{"product_id":"spoiled-milk","title":"Spoiled Milk","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAVERY CURRAN studied history at university, where she first became interested in spiritualism. She finished an M.A. in Victorian studies in 2021, and is now midway through a Ph.D. on spiritualism and queerness in the nineteenth century. She was born in New York City and currently lives in London with her girlfriend and their cat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA \n\u003ci\u003eBook Riot\u003c\/i\u003e Most Anticipated Book of 2026 \n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A compulsively readable twist on the old-fashioned school story.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Read if any combination of the words 'yearning lesbian Gothic haunted-house body horror' gets you going\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Cut\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Chilling . . . Brimming with spiritualism and sensuality, this neo-gothic story navigates the terrain between life and death, and between childhood and adulthood.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e is a dirty little jewel of a novel, as thrilling as it is unsettling, as moving as it is frequently horrifying. Curran writes with incredible precision on fear, desire and the insidiousness of authority and empire. A truly impeccable novel.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eJulia Armfield, author of \u003ci\u003eOur Wives Under the Sea\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"A dread-inducing, vicious, horrifyingly entertaining ride through queer adolescence. This gothic debut novel is the stuff of nightmares and fantasies.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eMs.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e sinks its teeth in slowly, deeply and tightly. . . Lush, unsettling and oddly peaceful in its feral rhythms, \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e lingers in the mind like something decadent that's been left out too long.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eSeattle Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A triumph of mood and an earnestly frightening story about the horror of being a girl . . . A cruel, nasty pleasure which, over several weeks, has not loosed its claws from their sticky anchoring in my poor pink brain; I love it so much.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Rumpus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e is a post-war fable about the death of Empire and a lesbian phantasmagoria, but it's also one of the most well-executed pieces of horror writing I've ever read. It is a terrifically nasty, loving, heretical, filthy look at the boarding school story; Avery Curran puts the entire genre in its grave and then invites the reader to view its exhumed corpse. This book destroyed me.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eTamsyn Muir, Locus Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eGideon the Ninth \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Lush and haunting . . . a chilling tale of repressed passion, queer awakening, and the corrosive power of silence. It's an impressive start.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e --Publishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"This lesbian phantasmagoria has everything: silk gloves, sour milk, clandestine visits to mystics, potentially evil yet sexy French teachers.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e --Electric Lit\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Curran injects fresh blood into the traditionally rigid paradigms of English girlhood narratives. . . it feels strikingly like a conversation, perhaps even a confession, that resonates with the present. It is a refreshingly self-aware debut, built on a rich tradition of gothic cultural capital as well as history, and a must-read for boarding school fiction junkies.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Reactor \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An instant queer classic.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e --Dazed \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003ePicnic at Hanging Rock \u003c\/i\u003evibes and cool girl sensibility. . . Eerie, atmospheric, and lyrically driven, \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e may be the most intriguing gothic of the year.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e --CrimeReads \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Seances, ectoplasm, soft and furious kisses, a love triangle with a ghost, all of it hurtling towards a hauntingly beautiful finale. \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e is the book of my dreams and my nightmares.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Maggie Thrash, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize finalist and author of \u003ci\u003eHonor Girl\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe haunted lesbian boarding school horror show we always wanted. From its dread-inducing opening to that breathtaking finale, \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e is brimming with images that we'll carry into way too many nightmares. Avery Curran is a witch.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eMikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta, authors of \u003ci\u003eFeast While You Can\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Dread crawls steadily and inexorably throughout the pages of this thrillingly creepy novel, culminating in an ending that is thoroughly unsettling and - as in the best Gothic fiction - inevitable. Trust is an illusion, and safety is only ever fleeting. No one is safe, not even the reader.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Suzette Mayr, author of the Giller prize-winning novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Sleeping Car Porter\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e asks what would happen if the acolytes of Muriel Spark's Brodie set were left to fend for themselves in a Shirley Jackson novel--and the answer is this deliciously dark gothic debut from Avery Curran. I adored Curran's twisted take on the campus novel.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Lindsay Lynch, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eDo Tell\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Something wicked oozes through Briarley School for girls. Has the slave trade, spiritualism or sapphic desire unleashed it? Whichever way it's slick and rotten fun. Get ready for your new literary crush.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eClare Pollard, author of \u003ci\u003eDelphi\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Bristling with tension, \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk \u003c\/i\u003eis Enid Blyton on acid; a gothic, sinister and darkly funny read. I raced through the blood-chilling finale.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Flora Carr, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Tower\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A novel that turns the genre on its head\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBelfast Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Queerness weaves through the novel like an inversion of the rot spreading through the school. . . The use of foreshadowing effectively builds tension and dread . . . the novel's true strength is exploring the complex relationships among the girls--both living and dead--and the unknowns of the world. A queer, eerie debut.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\"Spoiled Milk \u003c\/i\u003econtains echoes of Daphne du Maurier's \n\u003ci\u003eRebecca \u003c\/i\u003e. . . readers will keep guessing until the final pages.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Thrillingly original\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eOur Culture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Avery Curran excels at depicting the sharp resentments and smothered lusts that emerge between these girls . . . as Emily and her fellows muddle then scream their way through Briarley's foul legacy, the reader will be rooting for them every haunted step of the way.\" \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Historical Novels Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"As much a letter of consolation to teenage grief and sexuality as it is a witty interrogation of the systems that uphold their repression.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Skinny\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Brilliantly bitchy, but also haunting and tender, \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e perfectly captures the youthful longing for something that feels just out of reach. It's gothic, gruesome and sassy: the unholy lovechild of Beetlejuice and Picnic at Hanging Rock. I will miss these girls!\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Tobi Coventry, author of\u003ci\u003e He's the Devil\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Step into the halls of Briarley, where nothing is to be trusted and the only thing more frightening than death is having to live long enough to grow up. Both darkly funny and genuinely harrowing, \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk \u003c\/i\u003eis the boarding school novel my spooky heart has been waiting for. Avery Curran has written an absolute knockout.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Allison Epstein, author of \u003ci\u003eFagin the Thief\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Pure class with a delicious touch of high kitsch, \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e is gory, tender, sexy, wry, and just so exquisitely written. It says as much about first love as it does masticated limbs, about Empire as it does ectoplasm--read it and be enthralled.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Krystelle Bamford, author of \u003ci\u003eIdle Grounds\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"I loved this \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003elesbian \n\u003ci\u003eMalory Towers\u003c\/i\u003e meets \n\u003ci\u003eThe Conjuring.\" \u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--\u003c\/i\u003eAlice Slater, author of \u003ci\u003eDeath of a Bookseller\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"A sapphic hothouse of heady spiritualism and bitter, shifting loyalties . . . a slow-burn horror story in the vein of Daphne Du Maurier, deepening the dread as the girls careen toward a bloodcurdling cry of a climax.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Margaret DeRosia, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eEight Strings\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"What a vicious, elegant, deliriously unpleasant book - as if Stephen King's \n\u003ci\u003eIT\u003c\/i\u003e was a lesbian boarding-school story set in the beginning of the dying days of empire. I was thrilled.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Arkady Martine, Hugo Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eA Memory Called Empire\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"A nauseatingly good work of lesbian horror where nobody comes out unscathed, reader included. What rot!!\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Grace Curtis, author of \u003ci\u003eFloating Hotel\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Sharp and teeming with intrigue, \n\u003ci\u003eSpoiled Milk\u003c\/i\u003e explores the tribulations of schoolgirls and spiritualism with equal care and attention. The kind of book you can imagine reading late into the night with a flashlight and pushing earnestly into someone's hand the next day -- you won't want to put it down.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Sarvat Hasin, author of \u003ci\u003eStrange Girls \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Avery Curran's spellbinding Gothic debut is sinister and playful in equal measure, and builds to a roaring crescendo of repressed rage and queer desire. The coming-of-age novel I wish I'd had.\" - \n\u003cb\u003e-Ally Wilkes, author of\u003ci\u003e Where the Dead Wait \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Highly recommend \n\u003ci\u003e . . .\u003c\/i\u003e This novel had everything I was looking for and more!\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Lesbrary\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA thrilling gothic debut - The untimely death of a student at a girls' boarding school marks the first in a haunting series of escalating supernatural events, and uncovers buried truths of teenage repression, queer desire, and the everyday horror of coming of age. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A truly impeccable novel.\" --Julia Armfield, author of \u003ci\u003eOur Wives Under the Sea\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"This book destroyed me.\" --Tamsyn Muir, author of \u003ci\u003eGideon the Ninth\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 1928, Emily Locke's final year at the isolated Briarley School for Girls is derailed when Violet, the school's brightest star (and a cunning beauty for whom Emily would do anything), falls to her death on her eighteenth birthday. Emily and her buttoned-up rival Evelyn are, for once, in agreement: Violet's death was no accident. There's an obvious culprit, the French schoolmistress with whom Violet was getting a little too close--they only need to prove it. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDesperate for answers, Emily and her classmates turn to spiritualism, hoping for a glimpse of wisdom from the great beyond. To their shock, Violet's spirit appears, choosing pious Evelyn as her unlikely medium. And Violet has a warning for them: the danger has just begun. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSomething deadly is infecting Briarley. It starts with rotten food and curdled milk, but quickly grows more threatening. As the body count rises and the students race to save themselves, Emily must confront the fatal forces poisoning the school. Emily's fight for survival forces her to reevaluate everything she knows: about Violet, Evelyn, Briarley, and, ultimately, herself. Avery Curran channels the indelible ambience and intrigue of the classic boarding school novel while turning the beloved genre on its head in this visceral, exuberant debut.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 01\/15\/2026 (EAN 9780385551595, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 01\/05\/2026 (EAN 9780385551595, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/span\u003e 12\/30\/0001 (EAN 9780385551595, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Doubleday Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496152400150,"sku":"9780385551595","price":33.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780385551595.jpg?v=1783054167","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/spoiled-milk","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}