Penance

An utterly chilling, compulsive story of a murder among teenagers, on the eve of the historic Brexit vote, by a major new voice in British fiction.

A Guardian Best Book of the Year A Dazed Best Novel of 2023

Do you know what happened already? Did you know her? Did you see it on the internet? Did you listen to a podcast? Did the hosts make jokes? Did you see the pictures of the body? Did you look for them?

It's been nearly a decade since the horrifying murder of sixteen-year-old Joan Wilson rocked the small seaside town of Crow-on-Sea. Based on hours of interviews with witnesses and family members, and even correspondence with the killers themselves, journalist Alec Z. Carelli has constructed what he claims is the 'definitive account' of the crime.

It's a riveting snapshot of lives scarred by tragedy, and a town left in turmoil. The only question is: how much of Carelli's story is true?

About the Author

Eliza Clark is the author of Boy Parts (2020) and Penance (2023). In 2020 Boy Parts was Blackwell's Fiction book of the year, and in 2022 Eliza was chosen as a finalist for the Women's Prize Futures Award for writers under thirty-five. In 2023 she was named one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists in 2023. She also writes for film and television. A stage adaptation of Boy Parts premiered at Soho Theatre in October 2023.