The Thornbacks

Image credit: Penguin Books Australia

Because there is so much content consistently being poured into the world for us to consume, more often than not it’s tricky to find a book that leaves you confused or bewildered. It’s a nice surprise when a story comes along in which you can’t predict where it’s going, or what the agenda is, or even if there is an agenda. This month’s book for Bookclub gave me this fascinating reading experience: The Thornbacks by Chloe Wilson.

Gertie and Tabitha are two unassuming and scrupulous morticians who are very good at their job. By day they are pumping bodies with formaldehyde, sculpting faces, reattaching limbs, and applying makeup. By Friday night – date night- they are spiking the drinks of their chosen dating-app catfish victims. It’s a perfectly serviceable routine that they are content to live their lives by, but unfortunately even the most stalwart routines can fracture, leaving you to wonder how in control of your life you really are.

A dark and spikily clever debut novel, The Thornbacks explores a myriad of themes and ideas about relationships, how the online wold and the world of flesh coexist, the safety and danger of being sensible or plain, and gendered battles for control.

Wilson’s prose is simple, but she has done a clever thing in writing in the voice of both the heroines simultaneously. Like the twins from The Shining or the strange sisters from Gormenghast, Gertie and Tabitha are very similar if not identical and their conversational tones that colour the narrative as they recount events to the reader is a surprise at first, but then very quickly adjusted to. They are fascinating and enigmatically blank characters who are neither adorable nor malicious, indeed the emotional motive behind their questionable actions is what compels you to read on: you really can’t fathom what’s lurking, shifting, and roiling underneath and inside.

But while the book’s protagonists are enthrallingly unfathomable, the gender battles are not: exploring mistreatment of both sexes dressed up in a variety of outfits such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, gaslighting, harassment, and appearance-shaming. There is a macabre satisfaction hearing these accounts and events throughout the story and finding that no one seems to get the upper hand: neither heroines nor villains come out on top.

Image credit: Penguin Books Australia

The Thornbacks is a dark and funny iceberg of a story: there’s not a lot on the surface but underneath there is an entire hidden cave network of drama, social commentary, gender battles, and unease. It’s a truly compelling and fascinating book.

Author: Chloe Wilson, 2026

Published: Hamish Hamilton, part of Penguin Random House, Australia, 2026