Julia delivers once again! With Private Rites, Julia explores the relationship between three sisters in a world ravaged by a climate catastrophe where it has rained for so long that some places have been lost and cities have retreated to higher storeys. The three estranged sisters are forced back together after their father died, reuniting to clear his grand glass house.

Once again, LOVED Julia’s use of water. In Private Rites it is literally pouring from the sky and it’s fascinating to learn about how society has learned to adjust to this new way of life. Her prose is beautiful as always, with such stunning descriptions and reflections on relationships, not only between the three sisters, but the relationships with others in their life.

I didn’t love it as much as Our Wives Under the Sea, mainly because the ending felt a little misplaced for me, but I might enjoy it more on a reread placing it into context. And now the wait begins for another Armfield…

Thank you to @4thestate for the eARC! 4.5 stars.

I didn't read Our Wives Under the Sea so really didn't have many expectations going into this, it sounded really intriguing and didn't disappoint. Slightly terrifying at times if you think too much about the dystopian setting but very gripping and the atmosphere created by the author was fantastic. Beautifully written and a great bit of family drama, I really recommend it.

Loved this! A brilliant second novel after the inimitable Our Wives Under the Sea, this was just as filled with atmosphere and awe although markedly different in approach. Armfield is quickly becoming a favourite author!

Our Wives Under the Sea’ was in my top ten favourite reads of 2023 so, obviously, I had to read this and internally screamed when I got an eArc (thank you to Netgalley & publishers!!)

I did not know this was King Lear inspired until after I had read it and thought to myself that something felt familiar. I love that! I enjoy modern Shakespeare retellings, usually, and this was no exception.

This has the same creepy, eerie, haunting feeling that OWUTS does, in the background that you don’t always see but you always feel is there, much like a ghost. This way of writing pulls me in, I’m obsessed with it. Add in the themes of climate disaster and the destruction that water brings and it really tied a little bow on the horror themes. I love how Julia writes water and how she understands it.

The government knowing what’s happening and having the ability to help people, but not really doing much at all, was realistic, infuriating and also pretty scary. I was tense and anxious most of the time I was reading this.

An element I especially loved is how the city is alive. Yes, we have scenes written by the city as a life with its own mind! How it watches people and their own destruction but being powerless to do anything, and upset that their destruction is by extension their destruction too. I loved the perspective they added to the narrative.

Also, I just love stories about sisters. I think sister relationships are complex and contain so much material to explore. Sisterhood, whether to someone who is a sister by blood or chosen, is so unique. I was biased from the start to love that dynamic. Now that I know it’s a King Lear retelling, I’m going to have to re-read that and then this to see these comparisons.

It really spoke to me about the importance of community and caring, and the depths of our cruelty to one another.

This is very different (and a little similar) to Our Wives, but I loved it even so, even if it’s not quite as much. A large part of that may just be that I wasn’t smart enough to understand everything going on here, but it’ll be re-read anyway with annotations and I can’t wait to explore it a bit more!

It was beautifully written, insightful and terrifying. My favourite trio!

I adored Our Wives Under the Sea, it’s such a unique and haunting, claustrophobic book, and Private Rites shares quite a few similarities with her first novel. The book is set in the future, in a world where there is constant rain, flooding, power outages, rising sea levels, and crumbling buildings. It’s a really haunting and terrifying dystopian setting, where water levels are rising faster than humans can cope with. The story is about three sisters who find out their father (a famous architect who designed houses for the elite) is dead, and they all have to reunite and face their dark and troublesome past.
It’s quite a slow burn, but it does build up by the end. I think the writing is beautiful, I loved the representation of three queer siblings, and the alternating POVs of many characters.

A wonderful follow up to 2022's Our Wives Under the Sea, Private Rites is a uniquely calm and quiet piece of weird fiction, unsettling in its stillness more so than its drama. Armfield has found a niche writing stories about water, and that is on show here once more, an unnamed city left bedraggled and mouldering from the effects of rising climate change. Amidst this metropolis are three women - Isla, Irene and Agnes - sisters all at odds with each other, a byproduct of a strange and twisted childhood, brought up by their aloof, architect father. The small details of their lives, their fears and traumas and little habits, are unpacked in a dazzling display of mundanity; I mean that as a compliment, Armfield is able to present the everyday, even that set during an apocalypse, with such brilliance that you cannot look away. Agnes, Isla and Irene are not necessarily likeable in the traditional sense, but we cannot help but feel moved by the minutiae of their relationship with each other, and how it finally begins to drag them down towards the depths.

All the while, the City itself is a living breathing character, charting its and its occupants' little fluctuations, the steady breakdown of a stable society. I can see the influence of Alison Rumfitt's Tell Me I'm Worthless here, the inextricable relation of persons to a shared space so vivid that the space itself has voice, has the ability to speak a truth the sad, unfortunate inhabitants are left unable to reach. A truly magnificent novel from a shining talent.

This was my first Julia Armfield novel and oh my, they might just be my new favourite writer. Atmospheric, outstanding and bone-chilling (in more ways than one), I adored this all-too-familiar family drama against the backdrop of a city, and a world, slowly ending. Speaking of, the ending is PHENOMENAL. You absolutely must read this, and I absolutely must go read their other books immediately.

When I found out Julia Armfield wrote another novel, I 𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 the #NetGalley request button.

In Private Rites, three sisters come together after the death of their architect father to navigate relationships — the estranged ones with each other, their own relationships, and their complex feelings about their father — set against the backdrop of a city where the rain never stops, society has fled to high storeys, and rituals sneak back into society in the face of beckoning disaster…

You can feel Agnes, Isla and Irene’s uncomfortable sibling dynamic after their father turned them against each other, and how they’re stuck in roles they can’t quite escape as adults. It’s reflected in their relationships with partners too — Isla’s ex-wife, Irene’s gender-neutral partner and Agnes’s girlfriend — all facing the desire to both push people away and to be loved. I enjoyed all three sisters, but I had a soft spot for Agnes, and Irene’s partner Jude is a breath of fresh air. Also, without risking spoilers, their father’s house is so cleverly used.

Armfield is masterful at making the water looming and watchful, interlacing descriptions of the rain and disintegration of public services with everyday mundanity, the ‘we may as well get on with it’ approach creating an undercurrent (pardon the pun) of unease. As much as I’ll remember the book’s crescendo — shocking, but not for its own sake; a natural conclusion to the three sisters’ quest to love each other — I’ll also remember these creeping, quiet moments. 𝘈𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪-𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦?

Private Rites joins the ranks of CliFi that grip my heart and quietly terrify me. I cannot recommend it enough!

Unsurprisingly, absolutely stunning. Somehow, Julia Armfield's writing just keeps getting better and better.

I loved Our Wife's Under The Sea so I was really excited for this one and it didn't disappoint. It kept me just as hooked and immersed throughout.

‘At what point,she wanted to say, do we stop being the direct product of our parents? At what point does it start being our fault?’ This is probably the main theme of the novel. Like in King Lear there are three daughters who have been pitted against each other all their lives aided and abetted by their own father. Set in a future where the world has been taken over by the results of climate change the novel brilliantly portrays the fallout after the death of a father. I loved this book and have only deducted one star as I felt the ending was a bit rushed.

Lesbian climate fiction inspired by King Lear was always going to be an easy sell for me.

The fact that it's Julia Armfield meant there were no lengths I wouldn't go to get an arc for this book. I loved Salt Slow and obsessively recommended Our Wives Under the Sea to anyone I met for the first six months after reading it; it's imprinted on my soul.

So, it's safe to say I'm the target audience. That aside, I actually do have mixed feelings about this book.

The world-building is where it really shines; it's masterful. It's creepy, haunting, and very dystopian depictions of our lives once the sea levels rise are so real I imagined looking out the window to find us there already. The chapters from the city's perspective were some of my favourite. When inevitably, there's a post-COVID fiction module on an MA syllabus somewhere, this will undoubtedly be on it. Our protagonists' lives, which carry on as normal in this very unsettling, unfair, and dangerous world, will be immediately familiar to every reader. Julia has a real intimacy when she writes about water; her love and fear for it always comes through in surprising ways, and it's what I love about her writing. This book sinks into your bones like a wet day.

Most of Private Rites follows the three sisters, Irene, Iris, and their younger half-sister Agnes, with whom they have a very difficult relationship. Agnes takes risks to feel something, struggles with intimacy, and is by far the most narratively interesting of the sisters. There are three scenes emblazoned on my brain from this book, and they all involve Agnes. This is to the detriment of Irene and Iris (our Goneril and Regan for those who love Lear), who just aren't as compelling as individual characters, and more serve to show the lasting impact of their overbearing father after his death.

The novel takes a very sharp narrative turn towards the end. It's heavily signposted throughout, so you know something weird is coming. Nonetheless, it does feel jarring, like another story that's been tacked on suddenly. This disjointed feeling is ever-present and makes this book a little difficult to settle into throughout.

Private Rites is a novel about three sisters as the world slowly floods, coming to terms with their father's death and their relationship to each other. The rain has been ongoing for so long now, and sisters Isla, Irene and Agnes live separate lives, until their rich architect father's death forces them back together. There's his distinctive house, there's the mystery of their mothers and what happened to them, and there's the sense that this bleak, claustrophobia world expects something from them.

Vaguely 'King Lear if all of the daughters were queer', this apocalyptic novel feels very much a follow up to Armfield's Our Wives Under The Sea, a damp-infused book in which not very much happens, but there's a lingering sense of dread. The narrative moves between focusing on each of the three sisters, plus a kind of chorus of the 'city' that seems to be non-specifically London, and for a long time, the book seems to mostly be a family drama with the backdrop of this flooded world. I really wasn't sure where it was headed, but the climax of the novel gives it a bit of a twist, bringing together some of the threads in a maybe unexpected way that changes the genre.

The 'all three sisters are queer' angle is interestingly explored, with each of them in a different place in their romantic lives and particularly Irene and Agnes' relationships are important throughout the book. Agnes' character development throughout the novel was one of my favourite elements, and I also liked Irene and Jude's relationship. Iris is pleasingly flawed as a character, trying to control what she cannot, and once you get into the book enough to understand who these characters are and what's going on with them, it is very character-driven.

I found it hard to get into the book at first, as it doesn't feel like it is going anywhere, and I don't think this was helped by the fact that I'd not read anything about it beforehand so wasn't aware it is vaguely King Lear (which is one of my least favourite Shakespeare plays). However, as the slow tension rose (and so did the floodwaters), it became more gripping, and by the end, it felt like it did have a good payoff, though it does leave quite a lot of ambiguous. Armfield is great at the literary unsettling novel, and Private Rites is a fascinating take on a climate crisis future and sisters with pent up resentments once it gets into it.

Loved this! Admittedly I didn't love Julia Armfield's debut, Our Wives Under the Sea, so I was a little hesitant going into this new novel of hers. Thankfully, though, I loved it! The writing is great--nuanced and evocative--the sisters/family drama always compelling, and the dystopian setting vivid and well-drawn.

Private Rites is a gripping story about three sisters Isla, Irene, and Agnes, who reunite after their father's death, in a city on the brink of collapse -sinking due to rain. The book explores their complicated family ties and personal struggles amidst the environmental crisis.
A beautifully written and compelling read.
An absolute must-read for lovers of thought-provoking and dystopian books

Julia Armfield’s second novel is one that I can't get out of my head, days after I finished it. It’s so many things, all at once - a portrayal of a crumbling family, a portrayal of a crumbling world. An ode to love and an exploration of grief. I am struggling to articulate what I loved so much about this deft, elegant, strange novel - I think I need to read it again immediately.

Private Rites is, loosely, a speculative fiction novel crossed with King Lear. It concerns three sisters - Isla, Irene and Agnes - who come together after the passing of their estranged father. The 3 women are struggling with navigating life in their slowly drowning city - it’s been raining for years now, not letting up, and somehow life still goes on. It’s very, very slow - the blurb almost does it a disservice in setting up a plot arc that doesn’t appear until 90% into the book. I would have enjoyed the novel even more if I hadn’t wasted time looking for the plot mentioned in the blurb.

So yeah, not a plotty novel; more a wildly atmospheric character study of these 3 women. Each have their own personal crosses to bear, as well as a difficult relationship with one another. Armfield is at her best when she’s exploring the interpersonal dynamics between the three; these scenes sit in that wonderful midpoint between painful and funny.

Armfield’s narrative voice has strengthened even further since her excellent debut, the wry and affecting Our Wives Under The sea. The narrative voice is full of dry wit and painful truths about the world around us, as well as the characters and how they see themselves. It’s a surprisingly wise book - I found something to highlight in my proof copy on every page, and a couple of lines could only be marked with a gasp and a “!!!!” in the margins.

I loved this "mundane apocalypse" novel; I felt winded by its deep intelligence and heart by the time I finished it.
Julia Armfield is an unbelievably talented writer, finely balancing character development with a deeply plausible end-of-the-world scenario. It reminded me a lot of her short story, The Great Awake, but even more highly developed. It's an uneasy novel, for sure. And I loved every second of it.

Set against the backdrop of a climate crisis, three sisters reunite in the wake of their (very rich) father’s death. That’s really all I want to say about the plot; actually, I might struggle to say anything else about the plot and keep it even relatively succinct. This is a book that really relies on you engaging with the characters and their dynamic to keep you going. The plot is pretty sparse and slow moving, despite a constant sense of dread and the feeling that something is not quite right. It would take a talented writer to make it all work half as well as it does.

Lucky, then, that Armfield is an unbelievably talented writer, because this is really just fantastic on every level. Every character has such a distinct voice and personality - each so well balanced so that the reader is able to be annoyed at them all, but never dislike them. Armfield builds the world so effectively without ever dwelling unnecessarily on details we don’t need. The imagery of the flooded, grey and constantly raining city is so vivid, so evocative, and so perfectly adds to the feeling of unease. Does everything come together perfectly in the end? I’m not sure, but I’m not sure that I’m bothered either. I loved every second spent with these characters, exploring their trauma and finding ways to cope with the end of the world, all mixed with a healthy amount of classic horror tropes.

In short: an absolute banger. I’ll be rereading sooner rather than later.

When the world has drowned - where do the survivors swim for sanctuary?

As the water rises, and our systems collapse the dread sets in. From the corner of your eye it creeps, like mould across a wall. When your back is against the wall and the air is running out; do you give in to the inevitable, fight for salvation or…join a cult?

Armfield’s fascination with water and the duality of its life giving and destructive properties keep this gorgeously taut story afloat allowing it to cast a cold watchful light on the complexities of family, queer relationships and the delicate webs in which our society is weaved.

Self described as a “mundane apocalypse”, Private Rites presents a realistic vignette of the path toward end of the world. One born of apathy and controlled decay right up until that final voice is silenced.

Thank you to 4th Estate for the ARC

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book.

This is the first book by Julia Armfield that I've read. I requested an ARC because of all the glowing pre reviews on goodreads and everyone's excitement about this future release. However, it was not what I was expecting. Although this is a well written novel, it didn't entertain me.

Absolutely phenomenal. I was hooked from the very start. Brilliant character building and an intriguing plot. The prose was beautifully written. Honestly a highlight of 2024!