With pitch pure dialogue, and a plot that weaves in and around the theatre until the edges of reality blur, Lisa Harding presents us with a psychologically gripping story about personal manipulation and the imbalance of power in intimate relationships. A powerful performance

JANE URQUHART

A story of obsession, control and guilt, set in 1990s Dublin ... Perfect for fans of dark academia and Donna Tartt's The Secret History

IRISH TIMES

The Wildelings arrives to fill the Secret History-shaped hole in your lives ... Gothic and gloriously entertaining

Alex Preston, OBSERVER, Fiction to look out for in 2025

A searing exploration into our deepest desires and insecurities. I adored it

HEATHER DARWENT, author of the Sunday Times-bestselling The Things We Do to Our Friends

I was gripped by this dark and thrilling fable - Harding is the new Donna Tartt

DOMINIC WEST

Lisa Harding's The Wildelings, in the tradition of dark academia, shocks with the cruelties of belonging, the seductive power wielded in friendships, the impulse to control and subjugate. Impeccably paced, dark and disturbingly honest, The Wildelings reveals campus life as theatre of cruelty; but the real stagecraft lies in Harding's ability to excavate the still beating heart of a shared past and bonds beneath those brutalities. Riveting, addictive and, ultimately, beautifully human

UNA MANNION, author of Tell Me What I Am