female rage that lies beneath.
‘A simmering debut, heady with the possibilities of language and the righteousness of female rage’
Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies
‘Lush and dreamlike – a sweltering novel, where the sunlight pulses with nightmarish dread’
Colin Walsh, author of Kala
‘This lusciously verdant novel is rich in grit and dirt, in sensuality and oblivion’
Lara Williams, author of Supper Club
‘A modern-day Dionysian cult of women in the woods – haunting and exhilarating’
Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne
‘Emma Cline’s The Girls meets Lord of the Flies . . . compelling, cultish and utterly feral’
Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller
______
They thought they knew everything about us. The kind of women we were.
Iris is adrift when she meets the beguiling Hazel, who lives on a women’s commune. As she is drawn into commune life, Iris is soon seduced by the possibility of a new start away from a world of men who have only let her down. At Breach House the women are free to live and eat abundantly, to be loud and dirty, all whilst under the leadership of their gargantuan matriarch, Blythe.
But is Breach House truly the haven it seems? And just how much can Iris trust her new family? When an unforgivable transgression threatens the commune’s existence, Iris and the other women find themselves hurtling towards an act of devastating violence.
Fierce and unapologetic, Spoilt Creatures is an intoxicating debut that pulls back the skin of the patriarchy and examines the female rage that lies beneath.
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Reviews
Earthy and visceral, Spoilt Creatures is a depiction of female physicality unlike any I've read before
Lush and dreamlike - a sweltering novel, where the sunlight pulses with nightmarish dread
A powerful, angry, dark and compelling feminist debut novel. It pulls you in to the visceral world of the women in the commune and it shocks and moves you. Beautifully written
A simmering debut, heady with the possibilities of language and the righteousness of female rage
A modern-day Dionysian cult of women in the woods - haunting, exhilarating and full of female rage
Emma Cline's The Girls meets Lord of the Flies, Spoilt Creatures is compelling, cultish and utterly feral. I'm drinking the Amy Twigg Kool-Aid, and it tastes like blood and rotten summer berries. A firecracker of a debut!"
An intimate and intense tale of how a safe haven can become a dangerous place, told with much insight and humanity
This is a book that sinks its claws in and doesn't let go. Filled with atmosphere and incredible prose, it's compulsive reading right up until its terrible, inevitable end
A gripping, beautifully imagined reflection on women and anger - I couldn't put it down
This lusciously verdant novel is about female identity and obsession, desire and autonomy. It asks important questions about what we owe, and to who. It is rich in grit and dirt, in sensuality and oblivion, working towards a complicated and devastating end
Spoilt Creatures is a poignant exploration of loss, female anger, and just how far we can each be pushed. The book is sensual and sinister and achingly sad. A chilling cautionary tale, it's perfect for fans of The Girls by Emma Cline
A sun-drenched, blood-soaked fever dream of a novel. Amy Twigg's prose is as exact as her setting and characters are wild, and she unflinchingly portrays female rage in its full, terrible glory
An extremely accomplished debut
Amy Twigg's striking debut offers a new twist on the cult narrative... Twigg writes perceptively about loneliness and disconnection and the appeal of a haven from "the malfunctioning world of indecision and patriarchy"
A fascinating blend of human vulnerability and grimy delights
With rising tension, this is a really strong debut and if, like me, you are fascinated with cults, you will devour it
For fans of The Girls
The most talked-about debut of 2024. It's the perfect find for fans of Sophie Mackintosh and Julia Armfield
A firecracker of a debut... expect power struggles and female rage
If there's one debut you read this year, make sure it is Spoilt Creatures. A story that is dripping in satire, female rage and cultish obsession, this is a read in one sitting kind of book... There is such a surreal, dreamlike quality to the prose, which is rich with atmosphere and fierce with its brute power. Twigg is here to stay
This rivetingly dark debut stands out among a new generation of novelists working under the spell of the 20th-century horror writer Shirley Jackson, whose chilling tales portray the violent urges simmering beneath civilised norms... Twigg's sinister portrait of brain-washing unspools in the manner of a true-crime testimony, narrated with masterful control and teasing us with hints of the devastatingly brutal climax to come, as the novel's doomy cadences generate maximal dread
Amy Twigg's debut - about an all-female commune where things get sinister - is gripping
Twigg's storytelling is both captivating and unsettling, drawing readers into the complex emotional landscapes of her characters. The narrative unfolds slowly under the oppressive summer sun, building to a gripping climax
Twigg's storytelling is captivating yet unsettling, drawing readers into a complex emotional landscape of characters - 9/10
Amy Twigg's fierce debut needs to find its way to your bedside table... An unapologetic and all-encompassing exploration of female rage, power structures, and the entrapment of cults, I guarantee readers will be both enthralled and disgusted by this fascinating, furious, and utterly feral novel