Hounding

Even before the rumors about the Mansfield girls begin, Little Nettlebed is a village steeped in the uncanny, from strange creatures that wash up on the riverbed to portentous ravens gathering on the roofs of people about to die. But when the villagers start to hear barking, and when one claims to see the Mansfield sisters transform before his very eyes, the allegations spark fascination and fear like nothing has before.

The truth is that the inhabitants of Little Nettlebed have never much liked the Mansfield girls—a little odd, think some; a little high on themselves, perhaps—but they’ve always had plenty to say about them and, as the rotating perspectives of five of the villagers quickly make clear, now is no exception. Belief in witchcraft is waning but an aversion to difference is as widespread as ever, and these conflicting narratives all point to the same ultimate something isn’t right in Little Nettlebed, and the sisters will be the ones to pay for it.