Bad Fruit
EVERY FAMILY HAS ITS SECRETS . . .
‘A beautiful, bewitching, unsettling and unputdownable dream of a book . . . .I genuinely loved this, it will stay with me for a long time’ LISA JEWELL
‘A blistering thriller’ NEW YORK TIMES
‘Impossible to put down’ CHRIS WHITAKER
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Seventeen-year-old Lily has a loving, normal family. So why does it suddenly feel like secrets are stirring? Like Mama is about to crack?
As a storm of memories builds over one stifling summer, Lily must recast everything. What if her house isn’t a home – but a prison? What if her mother isn’t a protector – but a monster . . .
Bold, beautifully told, and bound to keep you turning this pages, this is an unforgettable story about a family gone bad . . .
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Readers love getting a taste of BAD FRUIT:
‘Best book I have read in a long long time. Intelligently written, really well paced. I devoured this’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘A powerful, hard-hitting and exquisitely written novel’ CLARE MACKINTOSH
‘Paring-knife sharp . . . Mama is a terrifying, masterful creation’ ABIGAIL DEAN
‘I devoured this, was completely gripped. Beautiful, astounding for a debut novel’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This is a cracker’ HARRIET TYCE
‘Disturbing, poignant and memorable all at once’ OBSERVER
‘A riveting novel exploring how family ties can both make us and break us’ RED
‘Beautifully captures your imagination from start to finish’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Beautiful, disturbing, impossible to put down. Bad Fruit heralds a seriously impressive new talent in Ella King’ CHRIS WHITAKER
‘Masterful in its evocation of the complexity of mother-daughter relationships . . . a writer to watch’ HARPER’S BAZAAR
”'A chilling literary thriller” - GRAZIA
”'Disturbing, poignant and memorable all at once - an exploration of a very dark relationship between a daughter and her mother” - OBSERVER
”'A riveting novel exploring how family ties can both make us and break us” - RED
”'Searing” - ELLE
”'A compelling debut that fizzes with tension from start to finish . . . this is a darkly fascinating, tightly plotted narrative from a writer to watch” - HARPER’S BAZAAR
”'A family overflowing with secrets. Bad Fruit is dark, compelling and beautifully written” - LOUISE HARE
”'Beautiful, disturbing, impossible to put down. Bad Fruit heralds a seriously impressive new talent in Ella King” - CHRIS WHITAKER
”'Thrilling and suspenseful, King’s exemplary novel will keep readers fascinated until the end” - BOOKLIST, starred review
”'A beautiful collision of mothers and daughters, human darkness and human kindness, truth and lies” - SARAH MAY
”'Compelling and wicked, Bad Fruit is a novel about the darkest of family secrets and the lies we tell ourselves in order to live with them. This is an intimate, compulsive thriller best read on a hot summer night” - JING-JING LEE
”'Tense, intense and intriguing. Ella King is a genuinely exciting new voice” - KATE HAMER
”'King is unflinching as she examines the hard questions about family. What defines belonging? Looks, care, secrets? How do you understand someone who loves you and hurts you? In Bad Fruit, guilt, hate, and love mingle powerfully” - ROWAN HISAYO BUCHANAN
”'Bad Fruit is brilliant, taut and explosive. Ella King deftly explores the toxicity of generational trauma while being unafraid to confront the racial tensions that can simmer below the surface. A bold new voice” - HELENA LEE
”'At once beautiful and harrowing” - L V MATTHEWS
”'Mesmerizing, dream-like and darkly suspenseful” - FRANCES CHA