The Book Review Podcast

Episode Title: Book Club: Let's Talk About 'The Hounding' by Zenobe Purvis
Date: January 30, 2026
Host: MJ Franklin (Editor, NYT Book Review)
Guests: Jumana Khatib, Emily Akin, Greg Coles (NYT Book Review editors/critics)

Overview of the Episode

This Book Club episode of The Book Review Podcast is dedicated to The Hounding, a celebrated debut novel by British author Zenobe Purvis. The story follows a mysterious and unsettling summer in the fictional English village of Little Nettlebed in 1700, where rumors swirl that the local Mansfield sisters transform into wild dogs at night. The discussion brings together a panel of NYT Book Review editors to analyze the novel’s themes of groupthink, superstition, misogyny, climate anxiety, and more, while also reflecting on its literary style, influences, and wider significance.

(Note: The episode features a spoiler-free first half, followed by a spoiler-filled discussion in the second half.)

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Book Setup and Structure

[02:10 - 05:45]

• Setting: 1700, rural Oxfordshire, the fictional village of Little Nettlebed on the River Thames.
• Premise: The summer heat intensifies strange rumors about the Mansfield sisters, granddaughters of a local farmer, who are accused of transforming into wild dogs and wreaking havoc on the community.
• Narrative Style: The novel cycles through five non-sister perspectives—Pete Darling (ferryman/drunkard), Thomas (farm hand/outsider), Temperance (publican’s wife), Robin (adolescent boy), and Joseph (the girl's blind/grieving grandfather).
• Themes Introduced: Superstition vs. reason, gender roles and misogyny, groupthink, and emerging climate allegory.

Memorable Quote:

“The question that looms over the novel is exactly what is happening and who or what is responsible. And for a novel so taut—it's only 225 pages—I think this book delves into some heady themes.”
—Emily Akin [03:33]

2. First Impressions and Literary Voice

[06:30 - 11:33]

• Jumana Khatib was immediately drawn to the writing and the “Gothic” quality.
• Opening Paragraph Read-Aloud:

  “The girls, the infernal heat. A fresh dead body marching up the river path. The villagers adorned with gaudy ribbons, some carrying stones, saw exactly what had taken place. The girls had found their quarry at last. The bite mark on the man's fist, the spreading blood spoke of an unholy struggle.”

• Praise for Purvis’s assured debut style: Comparisons to Milton, Hawthorne, Atwood, the “Edenic” feel, climate as subtext.

Memorable Quote:

“Every once in a while, you'll come across a conceit or a description or for me, it's almost always the writing that really makes me like, stand up and take notice.”
—Jumana Khatib [07:12]

• Emily Akin & Greg Coles note how the novel fuses genres (Gothic, horror, fable, suspense) while remaining original and not derivative.

3. Genre Blending and Literary Allusions

[11:33 - 13:15]

• Connections to “The Crucible,” “The Virgin Suicides,” “The Scarlet Letter,” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” alongside explicit references in character names (e.g., Wildgoose, Mildmay, Mansfield—perhaps allusions to literary figures or traits).
• Purvis’s deliberate play with a literary canon while crafting something new and ambiguous.

“She is playing with these literary allusions but at the same time making the story wholly her own. And I came away feeling that it was much more ambiguous than I had at first realized because I'd made assumptions based on ... tropes.”
—Emily Akin [12:52]

4. Ambiguity and Perspective

[13:33 - 15:07]

• The villagers’ fear is never confirmed or denied in text; the narrative roams but never gives the sisters’ perspectives. This leaves supernatural events ambiguous, forcing readers to confront the malleability of mass hysteria and rumor.
• Pete Darling as the unreliable, misogynistic antagonist: the rumor-mongering ferryman whose own psychology is exposed.

“We never get the point of view of the sisters themselves. If we did, we could learn very readily—do they, in fact, turn into dogs? ... We are in the role of the townspeople needing to make our own decision …”
—Greg Coles [13:33]

5. Character Analysis: Pete Darling & Animal Symbolism

[15:07 - 18:38]

• Pete’s role and symbolism as both a catalyst and a “dog” in his own right; animal metaphors are woven through the cast, associating almost every figure with some creature, underscoring the book’s exploration of human nature.
• Names as hints to character and literary precedent.

“It's the horror of that … but it's funny when you say Wild Goose and like Thomas Mildmay — the names are so great.”
—Jumana Khatib [18:34]

6. Major Themes: Misogyny, Groupthink, Climate Allegory

[19:00 - 23:51]

• The novel draws overt connections between the targeting of “different” or independent women and the tendency towards suspicion, violence, and groupthink in times of crisis.
• Socio-historical context: The villagers’ refusal to accept the “modern” is juxtaposed against their climate and personal crises.
• Purvis's ability to be “on-the-nose” with theme but save the novel from preachiness through fable and a strong narrative voice.

Quote:

“Girls who became dogs, or who let the world believe they were dogs, were either powerful or mad. Both monstrous possibilities…”
—(Read by Jumana Khatib) [20:44]

Historical Context:

“In an interview with NPR, Zenabe said that she came across the true story of five sisters in 1700 who were said to be seized with frequent barking in the manner of dogs... My story is an imaginative response to the situation.”
—MJ Franklin [24:19]

7. Atmosphere & Climate as Character

[25:38 - 29:30]

• Climate disaster (drought, failing rivers) as an atmosphere amplifier and a metastory about powerlessness and rage; explicit scenes punctuate collective tension.
• The natural world is rendered with vivid beauty in the book’s early pages—an “urgent fruitfulness” that decays.

Quote:

“If violence was their God, the ale house was their church.”
—Zenobe Purvis (as remembered by Jumana Khatib) [17:12]

SPOILER-FILLED DISCUSSION

([31:23 - 44:01])

8. Escalation: Groupthink & Consequences

• The rumor—though originating from a known liar (Pete)—takes hold, propelled by a climate of fear, anxiety, and fragile masculinity.
• Other characters’ beliefs waver, resulting in the girls’ effective imprisonment “for their protection” (which is also their punishment).
• The plot culminates in violence on Pete’s wedding day.

9. Character Arcs and Moral Ambiguity

• Temperance: Her “fall” into alcohol, instigated by Pete, leads to uninhibited bravery—she enables a key escape and resists the mob’s pressure.
• The Mansfield Sisters: The sisters’ power lies in their ambiguity and quiet resistance. Their “otherness”—whether supernatural or not—marks them as targets.

“It's possible to leverage your own weakness and still come out with some courage or to do the right thing...”
—Jumana Khatib [36:46]

10. Interpretive Complexity: Who Are the Real ‘Dogs’?

• The villagers attempt to scapegoat the sisters, but the real “canine” violence lies in mob mentality and Pete’s cruelty.
• Evidence is ambiguous regarding the supernatural; abuse and assault are implied but not graphically represented—readers are left to connect narrative hints.

Key exchange:

“For me ... the moral of the story is that the dog in the book is Pete, not the girls.”
—Emily Akin [41:18]
“...I think the girls are in their way, dogs as well—in that they’re wild and free and they’re feral and they’re unconstrained and they’re so happy…”
—MJ Franklin [42:08]

11. Ambiguity, Catharsis, and Modern Resonance

• Echoes of contemporary “manosphere” backlash and regressive gender panic, as well as the tendency of communities in crisis to exorcise their anxiety on scapegoats.
• The book’s allegory is described as “resonant for our moment” of resurgent sexism and social disorder.

Quote:

“Wherever we go, however we behave, there will always be something to drive us inside. … We were too free, and this, all of this, is our punishment. It has nothing to do with the idea of us becoming dogs and everything to do with the fact of us being girls.”
—The Mansfield Sisters, quoted by MJ Franklin [43:27]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On writing:

  “There's not a single wasted syllable in that paragraph.”
  —Jumana Khatib [07:15]

• On Pete Darling:

  “He is more than a character to me. He was like a feeling, an atmosphere, almost like a music cue. … The stakes were ratcheted up.”
  —MJ Franklin [15:45]

• On theme:

  “Fables by nature have morals.”
  —Greg Coles [21:47]

• On groupthink:

  “The novel serves as a powerful reminder of how easily communities can turn against their own members when difference is perceived as danger.”
  —Vicki from Idaho (read by MJ Franklin) [33:13]

Recommended Books & Further Reading

[44:01 - 48:11]

• The Testament of Yves Gundron by Emily Barton (recommended by Greg Coles): Inventive, ambiguous early-modern fable with shifting realities.
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Emily Akin): “Practically perfect,” classic of small-town groupthink and symbolic landscape.
• Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen (Jumana Khatib): Parable of moral panic set in 1600s Germany, laced with dark humor.
• Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff (MJ Franklin): Stark explorations of the collective mistreatment of women.
• Paradise by Toni Morrison (MJ Franklin): Takes on groupthink and violence toward women outsiders.
• Normal Gossip podcast and You Didn’t Hear This from Me by Kelsey McKinney (MJ Franklin): The art and anatomy of gossip in literature and society.

Final Thoughts & Closing

• The Hounding is praised as a confident, immersive, richly ambiguous debut, skillfully employing fable, horror, and historical realism to probe the enduring dynamics of belief, gender, and power in society.
• Next month’s Book Club selection is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

Segment Timestamps

• Setup / Introduction: [00:37 – 02:10]
• Book Structure & Characters: [02:10 – 05:45]
• Initial Impressions & Literary Style: [06:30 – 11:33]
• Literary Allusions & Genre Blending: [11:33 – 13:15]
• Ambiguity & Perspective: [13:33 – 15:07]
• Character Analysis & Animal Symbolism: [15:07 – 18:38]
• Major Themes (Misogyny, Groupthink, Climate): [19:00 – 23:51]
• Atmosphere & Climate Allegory: [25:38 – 29:30]
• Spoiler-Filled Second Half: [31:23 – 44:01]
• Recommendations: [44:01 – 48:11]

This summary maintains the lively, analytical, and deeply engaged tone of the podcast, preserving the panel’s emphasis on textual detail and moral ambiguity, and capturing both content and personality for listeners new and returning alike.