THE FOX HUNT

A British university student becomes entangled with the members of a campus secret society who inadvertently provide her access to a mysterious parallel world.

When shy Emma Curran accepts a prestigious fellowship that funds climate change–related research on river habitats, she’s catapulted from obscurity into the most elite student circles. She quickly begins consorting with young people whose lives center around “dressage clubs…[shopping] at Harrods,” yachts, and glamorous parties. Her newfound social status attracts attention from the popular leader of the secretive all-male Turnbull Society, who invites her to partake in an ancient ritual and then a human “fox hunt” that unexpectedly transports her to a domain that coexists—and sometimes intersects—with her own. Breeze demonstrates her mastery of worldbuilding by plunging the reader into the mesmerizing realm of the Night City, populated by spell-workers, healers, scholars and hybrid human-animals who, like Emma, have been “touched by magic…[and] belong to the power that claimed [them]. That saved [them], or granted [their] wish”; and where survival is dependent on the ability to see through cleverly worded “bargains” meant to trap the unwary. As Emma searches for a way back to her world, she draws inexorably closer to truths about the Turnbulls and their unspeakable bargain with the Night City that not only test her wits, mettle, and resolve, but transform her into the avenging heroine of a story she never dreamed would be hers. Smart, propulsive, and multi-layered, this deftly crafted fantasy thriller immerses readers in a narrative that recalls the wonder—and horror—of Grimms’ fairy tales in a darkly elegant academic setting.

An absorbing novel that weaves an unforgettable tale of magic and subversion.