Bring the House Down Signed & Dedicated Edition
Format:Hardback
Publisher:HarperCollins Publishers
Publishing:5th Jun '25
£16.99
Only available to order until 5th June 2025 at 4:30pm, and will dispatch after that.
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£16.99(9780008688011)
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The literary debut novel of 2025, perfect for fans of CLEOPATRA AND FRANKENSTEIN and THE RACHEL INCIDENT
A one woman show A one night stand A one star review
‘Daring … propulsive and tender … A fascinating read’ KILEY REID
'Exceptional … When a man treats a woman badly, what does he deserve?' JENNIE GODFREY
'Fierce, fantastically funny' CLAIRE LOMBARDO
'I loved this incendiary debut' EMILIA HART
At the Edinburgh Fringe, vicious theatre critic Alex Lyons is dashing off his latest hatchet job.
When Alex meets the show’s performer, Hayley, in a bar afterwards, she has no idea who he is. It’s only after they’ve spent the night together that Alex’s well-meaning flatmate, Sophie, accidentally shows Hayley the one-star review.
Humiliated and furious, Hayley revamps her show into a one-star review of Alex’s entire life. Starring every bad thing he’s ever done to anyone. Sparing absolutely no details.
Hayley’s show is an instant hit, setting off a cultural earthquake. With Alex’s life in ruins, Sophie has a front-row seat to the carnage. Which is how she discovers that, sometimes, the audience is the most dangerous place to be.
Funny and thrilling, for readers of Cleopatra and Frankenstein or Fleishman is in Trouble, this is an extraordinary debut novel about bad art and good art and who gets to say what. About the one-star reviews we wish we could give out, and the personal criticism we would rather not face.
‘A daring dive into the excesses of our rating culture, Bring The House Down searches for the nuance and complexity we lose when we reduce our experiences to one-star/five-star, best/worst, or love/hate binaries. Runcie’s propulsive and tender prose interrogates the critic’s role and allegiances in a world where art has become a product like any other. A fascinating read’ Kiley Reid, author of Such A Fun Age
'Sharp-witted, wise, and authentic – what a fierce, fantastically funny read' Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had and Same As It Ever Was
'Funny, bold and tender, Bring the House Down is a biting study of power, gender and the meaning of art. I loved this incendiary debut' Emilia Hart, author of Weyward
'Well. This is exceptional. When a man treats a woman badly, what does he deserve? Bring The House Down by Charlotte Runcie is a wholly absorbing, nuanced exploration of the modern need to have, and express, an opinion on everything' Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things
'An agile, addictive story exploring art, ethics, the role of the critic, vindication of female rage, and the public appetite for blood … Atmospheric, propulsive, electric' Heidi Sopinka, author of The Dictionary of Animal Noises
'Runcie’s characters feel so real I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself next to them on the train or to overhear them on the streets of Edinburgh’ Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of The Sleep Watcher
‘A fascinating read’ Camille Bordas, author of The Material
'I devoured Bring the House Down – and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. Charlotte Runcie combines her searing observation and immaculate pacing with infectious prose in this compelling, comedic and seriously clever debut novel' Alice Vincent, author of Why Women Grow
‘There are some terrific books being published this year – and Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie is one … The premise is highly original… Fierce, sharp, funny, and highly provocative’ BookBrunch
ISBN: 9780008688011-S
Dimensions: 240mm x 159mm x 23mm
Weight: 270g
320 pages