Elara

Synopsis

A Gothic novel of possession, reinvention, and the self you can never quite escape.

Tab Black is twenty-seven, famous, and coming apart. The vocalist of Shifter, a British indie band at its peak, she is plagued by episodes of lost time in which she acts – and apparently commits acts – she cannot remember. Compromising photographs have surfaced. Her partner Jay, the band’s other force, oscillates between forgiveness and threat.

Fleeing Jay and a self she no longer recognises, Tab follows a trail of online clues to the island of Elara – a defunct luxury hotel now home to a Moon-worshipping commune. She surrenders her old self, is renamed Kallichore, and falls into the warmth of island life.

But the life Tab left behind has a way of finding her.

A Gothic novel about the self as contested territory, Elara marks Venetia Welby as a novelist of exceptional gifts.

Praise for Previous Work

‘(On Dreamtime) A host of dazzling second novels in the offing … Venetia Welby’s exquisite and hallucinogenic Dreamtime is set in a near future in which we have lost the battle against climate change.’ —Alex Preston, The Observer

‘Venetia Welby’s new novel, Dreamtime, is set in 2035, a time of rising sea levels and extreme weather events. It follows Sol as she completes a stint in rehab in Arizona, grappling with the trauma of her upbringing in a cult and searching for her absent father.’ —Jemima Skala, Literary Review

‘(On Dreamtime) Venetia Welby’s arresting blend of chaos, love, mystery, myths and the supernatural, animals both real and shapeshifting, and the consequences of abuse in the private and public spheres, illustrate how human relationships are complicated and tricky. The world conjured by Welby is weird and elusive, as is the relationship of humans with Nature. Her beautifully stylized writing has a lyrical strange quality to it. The future is envisioned as being one of increased disempowerment.’ —BookBlast