Friendship in Dark Academia: Heather Darwent & Elspeth Wilson in conversation at Haddington Library
Join us at Haddington Library on Monday, 17th November, at 7 pm, when we will be in conversation with Heather Darwent, author of The Things We Do To Our Friends and A Sharp Scratch and Elspeth Wilson, author of These Mortal Bodies, about all things friendship and Dark Academia.
This event is part of Book Week Scotland, and is supported by the Scottish Book Trust, East Lothian Libraries, and Night Owl Books. It will include a Q&A and audience questions, followed by a book signing.
Book your free ticket to attend via this page. You can also order copies of The Things We Do To Our Friends or A Sharp Scratch by Heather Darwent, or These Mortal Bodies by Elspeth Wilson via this page.
EVENT DETAILS:
Copies will be available for delivery/collection from Night Owl Books. Alternatively, they can be collected from the signing table on the night of the event.
Please select 'local pick up' at the checkout if you would like to collect your copy/copies from Night Owl Books, or at the event. Alternatively, please select the 'ship' option and we'll post your book(s) to you.
Event times:
Event: 19:00 - 20:00, followed by signing.
Doors: 18:45.
Venue information:
Haddington Library, The John Gray Centre, Lodge Street, Haddington, East Lothian, EH41 3DX.
FAQs
- Will I be sent an e-ticket before the event?
Please note that we will have a guest list on the door on the night of the event, and you will not be sent an e-ticket for it - simply let us know your name/the name of the person who booked your ticket when you arrive, and we'll check you in!
- Can I collect my book at the event?
Copies can be collected on the night at the event, or alternatively if you would like to read the book before attending copies can be collected or posted to you in advance.
A note on Covid precautions: if you feel unwell on the day, please err on the side of caution, and please take a lateral flow test before attending, if you can.
About The Things We Do To Our Friends:
Sunday Times Bestseller
Shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut of the Year 2023
Longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize
One of Cosmopolitan's Best Books for 2023
In there, them, us, it’s everything you’ve ever wanted, and you’re going to love it. I promise.
I’ll look after you. All her life Clare has never fit in. So when she arrives at Edinburgh University, she seizes the chance to reinvent herself.
Then she meets Tabitha who is everything she’s not: charismatic, dazzling and intimidatingly wealthy. Soon Clare is sucked into Tabitha’s enigmatic circle of friends, and it’s all she hoped it would be. Until it’s not.
Because they are not all they seem. And they’ve been waiting for Clare. With friends like these, who needs enemies?An intoxicating feminist page-turner with shades of The Secret History and Promising Young Woman, this novel will take youon a journey from Edinburgh's dazzling spires to the dripping staircases and dark alleyways of its underbelly.
Paperback, 384 pages, published 2024.
About A Sharp Scratch:
A timely, gripping novel about the dark underbelly of wellness culture.
We can fix you. It's a promise that Betsy has heard far too many times. From the child psychologist, from her husband, and from the wellness trends that scream at her from her screen.
So far, it's been a lie. But this time, she believes it. Because Betsy has been offered a place at Carn - a luxurious, unorthodox retreat, where healing really is possible.
At Carn, she discovers that her imperfections make her unique, not weak. She isn't broken, just special. All Betsy has to do is follow the rules .
Hardback, 320 pages, publishing on the 29th May 2025.
About These Mortal Bodies:
She wasn't born into their world. But she'll do anything to belong.
Leaving behind her childhood in coastal Scotland, Ivy Graveson arrives at an all-girls college at a prestigious university and throws herself into the deep end of life on campus. Though her fellow students all seem to come from money and to have known each other their whole lives, outsider Ivy is determined to belong.
She embraces the world of secret societies, and as she discovers the legacy of her college, the parallels between its past and her present become striking. Because however hard she tries to ignore it, Ivy has always felt drawn to – and terrified of – the bodies of water that surround her. In just one life-changing year in these hallowed halls, Ivy will have to decide how much sisterhood means to her and how far she’ll go to become the person she was destined to be.
A richly atmospheric campus novel with neurodivergent representation, perfect for fans of The Secret History and dark academia, These Mortal Bodies is an intoxicating story of obsession, infatuation and toxic friendship in the world of the elites, where rules are made to be broken.
Hardback, 384 pages, published 17th July 2025.
About the authors:
Heather Darwent is based just outside of Edinburgh, the setting for her Sunday Times bestselling debut, The Things We Do To Our Friends. Originally from Yorkshire, she came to Scotland to study at the University of Edinburgh and ended up never quite leaving. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her reading chaotic non-fiction about Silicon Valley and swimming in the sea . . . or being unbearably boring in conversation about swimming in the sea. A Sharp Scratch is her second novel.