Woodworm

An incredible reinvention of the haunted house as a place marked by history’s ghosts. * Financial Times *
This supernatural story of an outcast girl and her grandmother lays bare intergenerational horror, feminine rage and the taking back of power. * Stylist *
Wonderfully bizarre and ceaselessly creepy... filled with strangeness, and delivered with sharp and fast prose. Through it all, Martínez explores larger topics of class resentment and the lingering effects of evil. Intergenerational trauma and monsters share the spotlight in this terrific debut. * New York Times *
A claustrophobic slice of domestic horror… With impressive economy and hurtling intensity,Woodworm emits a howl of fury against entrenched inequality and enforced servitude, and the constraints they place on working-class women * Times Literary Supplement *
A house of women and shadows, built from poetry and revenge. Layla Martínez’s tense, chilling novel tells a story of specters, class war, violence and loneliness, as naturally as if the witches had dictated this lucid, terrible nightmare to Martínez themselves. -- Mariana Enriquez, author of OUR SHARE OF THE NIGHT
A modern fairytale. * Harper's Bazaar *
If you’re in the mood to read a story about a haunted house that will make your skin crawl, then I cannot recommend Woodworm enough. This book has everything, from witches to saints to angels that look like praying mantises to some of the most unsettling portrayals of ghosts that I’ve come across in a long time. * Polygon *
Martinez’s debut novel takes cabin fever to the max in this story of a grandmother, granddaughter, and their haunted house, set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. As the story unfolds, so do the house’s secrets, the two women must learn to collaborate with the malevolent spirits living among them. * The Millions *
A sophisticated ghost story…breathes new life into the classic haunted house motif through Martinez's vivid exploration of generational trauma, violence, misogyny, and class. Readers won’t soon forget this striking tale. * Publishers Weekly *
Martínez’s prose is fairly straightforward with a menacing snarl.…There are interesting dynamics simmering underneath, not least the palpable sense of inherited trauma and the oppressive nature of inequality.…A ghost story buried in a family closet laden with skeletons and sins. * Kirkus Reviews *
It pounces on us from the first line and doesn’t let go until the last, if it lets go. The Gothic revival continues to expand and produce great works. -- Edmundo Paz Soldán, author of NORTE
Woodworm is a true literary event. -- Belén Gopegui, author of STAY THIS DAY AND NIGHT WITH ME
This book is the revenge of an intergenerational wound, the embrace of barbarity, the loss of morals when trying to protect your loved ones. This book is the miserable and the wretched saying ‘enough is enough.’ -- Alana S. Portero, author of BAD HABIT