'A dirty little jewel of a novel' Julia Armfield
'Malory Towers meets The Conjuring' Alice Slater
'Gory, tender, sexy' Krystelle Bamford

In 1928, Emily Locke's final year at the isolated Briarley School for Girls is derailed when Violet, the school's brightest star (and a cunning beauty for whom Emily would do anything), falls to her death on her eighteenth birthday. Emily and her buttoned-up rival Evelyn are, for once, in agreement: Violet's death was no accident. There's an obvious culprit, the French schoolmistress with whom Violet was getting a little too close - they just need to prove it.

Desperate for answers, Emily and her classmates turn to spiritualism, hoping for a glimpse of wisdom from the great beyond. To their shock, Violet's spirit appears, choosing pious Evelyn as her unlikely medium. And Violet has a warning for them: the danger has just begun.

Something deadly is infecting Briarley. It starts with rotten food and curdled milk, but quickly grows more threatening. As the body count rises and students race to save themselves, Emily must confront the fatal forces poisoning the school. Emily's fight for survival forces her to reevaluate everything she knows: about Violet, Evelyn, Briarley, and, ultimately, herself.

Avery Curran channels the indelible ambience and intrigue of the classic boarding school novel while turning the beloved genre on its head in this visceral, exuberant debut.

"Malory Towers meets The Craft in this deliciously claustrophobic Gothic horror . . . [a] biting tale of queer desire, teenage friendship and putrid Englishness." - The Bookseller

"lush and haunting . . . Briarley contains echoes of classic literary gothic manors like Thornfield Hall and Hill House . . . Curran delivers a chilling tale of repressed passion, queer awakening, and the corrosive power of silence. It's an impressive start." - Publishers Weekly

"The classic boarding-school setting is the basis for delicious, perfectly executed horror in this moving gothic debut. Rich with tension, Spoiled Milk explores queer repression, dread and desire. The narrative is simultaneously sharp and romantic, with a suspenseful plot that will have you staying up all night to finish. Best read with a torch under the covers." - GQ

" A haunting book about 20th-century England and an instant queer classic. " - Dazed

"Spoiled Milk contains echoes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca in Curran's intimate, first-person, reflective voice for Emily, among other similarities. Tensions rise for the small group of girls in this closed-room thriller, as petty rifts give way to serious terrors, and readers will keep guessing until the final pages. Classic, but still surprising, Curran's first novel will satisfy gothic fans." - Shelf Awareness

"Boarding school mysteries will never stop sending me, and Spoiled Milk nails the genre with its Picnic at Hanging Rock vibes and cool girl sensibility. After a student's shocking plunge from a high bannister, the upper class cohort bands together for a seance, only to awaken the repressed desires of a century of schoolgirls. Eerie, atmospheric, and lyrically driven, Spoiled Milk may be the most intriguing gothic of the year." - Crime Reads

"This lesbian phantasmagoria has everything: silk gloves, sour milk, clandestine visits to mystics, potentially evil yet sexy French teachers. It brings to mind Meg Wolitzer's Belzhar, Tana French's The Secret Place, and even the salty teen-girl quips of Christine Schutt's All Souls. This one was a favorite of Emerson at The Head & Hand bookstore." - Electric Lit (Most Anticipated Queer Book of Spring 2026)