Alice Rowlands lives in a sinister London suburb with her bedridden mother and her cruel, unpredictable father—a veterinarian whose house is filled with frightened animals and barely contained violence.

Lonely and powerless, Alice has learned to endure the strange darkness surrounding her. But when she discovers an extraordinary ability within herself, it appears to offer a possible escape. Instead, it draws her towards a series of increasingly unsettling events that culminate in triumph, exploitation and disaster.

Blending suburban gothic, magical realism and dark fairy tale, The Vet’s Daughter is a haunting, sharply observed novel about cruelty, innocence and a young woman’s desperate search for freedom.