
Nowhere Burning
Catriona Ward(Author)
Viper (Publisher)
Published on 19. February 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-80081-102-7 (ISBN)
Description
* FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET *
'Catriona Ward is a sorceress of the highest order and Nowhere Burning is nothing short of spellbinding' - OLIVIE BLAKE
'Gorgeous, dangerous, mythic and horrific. For anyone who likes to marvel at a remarkable storyteller' - A.J. FINN
'Broke my heart a dozen times and held me spellbound throughout. Just genius' - SARAH HILARY
The Nowhere Children are expecting you...
High in the mountains sits Nowhere, a verdant valley surrounded by walls of rock. People have lived at Nowhere for centuries, though never for long, and rarely happily. Its last owner was its most famous: movie star Leaf Winham, who built Nowhere House as a refuge to hide from his fame... and to hide his crimes. Only when Nowhere House went up in flames were the graves discovered, the last resting places of lost young men who would never go home.
Years later, Nowhere valley has become a sanctuary for runaway children, a place where adults cannot enter. Drawn by this promise, fourteen-year-old Riley pulls her brother Oliver from his bed in the middle of the night, hoping to find a new family. But the Nowhere Children are fierce in defending their valley and their secrets. For something dark lives in the ruins of Nowhere House, something that asks a terrible price for sanctuary...
'A creepy, clever and heartrending story, compelling and beautifully crafted' - EMMA HEALEY
'Darkly compelling, and so well-drawn with such a range of believable, engaging characters... Terrific' - JOANNE HARRIS
'Atmospheric and achingly tender suspense from one of our most original writers. I dare you not to fall under its spell' - ERIN KELLY
'Catriona Ward is a sorceress of the highest order and Nowhere Burning is nothing short of spellbinding' - OLIVIE BLAKE
'Gorgeous, dangerous, mythic and horrific. For anyone who likes to marvel at a remarkable storyteller' - A.J. FINN
'Broke my heart a dozen times and held me spellbound throughout. Just genius' - SARAH HILARY
The Nowhere Children are expecting you...
High in the mountains sits Nowhere, a verdant valley surrounded by walls of rock. People have lived at Nowhere for centuries, though never for long, and rarely happily. Its last owner was its most famous: movie star Leaf Winham, who built Nowhere House as a refuge to hide from his fame... and to hide his crimes. Only when Nowhere House went up in flames were the graves discovered, the last resting places of lost young men who would never go home.
Years later, Nowhere valley has become a sanctuary for runaway children, a place where adults cannot enter. Drawn by this promise, fourteen-year-old Riley pulls her brother Oliver from his bed in the middle of the night, hoping to find a new family. But the Nowhere Children are fierce in defending their valley and their secrets. For something dark lives in the ruins of Nowhere House, something that asks a terrible price for sanctuary...
'A creepy, clever and heartrending story, compelling and beautifully crafted' - EMMA HEALEY
'Darkly compelling, and so well-drawn with such a range of believable, engaging characters... Terrific' - JOANNE HARRIS
'Atmospheric and achingly tender suspense from one of our most original writers. I dare you not to fall under its spell' - ERIN KELLY
Reviews / Votes
Atmospheric and achingly tender suspense from one of our most original writers. I dare you not to fall under its spell -- Erin Kelly, author of HE SAID/SHE SAID So sharp and beautiful it draws blood and leaves scars -- Grady Hendrix, author of WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS Darkly compelling, and so well-drawn with such a range of believable, engaging characters... Terrific -- Joanne Harris, author of CHOCOLAT A creepy, clever and heart-rending story - compelling and beautifully crafted -- Emma Healey, author of ELIZABETH IS MISSING Gorgeous, dangerous, mythic and horrific... This unforgettable novel evokes Stephen King and fairy tales - but it's very much an original, a story for anyone who likes to marvel at a remarkable storyteller -- A.J. Finn, author of THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW Broke my heart a dozen times and held me spellbound throughout. Just genius -- Sarah Hilary, author of SOMEONE ELSE'S SECRETS Catriona Ward is a sorceress of the highest order and Nowhere Burning is nothing short of spellbinding. The scale of both tenderness and terror is a marvel... I will follow Ward anywhere, holding my breath as I go -- Olivie Blake, author of THE ATLAS SIX Fiercely original, full of malice and wild empathy. Ward is so damn good and always, always surprising -- Lauren Beukes, author of THE SHINING GIRLS An amazing mix of intricate story-telling, edge of your seat plotting, incredible world-building and characters who will find a place in your heart. A bit Stranger Things, a bit Spielberg, a bit Stephen King, whilst also being completely original -- Araminta Hall, author of EVERYTHING AND NOTHING Haunting and unsettling... Within the horror, there is tenderness, too, and hope. A beautiful, disturbing novel about the power of belonging -- L.V. Matthews, author of THE TWINS Gripping and beautiful and haunting and virtuously crafted... A thrilling, sinuous reflection on the lengths we go to for family, you won't be able to stop reading -- Virginia Feito, author of MRS MARCH Exceptional. So painful and heartbreakingly human. Lost and broken people are the key to a great horror novel, and nobody does them better than Catriona Ward -- Christopher Golden, author of ALL HALLOWS It's impossible to overstate how astonishingly good this book is. It has such an overwhelming richness that I almost had to keep stopping to come up for air. But of course I couldn't, because Nowhere kept pulling me in... Genuinely stunning -- Kate Simants, author of FREEZE Anyone who has reached a hand toward the night sky will understand the beautifully incurable ache for belonging at the heart of Nowhere Burning -- Christopher Buehlman, author of BETWEEN TWO FIRES Nowhere Burning is hypnotic - unnerving, beautiful and steeped in dread. A story of ruin, refuge and the ghosts we carry; it burns quietly - and then it blazes -- Joanna Wallace, author of YOU'D LOOK BETTER AS A GHOST Terrifyingly good. Fierce, but also tender, and wildly original. Catriona Ward is one of our best writers and she is tearing us all to pieces -- Anna Mazzola, author of THE CLOCKWORK GIRL Completely original. My book of the year so far. Spooky and heartbreaking and beautiful -- Imran Mahmood, author of YOU DON'T KNOW ME Warm. Brutal. Brilliant. This is the future of horror literature -- John Harris Dunning, author of TUMULT Imagine an epic landscape between valley and mountain; imagine a group of lost children and their struggle to survive; imagine an intricate plot like a compelling nightmare. That's Nowhere Burning by the amazing Catriona Ward -- Greg Mosse, author of MURDER AT BUNTING MANORMore details
Edition
Export/Airside
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Profile Books Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
372 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80081-102-7 (9781800811027)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
approx. 10/2026
Viper
€13.50
Not yet published

E-Book
02/2026
Viper
€18.49
Available for download

Book
approx. 02/2026
Viper
€21.50
Not yet published
Person
Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the US, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen, and Morocco. She is the bestselling author of Looking Glass Sound, Sundial and The Last House on Needless Street, which was both a Richard and Judy Book Club and BBC2 Between the Covers Book Club pick. She lives in London and Devon.