November is a cold, gloomy time of year, so we’ve decided to lean into the darkness and bring you some gripping Dark Academia reads. From schools shrouded in mysterious pasts to universities harbouring witch covens, there’s something for every reader to get lost in. Whether you’re drawn to fantasy or contemporary fiction with darker academic subject matter, we have plenty to tempt you. So, adjust your reading glasses, find yourself an old library and embrace the shadows. You never know what you might discover between the pages…
The Alchemary: A Dark Academia Alchemy Romantasy
By Rachel Vincent
Hyperion Avenue | 9781368115902 | Paperback | £15.99 | Out Now
Neither amnesia nor the brothers trying to steer her fate will stop Amber Fallbrook from uncovering the truth about herself and the Alchemary.
Naked, knowing little more than her name, Amber Fallbrook does not recognise the stone tower she’s awoken in, or the vast, glittering ocean outside the window. Turning, she finds a very a different view: the beautiful, nearly naked man in the narrow bed is a stranger. So is the man who barges into the room unannounced, clearly expecting to find Amber alone. Who are they? Who is she? Why can’t she remember? Shocked to discover that she’s in her dormitory room at the Alchemary — the realm’s prestigious university dedicated to the study of alchemy — Amber has no recollection of having been one of the school’s top students for the past two years. The two men — brothers — are her childhood friends, even if “friends” is not the exact energy in the room. One brother claims to want to protect her, and the other to help her recover her memory, but Amber soon realises that nothing is at it seems at the Alchemary.
The Ghost Women: A Novel
By Jennifer Murphy
Dutton | 9780593474365 | Hardback | £26.99 | Out Now
A mysterious art academy in the woods, a deck of tarot cards and a hundreds year old secret…
On a hot August morning in 1972, the body of Abel Montague, a student in Waverly School, is found hanging from a tree in the forest. A Hanged Man tarot card is found in the back pocket of his pants and his body has been positioned into the exact pose illustrated on the card. When detective Lola Germany arrives at the academy—a former monastery that once housed a secret order of monks who carried out witch trials and executions—she believes they are dealing with a ritualistic murder.
Interviewing school administrators and Abel’s classmates, Lola discovers Abel’s live-in girlfriend, Pearl, seems shaken, but also might be hiding something. Along with her group of friends who call themselves witches. When more students are found dead, each body arranged like a Tarot card, Lola realises she is trapped in a web of power and ambition that spans centuries. Soon, the lines between past and present, spiritual and tangible begin to blur, and the only way to survive is to seek answers from places she never imagined.
Four By Four
By Sara Mesa; Translated by Katie Whittemore
Peirene Press | 9781916806108 | Paperback | £12.99 | Out Now
A shadowy mystery from one of Spain’s top literary talents.
At Wybrany College, there are two kinds of student: the children of the rich and powerful, and the “Specials” — recipients of a mysterious scholarship. Sealed off from the decaying world outside, the school promises safety, order and, for the Specials, the chance of a different life. But when one of them disappears, the illusion begins to crack. Hidden hierarchies shift. The line between protector and predator blurs.
Dead Poets Society
By N. H. Kleinbaum; Foreword by Robert Sean Leonard
Hyperion Avenue | 9781368119320 | Paperback | £16.99 | Out Now
The book based on the cult classic film starring Robin Williams, now with new packaging and a foreword by Robert Sean Leonard and a Q&A from the producer and writer.
At New England boys boarding school Welton Academy, tradition is celebrated and high achievement is expected. When former Welton student and new English teacher John Keating encourages students to “make their lives extraordinary” with his unorthodox teaching methods, he shakes up the stuffy preperatory school’s high-pressure environment and guides his pupils on a journey of self-discovery. Inspired by Keating, high school junior Todd Anderson and friends resurrect the Dead Poets Society a secret club where, free from the constraints and expectations of school and parents, they let their passions run wild. But the Dead Poets pledges soon realise that their newfound freedom can have tragic consequences. Can the club and the individuality it inspires survive the pressure from authorities determined to destroy their dreams?
The Southern Sorority of Superstitious Witches: A Novel
By Katie Ortiz
Alcove Press | 9798892426435 | Paperback | £17.99 | Out Now
In this spellbinding Southern Gothic novel, three women weave together old Southern folklore and magic to fight sexism and educational discrimination in post-Civil War Alabama.
When Lucille, Catherine, and Victoria are invited to participate in a trial semester for women at Alabama’s most prestigious university, they each have their own reasons for accepting. Lucille wants freedom from both her father’s control and reminders of her traitorous first love. Catherine wants to escape an arranged marriage meant to halt her attraction to women. And Victoria wants to run from the guilt that haunts her after the death of one of her fellow mill girls. The trial semester will determine whether or not women across the state will be allowed to attend other universities. But the enrolled women quickly learn that success is not guaranteed, and some of their male cohorts are determined to see them fail. When the men’s pranks go too far, Lucille, Catherine, and Victoria form a coven under the guise of a sorority and call upon witchcraft steeped in the traditions of southern folklore to fight back.
As they gather their fellow witches, they discover there is something darker at work at the university, a force that is determined to expel all the women at the university, and they’ll need all the allies they can get if they want to succeed.
Family Language
By Nicole Nelson
Melville House Publishing | 9781685892616 | Paperback | £14.99 | Out 19th November 2026
In this striking debut, an ambitious academic faces new and unwanted choices when she is confronted with overnight motherhood.
Dr. Mona Melamed is a happily married, purposefully childfree linguist at a top Southern California university. Her days are spent researching and stressing about finally, finally securing tenure. That is, until her brother-in-law and his wife die, leaving their six-year-old son orphaned. Everyone in Mona’s orbit expects her to take the lead in caring for the child, including — to some extent — Mona herself. Motherhood is not something she wanted — it is still not something she wants. And yet, she finds herself negotiating a temporary leave to start looking after the boy. Along the way, as the gender expectations thrust upon Mona intensify, her tenure becomes threatened. Family Language confronts that age old question — can women really have it all? — and uncovers the misogyny behind it. As Mona tries to balance her new responsibilities as a mother, she has to ask herself how hard is she willing to fight for the career she’s earned, and is it fair that she even has to?
The Long Let
By Ben Sims
Conduit Books | 9781919184760 | Paperback | £12.99 | Out Now
In the tradition of Mr. Ripley and Lolita, sexual obsession and unrequited love collide in a claustrophobic North London house share.
When Dr. Hugh Clore, a literature professor of precarious means and obsessive temperament, becomes the lodger of the boyish and beautiful Arthur Rose he’s instantly besotted. Recently orphaned, Arthur drifts through a life of claustrophobic privilege, having inherited his parents’ wealth and a grand Georgian terraced house on Highbury Fields. Hugh plots to make Arthur fall in love with him, adopting the role of mentor and taking charge of Arthur’s education. But his carefully laid plans are disrupted when Arthur’s girlfriend, Georgia Groad, moves in. At twenty-one, a year older than Arthur, Georgia becomes Hugh’s nemesis — an obstacle to his aspic paradise. Hugh, delusional but effective in his manipulations, sets his sights on Georgia, drawing her into his orbit as his second pupil, scheming to replace her in Arthur’s life. One thing is for certain: it can’t end well.
The Imaginary Life of a Laurel Tree: A Novel
By Mario Fortunato; Translated by Michael F. Moore
Other Press | 9781635424669 | Paperback | £15.99 | Out Now
An Italian teacher’s relationship with his male student sparks legal and personal turmoil in this compelling novel of truth, desire, and power.
A group of old friends are unexpectedly reunited in Calabria for a dinner party. After a time, the conversation turns to reminiscing about their adolescence and recent allegations surrounding a former teacher, Professor Marco Ferro. Suggestions, gossip, and hints at a much darker past surprise and unsettle the narrator. Days later, still reeling from the news, he begins to grapple with a truth that is much more complicated than his nostalgic memories. His search rekindles an old relationship with his former high school friend Federica, beautiful and spoiled, married to Lino, and the mother of two boys-which in turn unspools in complicated and unanticipated ways. The action then moves to Tunisia, London, and Rome, in an incessant pursuit of who tells and who is told.
In the end, it is the story of Professor Marco Ferro and his young student Yussef, played out in both courtrooms and newspaper columns, that restores truth to the complicated sentimental geometries of the narrator and Federica. Grappling with secrets and entangled power dynamics, Mario Fortunato’s timely new novel raises questions that rarely have simple or unequivocal answers.
