From the celebrated author of Bitter Orange and Swimming Lessons comes an '''atmospheric, psychologically vivid, and unputdownable’ new novel of complicated friendship and the desperate need to belong (Alice Winn).
1987: After a childhood trauma and years in and out of the care system, sixteen-year-old Ursula finds herself with a new job delivering mail at a local art school, a bed in a halfway house, and some new friends, including wild-child Sue. When Ursula is invited to join a squat at the Underwood, a mysterious house whose owners met a terrible end, she can’t resist this hodgepodge family. But as Sue’s behavior and demands become more extreme, Ursula, who has always been hungry—for food, but more importantly for love and acceptance—carries out her friend’s terrible dare. And, for this, Ursula finds herself literally haunted.
Thirty-six years later, Ursula is a renowned but reclusive sculptor living under a pseudonym in London when her identity is exposed by a true-crime documentarian researching an unsolved disappearance. But the filmmaker is not the only one who has discovered Ursula’s whereabouts, and as her past catches up with her present, Ursula must work out whether the monsters are within her or without—and if they will finally make her pay for her past mistakes.
Part gothic horror, part coming-of-age, and a with contemporary twist on the haunted-house story, Hunger and Thirst is a chilling tale of loneliness, of the dangerous line between wanting and needing, and of how far a person will go to truly belong.
Genre: Horror
1987: After a childhood trauma and years in and out of the care system, sixteen-year-old Ursula finds herself with a new job delivering mail at a local art school, a bed in a halfway house, and some new friends, including wild-child Sue. When Ursula is invited to join a squat at the Underwood, a mysterious house whose owners met a terrible end, she can’t resist this hodgepodge family. But as Sue’s behavior and demands become more extreme, Ursula, who has always been hungry—for food, but more importantly for love and acceptance—carries out her friend’s terrible dare. And, for this, Ursula finds herself literally haunted.
Thirty-six years later, Ursula is a renowned but reclusive sculptor living under a pseudonym in London when her identity is exposed by a true-crime documentarian researching an unsolved disappearance. But the filmmaker is not the only one who has discovered Ursula’s whereabouts, and as her past catches up with her present, Ursula must work out whether the monsters are within her or without—and if they will finally make her pay for her past mistakes.
Part gothic horror, part coming-of-age, and a with contemporary twist on the haunted-house story, Hunger and Thirst is a chilling tale of loneliness, of the dangerous line between wanting and needing, and of how far a person will go to truly belong.
Genre: Horror
Praise for this book
"Such a propulsive book - but at the same time, such a deep examination of art and violence and the slipperiness at the heart of both memory and friendship. I was absolutely gripped by it." - Jenn Ashworth
"Gothic, disturbing, and mesmerisingly well-written, Hunger & Thirst is like nothing I've read before. Claire Fuller's ability to generate suspense, revulsion, and disquiet within a nuanced and intelligent world is second to none." - Lucy Atkins
"Addictive, disturbing and suspenseful. It reminded me of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine at her most vivid. Ursula is a rare creation." - Amanda Craig
"A truly chilling story ... I was entirely captured in this novel's haunting spell." - Essie Fox
"An absolute masterpiece. Utterly absorbing, genuinely unsettling ...like all the most terrifying horror films of the 70's and 80's and all the most scary ghost stories." - Jennie Godfrey
"A gothic chiller - haunting, artful, suspenseful, complex, and cinematic." - William Landay
"Love story, psychological thriller, highly literary horror - Claire Fuller pulls off all three with this brilliant novel that is familiar and frightening in equal measure. Most of all, it's GREAT FUN. I absolutely loved it." - Kathleen MacMahon
"Unremittingly unsettling, propulsive and tense. Fuller excels at depicting outsiders, and writes with such precision and economy. Truly terrifying." - Sarah Vaughan
"Atmospheric, psychologically vivid, and unputdownable ... it frightened and enthralled me." - Alice Winn
"Gothic, disturbing, and mesmerisingly well-written, Hunger & Thirst is like nothing I've read before. Claire Fuller's ability to generate suspense, revulsion, and disquiet within a nuanced and intelligent world is second to none." - Lucy Atkins
"Addictive, disturbing and suspenseful. It reminded me of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine at her most vivid. Ursula is a rare creation." - Amanda Craig
"A truly chilling story ... I was entirely captured in this novel's haunting spell." - Essie Fox
"An absolute masterpiece. Utterly absorbing, genuinely unsettling ...like all the most terrifying horror films of the 70's and 80's and all the most scary ghost stories." - Jennie Godfrey
"A gothic chiller - haunting, artful, suspenseful, complex, and cinematic." - William Landay
"Love story, psychological thriller, highly literary horror - Claire Fuller pulls off all three with this brilliant novel that is familiar and frightening in equal measure. Most of all, it's GREAT FUN. I absolutely loved it." - Kathleen MacMahon
"Unremittingly unsettling, propulsive and tense. Fuller excels at depicting outsiders, and writes with such precision and economy. Truly terrifying." - Sarah Vaughan
"Atmospheric, psychologically vivid, and unputdownable ... it frightened and enthralled me." - Alice Winn
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