Pet

"FAULTLESS." —The Guardian *** "A SLY PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER." —The Observer

Like every other girl in her class, twelve-year-old Justine is drawn to her glamorous, charismatic new teacher and longs to be her pet. However, when a thief begins to target the school, Justine's sense that something isn't quite right grows ever stronger. With each twist of the plot, this gripping story of deception and the corrosive power of guilt takes a yet darker turn. Young as she is, Justine must decide where her loyalties lie. 

Set in New Zealand in the 1980s and probing themes of racism, misogyny and the oppressive reaches of Catholicism, Pet will take a rightful place next to other classic portraits of childhood betrayal: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Go-Between, Heavenly Creatures and Au Revoir Les Enfants among them.



"Chidgey again displays her prodigious talent for psychological suspense and minutely evoking past eras…. Faultless."



"Unnervingly realistic… a chilling tale of childhood vulnerability and violence."



"A sly psychological thriller... Chidgey is an agile writer, and here fuses pacey storytelling with some resonant metaphors."



"A lingering, haunting book, which belongs on the shelf with We Have Always Lived in the Castle or My Brilliant Friend - a landmark in the small but potent canon of contemporary novels about unusual girls reckoning with themselves and the world around them."



"Beguiling…. Chidgey's writing is confident and controlled as she pushes the novel towards its dramatic conclusion."



"With precision and economy, Chidgey captures the cruelty of pubescents, as well as the casual racism and misogyny of the time.... an absorbing page-turner."



"Crisply written and full of moments of delight."



"Brimming with nostalgia and a sense of menace."



"In her native New Zealand, Chidgey is a household name and this taut, tense psychological drama deserves to be her breakout book here."



"Pet is an enthralling page-turner, laced with dark ominous themes, examining both the oppressive racism that was rampant in the 1980s and the far-reaching power of the Catholic church."



"A superb character study, delivered with panache."



"A remarkable and original writer, whose novels have the golden combination of being both riveting and superbly-written."



"A dark and compelling story of guilt and betrayal. Add to it a near-perfect plot twist and you have a novel that lives long in the mind."



"Catherine Chidgey mobilises the misgivings shared by all children who love and lose, the fear of being odd, the longing to be special, the horror of being supplanted. Pet is a novel hard not to swallow entire in one go, by when the reader will be full of hooks and wary as an old pike."



"Catherine Chidgey brilliantly evokes the very particular preoccupations, fascinations, and cruelties of 11 and 12 year olds. The story is built of details which accumulate in a growing unease till the reader too begins to doubt her own judgement. Rivetingly tense and observant."



"Refreshing, compelling and surprising, this novel skirts around familiar tropes to deliver something new and troubling. Sharp writing, keen observations and killer wit."



"Pet is a page-turning psychological thriller: tense, uncomfortable and completely gripping."



"This is a captivating and often unsettling read….a literary novel with not only nuanced characterisation, vivid descriptions, pitch-perfect dialogue and artful language but also a dramatic story with a propulsive narrative momentum."



"Piercing and magnificent."



"A page turner."



"Chidgey satisfies and horrifies in equal measure."



"Probes the power of deception, betrayal, religion and childhood in every twist of its mesmerising plot."



"Damn this book is good."



"Chidgey is a find."



"I loved its authentic depiction of school life, the period 1980s detail and the slow build-up of suspense to deliver a shock ending I never saw coming!"



"A writer of formidable resources, a deft stylist possessed of uncanny imaginative acuity."



"An artist who may claim a perfect ear, an exquisite tone."



"Intelligent, lyrical, disciplined and observant, she is the real deal, the star of her generation"



"Highly original and deeply researched, Catherine Chidgey's Remote Sympathy is a powerful and disturbing study in terrible lies and the human need to believe them."



"A wonderful new talent."



"One of the most original, brave and profound explorations of the darkest recesses of the human heart I have ever read."