A wonderful piece of Gothic sleight-of-hand; a beautifully sinister tale of perception and identity that had me enthralled from the first page -- Joanne Harris, author of CHOCOLAT
Unbelievably good... so clever, so haunting and melancholic. A novel about obsession, love and loss; an exploration of trauma and delusion; a meditation on writing and what it means to create, to be trapped in a world of your own making, tormented by your own characters. It's so beautiful, so dark and so vivid -- Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE
This twisted tale of ghosts and murderers, derailed lives and childhood traumas is a vertical labyrinth that will take you straight down into the heart of darkness. Enthralling and heartbreaking -- M. R. Carey, author of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS
This gripping horror is a masterful exploration of storytelling. It will lure you to the dark side before quietly blowing your mind, time after time. A haunting tale of friendship, creativity and revenge, with prose as deep and sweeping as the cliffs of Looking Glass Sound itself -- Janice Hallett, author of THE APPEAL
Devastatingly beautiful, bone-chilling and enchanting. Looking Glass Sound is further proof that no one writes like Catriona Ward. No one conjures such heartbreak from such raw fear. An alchemist of storytelling -- Chris Whitaker, author of WE BEGIN AT THE END
One of the finest literary craftsmen currently working is writing horror. Looking Glass Sound is a masterclass in atmosphere. Nearly every sentence is faultless, gutting and precise. Come for the family secrets but stay for the humanity, tenderness, and empathy that are so central to Ward's storytelling. This book will truly haunt you long after you read -- Olivie Blake, author of THE ATLAS SIX
What a totally stunning book. Such an intricate plot that you just have to sit back and enjoy as there's no point trying to work it out. At it's heart a book about the madness of story telling, possession and grief. I loved it! -- Araminta Hall, author of EVERYTHING AND NOTHING
A marvel of storytelling, sinister as hell, and, at points where I thought I understood where it was going, Catriona drowned me with her signature 'oh no, you don't' dark turns -- L.V. Matthews, author of THE TWINS
Serial killings, magic, literary theft, love and betrayal... So clever and original -- Mark Edwards, author of HERE TO STAY
Murder, magic and monsters from the deep: Ward weaves her dark magic once again in this atmospheric, horror-drenched coming-of-age tale, with twist after head-spinning twist -- Ellery Lloyd, author of PEOPLE LIKE HER
Unlike any books I've read. A book within a book. Hypnotic prose like the drowning rhythm of waves. Loved it! -- Laure Van Rensburg, author of NOBODY BUT US
A dazzling conundrum haunted by the classics of American literature. Who has the right to tell a story? Where does truth end and fiction begin? Catriona Ward is an enchantress weaving tales like spells as she treads the shadow path between real & imagined. -- Kate Griffin, author of FYNESHADE
Stephen King meets Atonement meets... screw it, you've read nothing like it before. This is so much more than a horror novel. Impossibly compelling, brilliantly plotted and incredibly moving all at once. This is Catriona Ward at her most special, most intimate and most ambitious. I think at this point we can all just agree to follow Ward wherever she takes us -- Virginia Feito, author of MRS MARCH
So, so brilliant. I felt like I was on a roller coaster. Her characters, the way she weaves together all the storylines, the reveals - all of them brilliantly done, and all while my heart was banging out of my chest -- Lisa Hall, author of THE PERFECT COUPLE
Complex, compelling, deeply unsettling -- Tammy Cohen, author of WHEN SHE WAS BAD
A captivating, mind-bending novel packed with heartbreak and twisty secrets from a solid gold storyteller -- Adam Hamdy, author of PENDULUM
You think you want to be a #Writer little one? *EVIL CACKLE* Read this gut-wrenching heartbreaking beautiful horror first! -- Tina Baker, author of CALL ME MUMMY
One of those books that as soon as you finish reading you immediately want to read again. Darkly mind-bending and softly gut-wrenching, this is another masterpiece from the incomparable Catriona Ward -- S.J.I. Holliday, author of THE DEATHS OF DECEMBER
A total headspin of a read that continually pulls the rug out from under you in the best possible way -- Tariq Ashkanani, author of WELCOME TO COOPER
You'll never read anything like it. Mesmeric prose. Stories untold. Gothic. Tragic. This book is something else -- Imran Mahmood, author of YOU DON'T KNOW ME
Looking Glass Sound staggered me; it enslaves you with a compelling beauty before delivering a brain-melting final blow. I'm still aching for these characters and overcome by this remarkable book. Catriona Ward is a writer like no other -- Matt Wesolowski, author of SIX STORIES
In the right hands, narrative can be a kaleidoscope, fracturing into more and more wondrous configurations. Just - I think Catriona Ward maybe spilled a little blood into her kaleidoscope, here... -- Stephen Graham Jones, author of MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW
Unsettling, moving and propulsive, Ward once again proves she is at the top of her game with this twist-packed page-turner which will break your heart and keep you up all night -- Holly Watt, author of TO THE LIONS
Inventive, absorbing, chilling and all told in elegant prose. No one creates that slow creep of dread in the reader's mind quite like
Catriona Ward
-- Michael J. Malone, author of A SUITABLE LIE
The dread rises like a salt water tide in a claustrophobic cave... Looking Glass Sound is a mesmerising and haunting performance of a novel -- Lavie Tidhar, author of CANDY
A phenomenal, clever, genius books, more than a story within a story, but who IS the story. Perfection -- Louise Beech, author of MARIA IN THE MOON
Ward will break your heart, mend it, and then break it again for good measure. A novel that will define a generation -- Awais Khan, author of NO HONOUR
Catriona Ward's novels are a reader's dream: each one potent, dark, immersive, and surprising. Looking Glass Sound is a frightening nesting doll of a novel about ghosts and monsters, trauma and loss, and the specific aching intensity of teenage friendships. Perhaps most of all, it's a book about stories--and their ability to save or destroy the teller. You'll stay up all night wandering the labyrinth Ward has deftly constructed -- Katie Gutierrez, author of MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOW
Looking Glass Sound is staggering, an intricate story about stories and madness, obsession and possession, and the nature of reality. This one will stay with me for a long time. Perhaps forever -- Peter McLean, author of PRIEST OF BONES
Catriona Ward is an inspired spider and Looking Glass Sound is her most masterful web yet... while we, dear readers, are nothing more than mere flies happily trapped within the pages of this brilliantly intricate novel -- Clay McLeod Chapman, author of WHISPER DOWN THE LANE
This book is incredible - so dark and with so many layers of story to uncover. Just as you think you've got it, Ward pulls the rug from under you -- Heather Critchlow, author of UNSOLVED
I couldn't tear myself away. Looking Glass Sound is slyly addictive. Falling into a Catriona Ward book means knowing you'll be caught and never let go. Unconventional, imaginative, and brazenly twisted -- Hailey Piper, author of NO GODS FOR DROWNING
Catriona Ward is a master of tugging at the strings of a deeply personal story until she's woven them into an epic, terrifying, multi-generational web. Looking Glass Sound is haunting and immersive. I loved getting caught up in it -- Chuck Tingle
One of the most talented writers working in the thriller genre today -- Alex Michaelides
About the Author
Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the US, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen, and Morocco. Her debut Rawblood won Best Horror Novel at the 2016 British Fantasy Awards, and was a WHSmith Fresh Talent title. Little Eve won the Shirley Jackson Award, was a Guardian best book of 2018 and won the Best Horror Novel at the 2019 British Fantasy Awards. She lives in London and Devon.