The Farm by Jessica Mansour-Nahra

An eerie psychological thriller, rippling with the Gothic undertones of Rebecca, from a startling new Australian talent. The Farm enthrals from the very first page.

The radio sputters out and the cows disappear . . . It is suddenly deeply quiet, with the bird calls and crunch of rolling tyres the only sounds. I twist slowly to look out the back window; the gate has long since disappeared.

When 37-year-old Leila suffers a health tragedy, she doesn’t recover as quickly as she expected. Her partner, James, suggests a year away from the city – they’ll stay on his family farm, where the wide, open spaces and clean country air will help her come to terms with her grief.

But the property is remote and the house oppressive. Leila is disturbed by strange noises, fleeting visions and intrusive dreams. James worries that her medication is causing hallucinations.

As Leila’s isolation grows amid the haunted landscape, so does her suspicion that she isn’t the first woman James has relocated to the farm. Is what she’s experiencing real? Or is it all in her head?

Compulsive and claustrophobic, The Farm is a Gothic ghost story ripe for book club discussion. It asks confronting questions about women’s bodies, what is expected of them, and who is really in control. And in Jessica Mansour-Nahra, Australia has a stunning and remarkable new talent.

‘Eerie and claustrophobic, no one wants to get stuck on The Farm! The setting was so deliciously vivid, the characters nuanced and complex, and the storyline nothing short of bone-chilling. I was absolutely hooked’ ALI LOWE

‘A captivating gothic thriller, fertile in its domestic horrors and the hidden traumas of motherhood. Thanks to this book, I am never visiting a farm again’ SIANG LU

‘A gripping and enthralling psychological thriller that dares to ask some urgent, important, and, at times, unsettling questions. I devoured this story in just one day, but I’ll be thinking about it for a long time to come. Ripe for book club discussion, this is one of the best debuts I’ve read in years – Jessica Mansour-Nahra is a writer to watch’ KELLY RIMMER

About the Author: Jessica Mansour-Nahra was a communications consultant and writer in Brisbane, London and Sydney, before tree-changing to a hamlet in Wiradjuri Country, where she lives with her husband and their beloved dog. Jessica holds degrees in history and law from The University of Queensland. The Farm is her first novel.

26 Aug 2025

The Farm by Jessica Mansour-Nahra ISBN 9780733652882