The Hawthorne School

How it reads

The Hawthorne School is thriller (psychological thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is eerie. It's atmospheric and uncanny, with a sense that something is wrong. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in a rural setting, in the present day, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are secrets, power and politics and family. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 304 pages it's a quick read. It's a hidden gem — known to relatively few readers.