‘Stunning’ – Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups‘Chilling’ – Val McDermid, author of The Wire in the BloodFragile is a modern Gothic psychological thriller with a contemporary twist on the classic novel Rebecca, from award-winning and critically acclaimed writer Sarah Hilary.Everything she touches breaks . . .Nell Ballard is a runaway. A former foster child with a dark secret she is desperate to keep, all Nell wants is to find a place she can belong.So when a position comes up at Starling Villas, home to the enigmatic Robin Wilder, she seizes the opportunity with both hands.But her new lodgings may not be the safe haven she was hoping for. Her employer has secrets of his own and lives by a rigid set of rules she must abide by.Is Nell’s arrival at the Villas really the coincidence it seems? After all, she knows more than most how fragile people can be – and how easy they are to break . . .Further praise for Fragile:‘Perfectly plotted, beautifully written modern Gothic. I absolutely loved it’ – Erin Kelly, author of He Said/She Said‘Beautifully crafted, smart and unsettling’ – Mick Herron, author of Slow Horses‘A dark, mesmeric fever-dream of a book’ – Ruth Ware, author of The Woman in Cabin 10‘Ingenious, original and brilliant’ – Will Dean, author of Red Snow‘Extraordinary’ – Andrew Taylor, author of The American Boy and The Ashes of London‘A modern-day Highsmith’ – Steve Cavanagh, author of Thirteen‘A truly outstanding work of modern Gothic’ – Eva Dolan, author of Between Two Evils‘Highly original, beautifully written’ – Sharon Bolton, author of The Split‘A beautifully written modern Gothic masterpiece’ – Liz Nugent, author of Skin Deep‘So elegant, so restrained’ – Lucy Atkins, author of Magpie Lane‘A gorgeously written, tense and atmospheric novel’ – Gytha Lodge, author of She Lies in Wait

Sarah Hilary has always known how to chill her readers – Fragile dials the chill factor up to eleven, Fragile is absolutely STUNNING, the dreamy atmosphere couples with Nell’s carnal love for Joe put me in mind of Barbara Vine . . . [Sarah Hilary is] an astonishingly gifted writer, with an almost scalpel-like ability to dissect human motivation and convey it deliciously devoid of sentimentality. I was GRIPPED by Fragile, it took me into a whole other world and I was sorry to leave it, Perfectly plotted, beautifully written modern Gothic. Timeless, tense and tender, Fragile will worm its way deep into your heart, just as the characters insinuate themselves into each other’s lives. I absolutely loved it, Extraordinary . . . an immersive psychological thriller that plunges us into an underworld of emotional and physical exploitation. There are shades of Highsmith . . . Brilliant stuff, Beautifully written modern Gothic. I took my time with this, savouring it – the tone of Sarah Hilary’s writing is unique to her: exploring society and human nature in a sensitive, engrossing way. Ingenious, original and brilliant

Sarah Hilary’s debut novel, Someone Else’s Skin, won the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and was a World Book Night selection. The Observer’s Book of the Month (‘superbly disturbing’) and a Richard and Judy Book Club bestseller. No Other Darkness, the second in the series, was shortlisted for a Barry Award in the US. Fragile is her first standalone novel.