Publication Date 16 04 22
MEET 2022'S MOST DANGEROUS COUPLE
Steven Harding is a handsome, well-respected professor.
Ellie Masterson is a wide-eyed young college student.
Together, they are driving south from New York, for their first holiday: three days in an isolated cabin, far from the city.
Ahead of them, the promise of long, dark nights - and the chance to explore one another's bodies, away from prying eyes.
It should be a perfect, romantic trip for two.
EXCEPT THAT HE'S NOT WHO HE SAYS HE IS.
BUT THEN AGAIN, NEITHER IS SHE . . .
Five Star Review
A chilling debut that glitters and shimmers with rage.
I am in awe of how Laure conjures up a set of ordinary words into unique phrases of beauty. Sentences I have never seen before immediately feel familiar. It is as if she puts life under the microscope then magics it up for us on paper.
Therefore, having read Laure's brilliant short stories before, I knew her debut novel would be special but I didn't expect to miss a night's sleep reading it or to still be thinking of it days later. Stunning, powerful, timely - what other words can I throw at it - although it doesn't matter. None would suffice because words couldn't possibly describe this book in n a manner that befits it.
Gorgeous prose shapes an eerie sense of unease from the beginning. I could almost feel the bitterness of the unrelenting snow and taste the isolation that surrounded them. And there was no escape from it, as the floor to ceiling windows in the house are a constant reminder of what lies outside. It may as well have been a cage. A luxurious one yes, with its red wine and emperor-sized beds, but there was ice in the air.
Once settled into where our story takes place. Once we have our bearings. Once we are jumping at every creek of a floorboard. Laure's writing style changes. The beauty in the narrative is still abundant but the pace becomes faster, the prose tighter. Harsher. And we can hardly breathe as we build up to the twists and reveals that lie ahead of us. The violence so expertly crafted that it causes us to flinch.
Who are these f*cked up people? And what do they want from each other? I want to say so much more but I don't want to give anything away. Suffice to say I was raging and cheering.
There are four main characters in this powerful novel. Steven. Elle. The house. The weather. All four interact to create a gothic sensation of dread that you can't turn away from.
But there is one voice. The voice of nearly every woman.
Highly Recommended and will no doubt be a film very soon. Buy It.
About the Author
Laure Van Rensburg is a French writer living in the UK and an Ink Academy alumna. Her stories have appeared in online magazines and anthologies such as Litro Magazine, Storgy Magazine, The Real Jazz Baby (2020 Best Anthology, Saboteur Awards 2020), and FIVE:2:ONE. She has also placed in competitions including 2018 & 2019 Bath Short Story Award.
Her debut novel, Nobody But Us, (originally titled The Downfall) was shortlisted for the 2019 First Novel Prize, 2019 Novel London Competition and 2019 Flash 500 Novel Opening. It will be published by Michael Joseph in April 2022 and has sold in fourteen territories, including Germany, Italy, Norway and the United States.
Laure’s current work in progress, Eden Lost, was longlisted in 2019 Exeter Novel Prize and more recently shortlisted in the 2020 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize.
You can learn more about Laure and her writing on her website at: www.laurevanrensburg.com and buy Nobody But Us below.
