The Compound
- Author Aisling Rawle, Aisling Rawle, Reader to be announced
- Narrator Lucy Boynton, to be announced
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date 3 July 2025
- Run Time 9 hours and 48 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Contemporary lifestyle fiction, Contemporary romance, Dystopian and utopian fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Social issues, Thriller / suspense fiction.
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What to expect
‘Lord of the Flies meets Love Island – dark, thrilling, and delightfully twisted’ LOUISE O'NEILL
'So gripping and propulsive that it beats reality tv at its own game. Why watch TV when Aisling Rawle does it better?' TORREY PETERS
'A clever and delicious treat' ZAKIYA DALILA HARRIS
'Page-turning, nail-biting… utterly bingeable' OLIVIA GATWOOD
You wake up in a compound in the middle of the desert, along with nine other women.
All of you are young, all beautiful, all keen to escape the grinding poverty, political unrest and environmental catastrophe of the outside world.
You realise that cameras are tracking your every move, broadcasting to millions of reality TV fans.
Soon, ten men will arrive on foot – if they all survive the journey.
What will you have to do to win?
And what happens to the losers?
The Compound is an addictive literary satire on modern excess: it holds a twisted mirror up to our obsession with winning, losing and, above all, watching.
Critics Review
'Lord of the Flies meets Love Island u2013 dark, thrilling, and delightfully twisted' LOUISE O'NEILL
n'A debut so gripping and propulsive that it beats reality tv at its own game. Why watch TV when Aisling Rawle does it better?' TORREY PETERS
n'THIS is the book to read this summer. Exceptional, I was riveted from the first page and couldnu2019t put it down. Easily one of my favourite novels Iu2019ve read this yearu2026 10 out of 10' CECELIA AHERN
n'As addictive as the shows it satirises, and so relentlessly gripping that its cleverness sneaks up on youu2026 You'll be petitioning Rawle for another season' ABIGAIL DEAN
n'A fresh, original debut, searing in its interrogation of modern life, utterly engrossing, everyone should read it. I loved it' ANDREA MARA
n'A clever and delicious treat thatu2019s even more addictive than the reality television it lambastsu2026 I dare you not to tear through The Compound at lightning speed' ZAKIYA DALILA HARRIS
n'In The Compound, Rawle has built an eerily familiar yet unparalleled landscapeu2014one that expertly juggles the most gruesome and tender human traitsu2014with page-turning, nail-biting force. Just like the reality shows we all canu2019t stop watching, this book is utterly bingeable' OLIVIA GATWOOD
n'I couldnu2019t put The Compound down u2013 it is that rare combination of propulsive and brilliant. I read it in one big gulp and then brought it up at two different dinners to talk about its mix of gender dynamics, capitalism, and power' MEGAN GIDDINGS
n'The Compound is a blistering takedown of reality TV in our capitalist world, where the gamification of love and power is sold as entertainment. Aisling Rawle masterfully ratchets up the stakes in this sinister and juicy read until the line between paradise and dystopia becomes dangerously blurred' MICHELLE MIN STERLING
n'Addictiveu2026 Rawleu2019s fast-paced plotting keeps the reader turning pages, as does Lilyu2019s intriguing character development. This portrait of a vapid world contains remarkable depth' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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