An Independent Best Book to Look Out For in 2025

At an elite secondary school in the English countryside, students and teachers cope with a sudden loss.

In the aftermath of a shocking death, students and teachers at an elite English school grapple with their disorientation and grief. Yet the bell continues to ring, and amidst grief, normal life--lessons, arguments, flirtations--goes on. At the seeming center of the clock's sweeping hands is Tin, feared and adored in equal measure, and newly betrayed by Robin, her best friend. As the heat of the late spring day intensifies, allegiances strain and rivalries escalate, and old secrets start to surface.

Set against a backdrop of strikes and economic unrest, and across the stratified milieus of a small town in the late 1980s, Dark Like Under is at the same time languorous with sun-soaked, rural beauty. Thrumming with the richly detailed inner lives of its varied cast of characters, this luminous debut captures the promise and risk of late adolescence and is a profound exploration of resilience and connection, frustration and grief, renewal and the legacies we leave.

An Independent Best Book to Look Out For in 2025

At an elite secondary school in the English countryside, students and teachers cope with a sudden loss.

In the aftermath of a surprising death, students and teachers at an English school grapple with their grief. Yet the bell continues to ring, and normal life--lessons, arguments, flirtations--goes on. As the heat of the late spring day intensifies, allegiances strain and rivalries escalate, and old secrets start to surface. Set against a backdrop of strikes, economic unrest, and the stratified milieus of a small town in the 1980s, Dark Like Under thrums with the richly detailed inner lives of its varied cast of characters. Alice Chadwick's luminous debut captures the promise and risk of late adolescence in a profound exploration of resilience and connection, frustration and grief, renewal and the legacies we leave.