Tender

Dark truths are unearthed in South West England through a folkloric, body horror-tinged lens in Lauren Du Plessis's haunting debut novel.

When two "bog bodies" are discovered in elaborate floral graves in a Somerset fen, Nell—a successful archaeobotanist with an uncompromising veneer of perfection—seizes the opportunity to excavate their secrets. But the deeper she digs into the fertile, waterlogged earth, the more she uncovers memories of her unsettled childhood and strained relationship with her sister… and the more her body manifests her own wildness in ways she can’t ignore.

Under the pressure of a blazing summer, Nell finds herself in a whirlwind of toxic romance, intense friendships, and the brutal process of reconciling her past and her future before the weight of it all buries her, too.

Blending folkloric horror with explorations of womanhood against a backdrop of eco-anxiety, Tender burrows into the quiet violence of overcoming and accepting our darkest sides.