The Night is Not For You English 2026

'A book I will return to time and time again' MEGAN BONTRAGER
'Perfectly captures the dark heart of girlhood' JEN JULIAN
'[A] wonderfully chilling and entirely immersive feminist horror story' Publishers Weekly

She's a cautionary tale told by mothers to their young children, 'Come back before it gets dark.'
She's a warning to lecherous young men, 'Don't wander the streets late at night.'

A man's body is found viciously murdered behind a neighbourhood's 24-hour corner store, sending shockwaves through the small, tightknit community. All anyone wants is to make sense of this brutal crime and move on with their lives.

But all seven-year-old Layla wants is a pet donkey. To her, a donkey is the epitome of freedom and being self-sufficient - to think for herself, go anywhere by herself and live an independent life.

The killings continue and rumours start to fly of supposed hoofprints and a woman with hair like black silk. As the ambiguous messages in lipstick and sweet smell of perfume at the crime scenes causes the men to suspect the women around them, Layla's world unravels. She grows into the type of woman she has always dreamed of becoming.

A woman with sharp instincts. A woman who cannot be tamed.