Julia Armfield has become one of my favourite authors. Her prose wrenches your most inner fears and desires outwards, laying them bare on the page so beautifully. These characters — their emotions, interactions, and introspection — felt so often like a reflection that sometimes I had to pause, because it was as though Armfield had somehow put into words an experience I had considered to be abstract and intangible.
Unrivalled in creating an atmosphere and setting that feels familiar yet itchingly strange, Armfield’s second novel carries all the trepidation of a world existing through climate apocalypses while also grounding this in a story that at its core is about connection and mis/understanding. The sisters’ relationships with each other were strikingly recognisable, and thus frequently haunting, and I really felt situated in this damp world. Though the ending took me by surprise and left me scrambling for more, I think Private Rites might be my favourite novel of the year so far.

After reading Armfield’s novel ‘Our Wives Under The Sea’, I felt my life changed, and upon hearing of this as the next release I had very high hopes! Armfield yet again depicted a story that eloquent and purposeful, and heart wrenchingly relatable. It isn’t a fast paced book by any means but after the establishing pages the book find its rhythm, and once I was going I didn’t want it to end until I found myself at the last 60ish pages and had to brace myself for the finish and having to out the book down! Julia Armfield has yet again asserted herself on my list of authors I will read anything from due to how incredible their writing is, and Private Rites did not disappoint me or my very high hopes!

I raced through this sitting in our campervan in Sweden in the pouring rain, and it almost felt as if I was living in Armfield’s end of the world realm. Like in ‘Our Wives under the Sea’ there’s loads of water here; high water, floods and endless rain, caused by climate change. There’s queer love here again as well. And some dystopian horror elements that give the book once again just a bit of extra thrill. A frightful book about sisterhood and love set in an apocalyptic world.
Thank you Fourth Estate and Netgalley UK for the ARC.

I think this book should become a modern classic. The way Armfield depicts dystopian London is astonishing. The city is rendered so cleary and eerily, so ominously realistic. The addition of the city’s perspective really upped the sense of foreboding. I loved the way that the weather mirrors the changes and escalation in the sisters’ lives. That ending too!

Another brilliant read from Armfield who is fast becoming a go-to author for queer gothic horror. She deftly juggles the story of a dysfunctional family, set against the rising tides of climate disaster and our will to look away from that might endanger us most. A brilliant novel - I can't wait to read what she writes next.

Armfield’s characteristic use of water imagery seeped into every layer of the story and I loved the pervasive darkness and the slow building undertow of threat. The different perspectives and the voice of the city worked beautifully to layer explorations of grief, trauma, queer love and familial expectations. Raw, immersive and atmospheric, an absolute stunner that will stay with me for a long time.

Absolutely loved this. Julia Armfield is an amazing talent, she has become an auto buy author for me. The characters are the best part. The dynamic between the sisters is everything, They are each such distinct personalities that navigate the ever changing world so differently. The differing chapter povs allows for the world to develop clearly and naturally. Especially the city pov, it adds so much to the story.

Somewhere between 4 and 5 stars!

Not my usual genre but I was really drawn into this end-of-the-world dystopia by Armfield's beautiful writing.

A really absorbing book exploring the turbulent connections in sisterhood, queer love and mental health.

I cannot explain to you how much I loved this book.
Julia Armfield is my favourite author and this novel only solidified that for me. It's haunting and funny and comforting in all the best ways.

PRIVATE RITES is Julia Armfield's exploration of the end of the world lived in the mundane; Armfield's apocalypse if very much not a bang, but a whimper, a pot left simmering as you remain unsure of when it'll come to a boil. She interrogates the limits of what people will get used to, and put up with, and the way The End Of Days™ can come across as a series of end of days as we knew them. A series of changes of circumstances, of quiet tragedies that ring all too familiar to the now, and so the reader can easily see them transposed onto the slightly dystopian scene without needing any significant suspension of disbelief on their part. There are sequences that ring particularly true in the wake of a post 2020 world, so much so that they had me reread them to myself time and time again in a quick succession, then reading them out loud to my friend as we waited to board our plane. The brief interlude chapters from the city breaking up our three protagonists' POVs are lyrical and fuzzy in a late-night dreamlike kind of way.
When it comes to the three characters, I found it difficult to pick favourites, and found myself swayed each time we met or came back to another sisters' perspective. Where Armfield excels in many ways is in her deep understanding of and compassion for the human experience; her ability to dig to the heart and guts of things, and deliver characters that are messy, and honest (or as honest to you as they are to themselves) and raw. The honesty of each character rang true to my bones. I knew these women. If I looked just right, I could see facets of myself reflected in these women. It is this tender, yet brutal authenticity that makes it so easy to dive fully into their stories, to believe each of their thought processes, to live each of their quiet devastations with them, to spiral or float alongside depending on the tide.
It's not often that a reader is willing to abandon questions of action, plot or world (especially with a book that invites so many) in favour of merely following along with the characters and sinking into the whirlpool of their thoughts, but it takes little effort to do so with PRIVATE RITES. If possible, I think this'd make for a stellar reading experience if consumed in one go, yet it loses none of its appeal or bite when read in small chunks of time stolen here and there as was my case. I'm already dying to get a physical copies into my hands and annotate it to no end.

I previously read Our Wives Under the Sea and found it both gripping and unsettling in a way that made it stay with me to this day. Although Private Rites is a very different story, it had a very similar effect on me.

In a near future where climate change has lead to near-constant rain and most cities being flooded, 3 sisters have a complicated relationship both with each other and their father. After he passes away they’re forced to deal with their past and to confront difficult truths.

The setting, with the constant clouds and rain, flooded cities and the impact this has on travel and infrastructure gave a menacing atmosphere. The fact that this is something we could see happen made it all the more disturbing.

The troubled relationships between the sisters and their father would have made for an interesting story without the other elements, but adding them all together results in a delightfully disturbing story that will haunt me for some time.

When I wasn’t reading this book I was thinking about it, and it was the first book in a while that I was prioritising reading over pretty much everything else.

A haunting look at familial relationships and climate change, if you enjoyed the gentle horror and beautiful writing of the authors previous books then you will love this one too. And if you haven’t picked them up before I highly recommend you give this one a try.

I will read any word this author will toss my way - I adored 'Our Wives Under the Sea' and her collection of short stories 'Salt Slow', so when this novel was announced I had high hopes. I was not disappointed in the least. Yet again displaying gorgeous prose and easy flow of pace, Armfield drags us into an unsettled world in the not too distant future where the climate crisis really has reached a true crisis point. Past the point of no return, the world is flooding and the characters in this tale are living in a drowning city.

Armfield examines the three sisters lives in relation to one another and their now dead father. Against backdrop of constant rain and creeping tide lines, it feels ominous, uneasy, a feeling that something is coming, hurtling towards us as we pick apart their lives.

A masterclass in writing, packing so much history, baggage, trauma and atmosphere in such a compact book.

Julia Armfield has this addictive ability to completely absorb me in her prose. Just a chapter or two of her writing and I’m surprised by the real world, any thoughts that aren’t in her voice suddenly jerk me awake.

The drowned world she’s created is amazing and her ability to merge dread and the mundane should honestly be studied. This is a brilliant climate novel which will hit you with some home truths about how we relate to the world, the earth and the changing weather.

Perhaps because of how absorbed I was in those aspects of the story, I occassionally felt that the different halves of this book were on the cusp of being too many things at once. One character has a thought, suddenly, that ‘this is the wrong genre’ and despite that self-awareness, the sisters’ stories, the city, and the mysteries did sometimes feel like they weren’t quite in step with each other.

But I think Private Rites is going to linger with me regardless. It’s world is in my brain like Armfield’s vivid description of one sister’s memories of her mother; ‘spreading across her like lichen, like something resembling skin’

Armfield's poetic prowess shines through in this portrayal of a watery world amidst a haunting vision of climate disaster. Set in London, the narrative vividly depicts the city's struggle as waters rise, with makeshift jetties and water taxis attempting to navigate flooded train lines, frequent power outages, and a bewildering array of alarms. As seals, pelicans, and eels encroach upon homes, the story revolves around the three sisters - Isla, Irene, and Agnes - each grappling with their own challenges.

Drawing on allusions to King Lear and Macbeth, the narrative explores themes of conflict, inheritance, and the rise of neo-religions in the face of apocalypse. While the plot may feel less definitive than Armfield's previous work, the focus on the sisters' complex relationships and the haunting influence of parental troubles is masterfully rendered. Their connections, both fragile and resilient, mirror the uncertain waters that engulf their world.

Despite its horrifying premise, the novel maintains a delicate balance of atmosphere and control, offering a chilling yet subtly realistic portrayal of societal collapse. The interplay between personal struggles and the wider backdrop of climate catastrophe adds depth to the narrative, making it both immersive and thought-provoking. Ultimately, Armfield's work is a lyrical exploration of resilience and endurance in the face of impending disaster.

After Salt Slow and Our Wives Under the Sea, I couldn't wait to read Julia Armfield's new novel. And I absolutely loved Private Rites! Armfield's writing is so beautiful and vivid, and the story had me on the edge of my seat. It was great gaining insight into the sisters' lives and their relationships were so well done and complex, and at the same time, there was this sense of unease the entire time, that something was lying in wait. The climate crisis setting really hooked me too - it made for a suspensful atomsphere. Overall, this was a gripping read and I won't be able to stop talking about it.
Thank you Netgalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for the ARC!

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!