The Wildelings

A vivid and compulsive story of obsession, control and guilt, set in Nineties Dublin - perfect for fans of dark academia and Donna Tartt's The Secret History

Jessica and Linda have been best friends since the first day of school. Both girls are from very different broken homes - and beautiful, wilful Jessica has always ensured their survival. Now eighteen, the two have come to Wilde - an elite university in the heart of Dublin, far away from their troubled childhoods. Jessica thrives immediately, and, with the faithful Linda at her side, finds herself at the heart of a new circle of friends.

But then Mark enters the picture. A philosophy student a few years older than them, he has strange and compelling ideas about self-discovery. When Linda and Mark start dating, Jessica is disturbed by the change in her friend - and how quickly she seems to have fallen under the charismatic man's control.

It turns out that Mark's influence is not limited to Linda alone; and Jessica soon finds out that her whole group of friends are keeping secrets for him...and it will culminate in ways that will change their lives forever. Years later, Jessica is still grappling with her guilt over what happened at Wilde. And when Mark resurfaces to write his version of events, she knows she owes it to herself - and Linda - to set the record straight once and for all.

"A searing exploration into our deepest desires and insecurities. I adored it." -- Heather Darwent, bestselling author of The Things We Do To Our Friends

"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 and A Crooked Tree

"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, award-winning author of In Winter I Get Up at Night

Lisa Harding is a writer, actress, playwright. She received an MPhil in creative writing from Trinity College Dublin in 2014. Her short stories have been published in the Dublin Review, the Bath Short Story Anthology, HeadStuff, and Winter Papers. Bright Burning Things, her first novel published in the US, was a Jenna Book Club Pick. Harvesting, published in the US under the title Cloud Girls, won the 2018 Kate O'Brien Award and was shortlisted for an Irish Book Award and the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award. She lives in Dublin.

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