Creep - by Emma Van Straaten (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Creep is everything I want from a novel--it's obsessive, it's rapturous, it spirals into the most masochistic corners of the mind. A perfectly twisted debut."--Anna Dorn, author of Perfume & Pain

"A chilling book by an exciting new voice."--Vogue (UK)

From a blistering new voice in dark literary fiction, a novel of psychological suspense and an unsettling portrait of loneliness, obsession, and identity which asks: if a stranger was left alone in your house, how well could they truly get to know you--enough to fall in love with you?

Alice and Tom are made for each other. Deeply connected, they share a flat in London, go to galleries together, enjoy the same books and wine. They even share a toothbrush. It's all picture perfect.

Except Alice and Tom have never met.

Alice has been cleaning Tom's apartment every Wednesday for a year. With every smudge wiped from his coffee cup, every multivitamin counted in the jar, Alice spirals deeper into infatuation, imagining a love so powerful it might erase a lifetime of self-hatred and loneliness.

But as Alice prepares for the moment when she and Tom will finally meet face-to-face, she discovers that love might not be the cure she thought it was. Instead, the line between fantasy and reality becomes ever more blurred, shattering everything Alice thought she knew.

Told in Alice's compelling, deliciously acidic voice, Creep is a literary study of unreliability and unlikability. Exploring alienation, class, and race, it's a skilled debut with resonance in the way that we view women, mental health, and the lost in society.

• A great psychological thriller for spooky-season nights
• A perfect addition to any Halloween reading list for fans of unsettling stalker novels

[Published as This Immaculate Body in the UK]

Review Quotes

"Written in an electric stream of consciousness, van Straaten's debut--which won the inaugural Women's Prize Discoveries Award--is as terrifying as it is heartbreaking, revealing how loneliness and damaging adolescent experiences can shape a person. A chilling book by an exciting new voice." - Vogue (UK)

"In some ways, the story--about a woman who becomes obsessed with the person whose apartment she cleans, a man she's never actually met--is everyone's worst nightmare: a stranger reading through your e-mails, lying in your bed, using your toothbrush. In others, it's a play on desires most will relate to but few might want to admit--who hasn't, at one time or another, craved a private view into another's world?--and a tour through the trenches of loneliness, told in the manic style of Han Kang's The Vegetarian, Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation, and R. F. Kuang's Yellowface." - Air Mail

"A thriller as much as it is an exploration of how we present ourselves and perceive our material culture, this is an evocative story that deserves immediate cult status." - Dazed

"It's the relentlessness of Alice's slipping grip on reality that hooks you, her feverish obsession reminiscent of Maud Ventura's My Husband. If this doesn't make you cancel your cleaner, nothing will." - The Times (UK)

"A compelling debut . . . original, darkly funny and addictive this has twists that will leave you reeling." - Glamour (UK)

"Absurd, shocking, and deeply unsettling. After this darkly funny read, you may never feel so comfortable letting a stranger into your home again." - Oyinkan Braithwaite, author of My Sister the Serial Killer, iNews

"A thriller with a difference." - Cosmopolitan (UK)

"This is a novel best read in an intoxicating, headlong rush." - London Standard

"Creep by Emma Van Straaten is a thriller that considers the gig economy through the lens of a cleaner who becomes obsessed with one of her clients. I could go on. I'm excited to see more ways in which our social and political spheres are considered through different genres and across different audiences." - Stylist (UK)

"Emma van Straaten's Creep is everything I want from a novel--it's obsessive, it's rapturous, it spirals into the most masochistic corners of the mind. A perfectly twisted debut." - Anna Dorn, author of Perfume & Pain

"This fine author is one to watch . . . A tale of obsession-and of how women see the world, and how it views them-it is a compulsive listen, and is garnering cult status." - Sunday Post

"Emma van Straaten nails it. From the double pit of loneliness and self-loathing, our girl Alice imagines a romantic fantasy life that far eclipses reality. Creep is an unforgettable portrait of monstrous obsession--weird, brilliant, terrifying, and utterly engrossing." - Sierra Greer, author of Annie Bot

"Stirring to its very core, Creep enthralls beyond measure. It bleeds, burns, and beguiles, and asks you, dear reader, to give in to obsession. Truly, a religious experience." - Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb

"Truly fascinating and compulsive--transgressive with an ending that gave me whiplash. Emma's writing is gorgeous--rich and delicious and evocative even when uncomfortable. I found myself drawn to and repelled by Alice in equal measure, I couldn't tear my eyes away . . . an accomplished and visceral debut. I'm slightly concerned about how decisively Alice crawled into my head and has stayed there since I finished reading." - Kirsty Capes, author of Girls

"An addictive deep-dive into the dark, throbbing heart of obsessive desire. Baby Reindeer meets Convenience Store Woman." - Kirsty Logan, author of Now She is Witch

"Brilliantly tense (and at points very tender) descent into madness. I wanted to shout at Alice and I also wanted to hold her tight. Van Straaten's prose is unique--long sentences and paragraphs which fold the reader into Alice's close, procedural obsession. In lots of ways, it's a dark read, but Alice's hurt and hope is luminous. She's a deeply flawed girlie with a big beating heart." - Catherine Airey, author of Confessions

"Absolutely addictive. From the very first page, Emma van Straaten had me by the Hail Marys. Obsessive, delusional, disastrous--but so intricately woven with heart, warmth, and empathy. I'm as devoted to Creep as Alice is to her delusions. An impeccable debut from a rising talent."