Havoc by Rebecca Wait

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Summary

Set in a run-down girls' boarding school in the 1980s, with the cold war still in full swing and featuring a curious case of mass psychogenic illness, Havoc promises to be a perfect tragicomedy.

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Havoc by Rebecca Wait

'A LABYRINTHINE MYSTERY OF EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY' Jo Brand
'DELIRIOUS AND REWARDING' Guardian
'UNMISSABLE' Woman's Weekly

Fleeing Scotland in the wake of family disgrace, 16-year-old Ida Campbell secures a scholarship at a failing girls' boarding school on a remote part of the south English coast. Despite the eccentricities of her new Headmistress, who warns her of the dangers of the Cold War and the ever-present threat of the bomb, St Anne's seems like a refuge to Ida. But all this is about to change. For a start, her new room-mate is the infamous Louise Adler, potential arsonist and hardened outcast.

Meanwhile, the geography teacher Eleanor Alston, in her late thirties, a disastrous love affair in her wake, faces the new term with weary resignation. But the fragile ecosystem of the school is disrupted by the arrival of a new teacher, Matthew Langfield. Eleanor has an uneasy feeling he is not who he says he is.

And things only get worse when a mysterious sickness starts to spread throughout the school, causing strange limb jerks and seizures among the pupils. What is happening to the girls of St Anne's? Could there be a poisoner among them? Is Ida's scholarship really an escape, or is it instead a new nightmare?

READERS ARE LOVING HAVOC:

'Superb. Brilliantly funny, at times extremely poignant' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Another beautifully written book by Rebecca' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Utterly glorious, moving, enthralling and witty. I am so cross I have finished it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'I absolutely loved the humour in this book. Bonus points for the Cold War references' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Entertaining and humorous' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Tragedy and comedy fuse together perfectly in a labyrinthine mystery of emotional and psychological complexity -- Jo Brand
Havoc is a rich, wry delight of a read - as funny as it is thought-provoking, as evocative as it is page-turning. Rebecca Wait is a phenomenal storyteller. I can't wait to see what she writes next * Abbie Greaves, author of The Silent Treatment *
SCREAMING, CRYING, THROWING UP! Havoc is a fever worth catching, a gloomy and gorgeous pleasure * Maggie Thrash, author of Rainbow Black *
Rebecca is the author of five novels, the most recent of which, I'm Sorry You Feel That Way, was a Times, Guardian, Express, Good Housekeeping, BBC Culture Book of the Year and it was shortlisted for the Nota Bene Prize. Her novel, Our Fathers, received widespread acclaim and was a Guardian book of the year and a thriller of the month for Waterstones.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781529434453
ISBN 10 1529434459
Title Havoc
Author Rebecca Wait
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher Quercus Publishing
Year published 2025-07-03
Number of pages 400
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.