When people ask me now, ‘what kind of books do you enjoy reading?’, my answer will now be Starve Acre.

An atmospheric and brooding folk horror, this is the kind of narrative that pulls you in and never fully satiates your desire to know more. And is all the stronger for it. 

In combining a 1970s rural setting with Early Modern folklore, Starve Acre creates a landscape that is familiar and disconcerting, the ominous evil that lurks in the book never fully quantified but ever present. 

The plot, which started life as a pseudo-historical short story, focuses around a young family who have recently lost their five year old son in abrupt and unprecedented circumstances. As his mother, Juliette, retreats inside herself with grief, his father, Richard, fixates on the folkloric ancient oak that once stood in the grounds of his family house. Their expressions of grief unite as they edge closer and closer to the occult. 

This was a fantastic reading experience, one that gently lapped into horror in a way that felt quite natural against the realism of a grieving family. I found the characters, whilst simply written, able to draw me into their world, and the setting of their family home one I wanted to escape and remain in for chapter after chapter. 

The book is divided into two narratives, their lives before Ewan’s death and their lives after, and the narrative watches as the two set on a collision course. I found the resurfacing of memories as Richard grieved a perfect way to introduce the complexity of their relationship with Ewan, who was struggling socially in the final months of his life. The descriptions of the landscape, the village, and its culture really built on the tension in the novel, adding a combination of beauty and anticipation as they move closer and closer to Ewan’s death. 

I do really feel like the book needed one or two more chapters, as the ending felt a little rushed. That is not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but for me it spilt the rising tension a little early and could have benefitted from implementing the slow pace it had throughout the rest of the novel. I loved the near distance of the characters and their emotions, and would love to have seen more at the close of the story. 

This is a book for people who like local history, folklore, English traditions, and understated horror. I am now going to be in a constant search for more books like this, so please recommend them!