Hesket: A Norfolk Haunting

'Elegiac and lyrical, with breathtaking close observation of the natural world, 'Hesket' examines the impact of mankind on the environment and the ways in which nature will always fight back... Sara Bayat is a stunning new talent and I cannot wait to see what she does next'

'In village on the edge of a wood - once the site of a witch trial and now being torn down to make way for housing - a community is forced to reckon with its indebtedness to the landscape. Hesket is a moving and accomplished debut which describes how we are shaped by our ecology and haunted by the changes we have wrought on it'

'I loved it even as it made me shiver, from its creepy opening kids' drawing onwards. Hesket prickles with unease and shimmers with brilliance, hitting that satisfying seam of horror archetypes and familiar chills, packaged into a very topical story about isolation, insularity and our relationship to the land. The book's classic tropes and claustrophobia give it a dark fatalism which mark Sara Bayat out as one to watch in future'

'Blending ghosts, folklore and nature-writing, Hesket: A Norfolk Haunting by Sara Bayat explores the impact on this fictional small community of a housing development which will devour part of an ancient wood'

'A richly atmospheric collection. Bayat conveys with elegance the eerie charm of things off kilter, things gone wrong, and things plainly horrifying, in corners of Norfolk I didn't know exist'

'Written in confident easy prose, with a keen eye for human foibles, and full of arresting images, this unnerving tale of guilt, remorse and retribution in a quiet Norfolk village builds to a quietly satisfying denouement. I can't wait to read more from Bayat'