And He Shall Appear
by Kate van der Borgh
Pub Date: Jan 16 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Awesome Book!!

In the hallowed halls of Cambridge, a dangerous obsession takes hold…

When a young man arrives in Cambridge as a first-year student, he finds himself an outsider. There’s the punting and the politics, the wine and the waistcoats, all seemingly familiar to everyone but him. Then he falls under the spell of Bryn Cavendish.

A notorious party boy and skilled magician, Bryn is magnetic. To be in his circle is to revel in clouds of ecstasy, untouched by the rules. To be exiled from it is to haunt the peripheries of campus life like a ghost.

As the academic year intensifies and Bryn’s magic tricks become more sinister, one question lingers. Is Bryn’s charisma the source of his influence or does he wield a much darker and more dangerous power?

I have to start by saying that I really enjoyed this book. I was slightly alarmed by the suggestion of magic but unnecessarily so. It was brilliantly written with interesting characters and a dual timeline that worked really well. My only criticism is that I found the ending rushed and whilst not a letdown as such, I felt that it could have been revealed a bit more clearly. Still - an excellent read - recommended.

A haunting novel, perfect for fans of dark academia. A tale of a friendship with a slice of obsession. It alternates between two time periods and does that really well. The characters are interesting and well written and they develop through the novel. Its a tricky one to categorize without giving too much away, An enjoyable read perfect for a dark winters night. Thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for this ARC.

This was everything I wished for and more. The subtlety and elegance of this novel is otherworldly. This might be in par with the Secret History and that is saying a LOT coming from someone with it as a favorite novel of all time. Perfect read really, this book reminded me of why I love dark academia and reading once more. 5 stars, and a half!!

I thoroughly enjoyed ‘And He Shall Appear’. The pull of the fantasy/coming of age theme had me hooked. The setting of Cambridge University was perfect as it added to the eerie and ancient atmosphere. This is a good book to immerse yourself in.

It's always a little dangerous to bill a book as 'Secret History meets...' - with the rise of Dark Academia as a genre this claim gets used a lot and it sets the bar very very high. So although I was intrigued by the concept of Secret History meets Saltburn I was also wary. It's a lot to live up to. Does it succeed? In the main yes, the influences of both are clear, along with Brideshead and other odes to Oxbridge/Ivy Leagues and the gilded and entitled who walk their ancient halls but there is an originality in this tale of obsession, magic and deception that gives it a flavour all its own.
A state educated,loner misfit, desperate to be special, a rich privileged magician, who entices and bewitches, a cool, beautiful girl, a cliquey circle of sycophants, unexplained absences, things that go bump in the night, hauntings. This elegantly book builds tension to excruciating levels as it asks, what is love, what is reality, who gets to tell our stories? Recommended.

And He Shall Appear is a beautifully written, haunting story about a young man, desperate to fit in with his more privileged peers at university. It is a story of obsession, magic, the seeming invulnerability of youth, and untimely death. Throughout the novel, uncertainty and misperception impact the vulnerable mind of the protagonist, and this continues far beyond his years at university. The novel is so cleverly constructed that the reader is constantly surprised at the revelations that occur, particularly at the end of the novel. Highly recommended. Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC.

The unnamed narrator in Kate van der Borgh’s debut novel And He Shall Appear is a music teacher and choir director who returns to Cambridge University, where he was a student in the early aughts, after being invited to be one of the judges in auditions for a music scholarship. The scholarship has been set up by Frances Cavendish in memory of her son Bryn, one of the narrator’s classmates at University. Unlike the narrator, who came from a working class background, and whose northern accent immediately marked him as an uneasy outsider, Bryn was wealthy and had the right connections, making him one of the most glamorous students around. Darkly charismatic, Bryn also knew how to be the soul of every party, delighting and spooking his coterie of admirers with impressive and inexplicable magic tricks. Through a shared musical connection, the narrator becomes an unlikely member of Bryn’s circle of friends. His initial unqualified admiration for his larger-than-life companion dampens when he starts to suspect that Bryn’s magic is much more than a party piece. There are clues that Bryn is dabbling in the occult, and using it to wreak revenge on those who stand in his way. Dark things happen wherever he goes, and whoever crosses him ends up haunted and cast aside. The narrator’s present-day visit to his old university brings back recollections of the ultimately tragic events of the time, and awakens harrowing ghosts which may have better been left undisturbed. Defeating death might be Bryn’s ultimate sorcery…

I had first come across Kate van der Borgh’s fiction through The Fiction Desk, a journal that had published two of her well-crafted short stories. While those pieces had an understated realism, her first novel is a work of supernatural fiction – an atmospheric ghost story with a decidedly “dark academia” aesthetic. And He Shall Appear delivers all the thrills one would expect of the genre. It starts off with a bang with a really unsettling scene, and there are plenty of nail-biting passages before the sleight of hand of its final part. The narrative is satisfying, even though, as in the best ghost stories, it does not provide neat answers and there is, throughout, an underlying ambiguity as to whether the supernatural trappings are all in the narrator’s mind. The campus setting – Cambridge around 2001 – is lovingly recreated, inspired as it is by the author’s own experiences as a music student at the University.

Beyond the tropes of the genre, which it uses to great effect, the novel also provides thoughtful social and psychological commentary. Through the contrast between the self-assurance of Bryn and the narrator’s self-effacement, van der Borgh highlights the remnants of a class system that still makes itself felt in contemporary society, including in tertiary education. As the author points out in her introduction, some students seem to have all the right connections. “Privilege” is, in itself, a kind of sorcery, which allows “people from certain backgrounds to move through the world differently”.

In this respect, the novel is also a psychological study of a student who, because of his inferiority complex, seems ready to metaphorically sell his soul to the devilish “Bryn Cavendish” in exchange for acceptance and glamour. I liked the smart touch of having the narrator “unnamed”, as if he has given up his own personality. More than that, in two instances in the novel, Bryn gets to give the narrator an invented name. The act of “naming” suggests “ownership”, and there is a poignant symbolism behind Bryn “taking possession” of the narrator. (which, the narrator suspects, he might literally be doing through occult practices).

One of the special things about this novel is that it is haunted by music. Music shapes the plot – it is what brings the narrator, and Bryn (and other key characters) together. It lends authenticity to the voice of the musician-narrator, who often resorts to musical metaphors to express himself. The musical references also provide an oblique counterpoint to the story. Thus, for instance, the recurring figure of Peter Warlock (1894-1930), a favourite composer of the narrator’s, is a particularly apt choice. Warlock famously dabbled in the occult and shocked more conservative friends with his debauched lifestyle. He stands in for Bryn, of course, but also, in a way, represents the insecurities of the narrator (“Peter Warlock” was a pseudonym for the decidedly more mundane “Philip Heseltine). The narrator’s choir, “Voices from Before”, specialises in English music of the early twentieth Century, repertoire which evokes an idea of a lost idyll, shattered by the tragedies of war. There are references to Shostakovich – who himself lived through a reign of terror (albeit, unlike our narrator, not of a “supernatural” kind). And it certainly cannot be a coincidence that the song which Bryn and the narrator perform together is Butterworth’s Is my Team Ploughing, which sets a Housman poem featuring a conversation between the ghost of a man and his friend, who is still alive.

And He Shall Appear is an assured debut which can be enjoyed at so many levels. Full review, including link to Spotify playlist at:

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2024/04/and-he-shall-appear-kate-van-der-borgh.html

Working class boy makes it to Cambridge and becomes captived with the charismatic Bryn a popular, dark and definitely not working class.

But what's the story behind each character is the main story, there are several characters that need to be followed but 2 play center stage as others come and go. Studying music 🎶 our hero well central character I'm not sure hero is justified in this case felt underwhelmed compared to his friends. His friends studied more (in his view) substantial subjects but that's all in each others point of view. Slowly those that fall faul of Bryn leave Cambridge and well the story unfolds.

It's a captivating storyline then keeps you hooked guessing what's to unfold and what becomes of each other and Tim well he's one to watch and listen out for but you'll have to read to find out why as I hate to give spoilers.

And He Shall Appear tells the story of a working class Northern lad arriving at Cambridge University at the beginning of the century and feeling very much an outsider. While he has down to earth friends he comes under the spell of the mercurial Bryn Cavendish and his coterie of hangers-on and admirers. Cavendish revels in his mad, bad and dangerous to know image and likes to throw wild parties where he likes to delight, and sometimes terrify, his fellow students with magic tricks.
After working his way into Cavendish's inner circle the unnamed narrator sees a much darker side to his hero and his magic tricks as the public face of something more malevolent.
Many years later he returns to Cambridge and the ghosts of his University Days ,looking for answers to questions that have haunted him ever since.

This is a very clever , involving ,and ultimately moving, book. It's about class,privilege, wanting to fit in and memory. It's not entirely clear what genre the book is until the end, "Dark Academia" doesn't do it justice, when a clever ending reveals all..........and blows all of the reader's perceptions out of the water.

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

A rather disturbing and sad story of hero worship. The mixture of magic tricks and belief in the summoning of evil spirits wove a rather frightening atmosphere to the story.

With thanks to Netgalley and Fourth Estate for the arc.
This ticked all the boxes for me, I absolutely loved it and devoured it from beginning to end.
Set in Cambridge, this is the story of young musician from a working class background and his obsessive attempts to befriend a group of charismatic, privileged (entitled) wealthy students.
It’s hard to believe that this is Kate van der Borgh’s debut novel as she writes with such a sure hand, weaving a gripping narrative that includes elements of the supernatural, psychological thriller and dark academia over a dual timeline.
If you enjoyed Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, S.T. Gibson’s Evocation and Saltburn, then you will love this book.

This is the story of a young man (do we know his name?) with a working class background and a talent for music, who enters Cambridge university as an undergraduate. He meets a glamorous upper class man called Bryn who has a talent for mayhem and magic, and becomes an acolyte of his. He also, thankfully, has a sensible friend who is studying medicine, called Tim, who advises him against the worst excesses that hanging around with Bryn and his crowd bring. Eventually, things come to a head and the whole of his life is affected, the only constant being Tim. There are some strange ghostly happenings which ad a mystical touch. This is great coming of age story, set within the hallowed halls of a great university and totally capturing the essence of the place.

"It was beautiful and horrible all at once."

Thank you 4th estate for asking me to review this book! When the request landed in my inbox I knew I was in for a treat.

I read it almost exclusively late at night by my fake oil lamp which was perfect. Reading it felt like walking down a familiar road late at night, when before you know it a fog has rolled in and someone might be following you and also it might not be human and can you hear that scratching sound?

This book is about so many things:

Fear, love, ghosts, grief, music, friendship, obsession, the occult, memory, class, academia, magic.

It's quickly become one of my favourites of the year and I'm in awe of how beautifully it's crafted. This made me FEEL THINGS !!

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Out: 16th January 2025

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When I tell you I RAVED about this book as I was reading it to anyone who would listen, I'm not exaggerating.

Looking beyond this incredible title and cover and there exists the most incredible first chapter I've ever read. It was so instantly terrifying and unnerving that my instincts told me to put it down, but the writing style had its hooks in me from the first description and wasn't going to let me go. Thank god it didn't.

The familiar imagery of a working class northern household was so clear on the page before class was even mentioned. The description was so vivid and so concise. Sharp observations that immediately stick the picture in your brain. It's the kind of writing style I wish I had. Then the contrast to the rich world our narrator is transported to is so clear.

The masterpiece of this novel is the horror. So subtle and perfect, it feels like a delicate thread holding all the themes together. It perfectly captures the all too familiar and unique terror of not belonging.

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I could compare it to If We Were Villains (another fave), I could say it's everything that Saltburn fell short of, I could use "dark academia" buzz words, but this story is in a whole new genre of its own.

10/10 can't wait to read again when it comes out next year

The unnamed male narrator has been musical from birth, his talents securing him a place at Cambridge around the turn of the millennium. A state school attendee, he arrives from a small northern town, the gifted proverbial fish out of water. Maybe this is a chance for reinvention though perhaps Cambridge will put him in his place as he doesn’t really understand the rules, the routines and the game playing. A few weeks in he becomes riveted by the enigmatic, charismatic and magnetic Bryn Cavendish into whose orbit he is lured, charmed, mesmerised and probably bewitched. Bryn is at the centre of the Cambridge universe, a modern day Sun King around whom many orbit. Bryn is from a wealthy background and at the heart of every Cambridge function at which he often performs magic tricks. As the narrator gets deeper and deeper into Bryn’s world, an obsessive feverish friendship develops. Has he given his soul to the devil? Has fate brought them together and what will fate have in store as two worlds collide. The story is told in dual timelines, from the Cambridge days and in the present day which flows as organically as the River Cam.

This is a stunning haunting debut novel which is so powerful with several layers to the storytelling. I love the dark academia trope so this is tailor made for me. It’s perplexing, intriguing and has me in its thrall from beginning to end. It’s a fantastical novel of obsessive friendship, steeped in magic and mystery with a strong ghostly gothic element with a dream like or even nightmarish quality. It has me puzzling and questioning what is real and what is illusion or even delusion but maybe potentially both. The storytelling is vivid, there are moments of high tension, some scenes are electric and for much of the narrative there’s an unsettling, off kilter sensation. It’s all consuming and mesmerising, at times it’s horrifying and certainly haunting and at others it’s sad and tragic.

As well as the dynamic between Bryn and his circle and the narrator there are so many other noteworthy aspects that form the novel. There’s the juxtaposition of the privileged like those surrounding Bryn versus our narrators background and that of his true friend, Tim. There’s a strong musical element too which gives it a very different vibe from other novels in this genre. The narrator’s obsession with the mysterious Peter Warlock is a touch of brilliant as it works so well alongside the unfolding drama between the two young men. Wrapped around the whole is a superb atmosphere, it positively drips with it. There’s not only that of Cambridge itself which provides colour, unease and danger but there’s an ever present elusive ghostly creepiness. In addition, the characterisation is exemplary although some are far from likeable.

Overall, I’m sure this will be one of my books of the year. It gives me so much to think about as it builds to an excellent ending where all the emotions are on display from love to jealousy to guilt. I will continue to reflect on what are true recollections and accurate memories and what are distorted for whatever reason. It’s beautifully written and I’m in awe of what the author has achieved in this stunning debut.

I really like the cover too.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to 4th Estate for The much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I love dark academia but it can be very hit and miss for me. Happily this was the former. The perfect tale of obsession and darkness with a slight supernatural twist. Unsettling and satisfying. Highly recommend.

Fans of The Cloisters, The Four, If We were Villains will enjoy this book. The ending felt particularly poignant and the slow unravelling creates enjoyable tension

Delusion versus illusion in this academically orientated gothic story. When does performance magic become real magic, or does it? Atmosphere and surroundings are everything and their delineation is unerringly portrayed in the novel. Suggestively and ultimately, I even found myself peering at shadows in darkened vistas.