In Bloom: The Virgin Suicides meets The Girls - the gripping debut novel
Formats & Editions
An Observer Best Debut Novelist 2026
'Atmospheric and gripping ... propulsive and intimate'
Observer
'An electric portrait of teenage friendship and fandom, bubbling with rage and yearning . . . empathetic, addictive and feverish as a Nirvana gig'
Guardian
'Part Virgin Suicides, part Veronica Mars'
Louise Hegarty, author of Fair Play
In the town of St Vincent, everyone knows everyone else's business. So when Lily Lucid accuses the beloved high school music teacher Mr P of sexual assault, rumours swirl and lines are drawn. On one side: Lily's former friends - the fiercely loyal girls who immediately set out to prove their teacher's innocence. On the other: all the adults who have already written them off as a lost cause.
The girls will stop at nothing to hold onto their dream of escaping their small, run-down town, their desperate mothers and absent fathers - and Lily's accusation threatens it all.
But how far out of control can they spin before there's no turning back?
'Effervescently paced and outrageously funny . . . jaw-dropping'
Luke Kennard, author of Black Bag
'I loved this book . . . raw, grungy and frenetic'
Alice Slater, author of Let the Bad Times Roll
'I was totally absorbed . . . amazing and unlike anything else'
Saraid de Silva, author of Amma
Praise for In Bloom
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I loved this book: as raw, grungy and frenetic as Nirvana's Nevermind, In Bloom smells like disillusioned teen spirit
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Part Virgin Suicides, part Veronica Mars, In Bloom vividly captures the all-consuming passion of teenage music obsessives, the suffocating atmosphere of small towns and the feeling of being jolted into adulthood a little too soon.
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I was totally absorbed in the lives of these girls and barely breathed while reading. In Bloom is amazing and unlike anything else.
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Fierce and finely wrought - Sydney Morning Herald
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In Nineties Australia, four girls form a grunge band in an attempt to transform what they see as tragically dull teenage years into an era of freedom. The consequences are mixed - and take place at top volume - Harper's, 'Most hotly anticipated books from new authors'
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Atmospheric and gripping .... propulsive and intimate ... The specificity of her observations brings a wonderful depth and atmosphere to her portrait of working-class life in a small town in the 1990s; to her depiction of the magic and intensity of friendships between teenage girls; and to her understanding of how patriarchal violence looms over vulnerable young women, from multiple angles. This is a powerful and evocative debut from a writer of great skill and deeply felt emotion. - The Observer
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Liz Allan's powerful debut novel smells unmistakably like teen spirit . . . Allan evokes Vincent in all its tawdry menace: shark-infested waters, creaking carnival rides, violent men lurking at home. Her chapters are distilled, her prose raw and vital, repetitions imbuing an incantatory rhythm . . . this is an electric portrait of teenage friendship and fandom, bubbling with rage and yearning: an Australian answer to Eliza Clark's Penance and Dizz Tate's Brutes . . . empathetic, addictive and feverish as a Nirvana gig, In Bloom critiques societal problems without patronising those affected by according them a fierce collective voice - Guardian
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