The Herd - Emily Edwards

Genre: Adult Fiction | Speculative Fiction

Release Date: Expected 3rd February 2022

Publisher: Random House UK | Bantam Press

Elizabeth and Bryony have always been best friends despite being polar opposites in almost every way. They're even the Godmothers of each others children, because they know they can trust each other with everything, even their own children's safety.

But there's one difference that they've avoided talking about because it might be the one thing to explode them forever - a radically different belief over one very important issue. So when Bryony tells what she thinks is just a little white lie to save an argument, she can't foresee the devastating consequences that will change both of their lives as they know it for good.

"Gossip, he's realised, is even more contagious than the virus itself."

A timely and uncomfortable exploration into the affects others actions, including vaccination, can have on others - and the risks you can bring to others based on your own decisions. Now, this is a divisive subject, especially now, but this novel tries to understand both sides of the argument in a thoughtful way. It tries to dissect the many reasons someone might become vaccine-hesitant, through peer pressure, fear or the impact of seeing a rare but very real allergic reaction - and forces you to confront that fear makes people do strange and sometimes dangerous things. Everything in this story is various shades of Grey.

But it isn't just about vaccination - this dark domestic drama addresses the dangers of extremity in any direction, about class and motherhood, about friendship and love. Each character is impeccably created to keep you guessing, neither of them particularly likeable but both somehow sympathetic at points also. They're starkly and soberingly real and familiar.

Between multiple perspectives, this starts off with slow and steady world building, showing us snippets of what's to come and leaving us anticipating the storm brewing around the neighbourhood our story takes place in. And despite the slow pace that had me losing interest periodically throughout, something always drew me back in and still managed to leave me shocked after every bombshell that dropped.

Make no mistake - this isn't the type of book you enjoy. It's dark, difficult and divisive, maybe not the best book to bring to your book club but one that will leave you uncomfortably captivated and stay with you long after the last page has turned.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.

CW: ableism, illness, references to infant dress, self harm, vaccination.

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