Description: Chloe Michelle Howarth, author of the bestselling novel Sunburn, offers a new take on sapphic obsession, for fans of All Our Wives Under the Sea, Mrs. S, Biography of X, and Organ Meats.
With additional, exclusive content inside. In this follow up to the award winning Sunburn, a claustrophobic tale of obsession, family, and identity... In January, 1965, the growing town of Ballycrea has four new residents. The O'Leary siblings arrive in their new village under suspicious circumstances. Desperate to make a new start and leave their troubled life behind, the O'Learys offer few, contradicting details about their past. As they slowly settle in to town, the siblings are taken under the wing of Betty and Bill Nevan, a wealthy couple in their forties who have always wanted children. However, as one O'Leary sister grows close to Betty, lines are crossed and their intense relationship becomes difficult to define. All the while, the O'Leary's buried secrets keep bubbling up, threatening to ruin their new future. Gothic, lush, and suspenseful, Chloe Michelle Howarth spins a tangled web that leaves you wondering who to trust until the very last page.Review Quotes: A FEBRUARY 2026 INDIE NEXT LIST PICK
Vulture's "23 books from 2026 that we can't wait to read"
Lithub's "Most Anticipated Book of 2026"
BookRiot's "Most Anticipated Queer Books of 2026"
A New Atlantic Indie Bookseller Association Bestseller
A Pacific Northwest Indie Bookseller Association Bestseller
A Vancouver Sun's International Indie Bestseller
A JULY 2025 INDIE NEXT PICK
"Tackling topics of queer identity, teenage angst, and religious guilt, this romantic novel burns with the intensity and yearning of first love." -- Harper's Bazaar "Beautifully written ... it's enchanting." --Publishers Weekly "Absolutely gripping . . . A romantic, funny, and painful exploration of the cost of being true to yourself." --Kirkus Reviews "A poetic victory, fueled by intense, penetrating prose." --Foreword Reviews, STARRED REVIEW "Alluring ... an engrossing chronicle of restlessness and desire." --Publishers Weekly PRAISE FOR HEAP EARTH UPON IT, UK EDITION:
"A slow-burn rural Gothic perfect for chilly autumn nights." --Daily Mail
"Outstanding. . . There's nothing to criticise in this young Irish writer's depiction of repression, obsession, loss, and grief." --Irish Times "Masterful... Heap Earth Upon It confirms Howarth as essential reading-a writer excavating how we bury feelings at our peril, and how queer desire persists, insists, even in the most inhospitable soil." --Scene Magazine
"Airless and gripping, Heap Earth Upon It perfectly captures what it's like to live under the weight of secrets. The family's yearning for a simpler future is expertly balanced with the darkness of their past. A devastating mix of hope and heartbreak, from one of Ireland's most exciting queer voices." --Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin, author of Ordinary Saints
"Assured, poignant and beautiful. Howarth writes poetically about loss and love - Anna's thunderbolt moment when she first sees Betty singing at a party is particularly affecting - within an overhanging, unsettling Rebecca-esque tension. There is a cracking pace, too, helped by concise chapters, each of which is in first person from the perspective of one of the three elder O'Learys or Betty - a quartet of very unreliable narrators." --Tom Tivnan, The Bookseller
"A tense and claustrophobic novel with gothic atmosphere that seeps into your bones like fog. It's a fascinating look at mid-century rural Irish life, and a brutal exploration of the corrosive impact of shame and secrecy. Chloe Michelle Howarth knows her sapphic yearning!" --Rachel Dawson, author of Neon Roses