Named one of the best books of spring by Harper’s BAZAAR and one of the best of the year by The Economist!
A vivid and compulsive story of obsession, control and guilt, set in Nineties Dublin – perfect for fans of dark academia and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History
Jessica and Linda have been best friends since the first day of school. Both girls are from very different broken homes – and beautiful, wilful Jessica has always ensured their survival. Now eighteen, the two have come to Wilde – an elite university in the heart of Dublin, far away from their troubled childhoods. Jessica thrives immediately, and, with the faithful Linda at her side, finds herself at the heart of a new circle of friends.
But then Mark enters the picture. A philosophy student a few years older than them, he has strange and compelling ideas about self-discovery. When Linda and Mark start dating, Jessica is disturbed by the change in her friend – and how quickly she seems to have fallen under the charismatic man’s control.
It turns out that Mark’s influence is not limited to Linda alone; and Jessica soon finds out that her whole group of friends are keeping secrets for him…and it will culminate in ways that will change their lives forever. Years later, Jessica is still grappling with her guilt over what happened at Wilde. And when Mark resurfaces to write his version of events, she knows she owes it to herself – and Linda – to set the record straight once and for all.

Portrait

Lisa Harding's first novel Harvesting won the Kate O’Brien Award and was shortlisted for an Irish Book Award and the Kerry Group Prize. It was republished in the US in 2023 as Cloud Girls. Her second novel Bright Burning Things was a Today Show Book Club Pick, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a People Magazine Pick and an Observer, Grazia, Irish Times and Irish Independent highlight for 2021. It was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year and a Dalkey Literary Award. Her new novel The Wildelings is an Observer, Harpers Bazaar, Economist and Irish Times pick for 2025. She lives in Dublin.