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This Immaculate Body

'Darkly funny' (Oyinkan Braithwaite)

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This Immaculate Body

By: Emma van Straaten
Narrated by: Hanako Footman
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About this listen

 'Stirring to its very core, This Immaculate Body enthrals beyond measure' LUCY ROSE, author of THE LAMB

'Momentous, kaleidoscopic . . . A wild ride from start to finish' HANAKO FOOTMAN, author of MONGREL

'Stunningly accomplished' NUSSAIBAH YOUNIS, author of FUNDAMENTALLY

'Shocking . . . darkly funny' OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE, author of MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER

'It's a ride you don't want to end' COSMOPOLITAN
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Can you climb inside a stranger's life and make him love you?

Alice knows every detail of Tom's life. She has taken a side hustle as a cleaner just to feel close to him, to wipe every smudge from his coffee cups, smooth every crease of his bed, read every email in his inbox. She is in love. And Tom will love her too - once he has met her.

While Alice masterminds the bone-shattering romance she knows they will have, she tries to morph into the woman Tom will want. And when this happens, no one - not her mother, not her sister, not her sneering co-workers - will be able to look down on her anymore.
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'Obsessive, delusional, disastrous - but so intricately woven with heart, warmth and empathy' ALICE SLATER, author of DEATH OF A BOOKSELLER

'Original, darkly funny and addictive with twists that will leave you reeling' GLAMOUR

'An evocative story that deserves immediate cult status' DAZED

'If this doesn't make you cancel your cleaner, nothing will' THE TIMES

[published in the US under the title Creep]©2025 Emma van Straaten Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Heartfelt

Critic reviews

Absurd, shocking, and deeply unsettling. After this darkly funny read, you may never feel so comfortable letting a stranger into your home again (Oyinkan Braithwaite, author of MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER)
Stirring to its very core, This Immaculate Body enthrals beyond measure. It bleeds, burns and beguiles, and asks you, dear reader, to give in to obsession. Truly, a religious experience (Lucy Rose)
A momentous, kaleidoscopic portrait of a woman on the edge. A wild ride from start to finish (Hanako Footman, author of MONGREL)
The relentlessness of Alice's slipping grip on reality hooks you . . . if this doesn't make you cancel your cleaner, nothing will
Written in an electric stream of consciousness, van Straaten's debut - which won the inaugural Women's Prize Discoveries ward - is as terrifying as it is heartbreaking, revealing how loneliness and damaging adolescent experiences can shape a person. A chilling book by an exciting new voice
A compelling debut . . . original, darkly funny and addictive this has twists that will leave you reeling
A thriller with a difference . . . A fascinating portrait of love, obsession and desire
A thriller as much as it is an exploration of how we present ourselves and perceive our material culture, this is an evocative story that deserves immediate cult status
Absolutely addictive. From the very first page, Emma Van Straaten had me by the Hail Marys. Obsessive, delusional, disastrous - but so intricately woven with heart, warmth and empathy. I'm as devoted to This Immaculate Body as Alice is to her delusions. An impeccable debut from a rising talent (Alice Slater)
Brilliantly tense (and at points very tender) descent into madness. I wanted to shout at Alice and I also wanted to hold her tight. Van Straaten's prose is unique - long sentences and paragraphs which fold the reader into Alice's close, procedural obsession. In lots of ways, it's a dark read, but Alice's hurt and hope is luminous. She's a deeply flawed girlie with a big beating heart (Catherine Airey)
Safe to say this is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It was addictive, unsettling, and propulsive, I was hooked after the first page. I will be recommending to everybody when it's out in February! (Chloe Michelle Howarth)
Truly fascinating and compulsive - transgressive with an ending that gave me whiplash. Emma's writing is gorgeous - rich and delicious and evocative even when uncomfortable. I found myself drawn to and repelled by Alice in equal measure, I couldn't tear my eyes away . . . an accomplished and visceral debut. I'm slightly concerned about how decisively Alice crawled into my head and has stayed there since I finished reading (Kirsty Capes)
All stars
Most relevant
Stunning performance, so gorgeous, so unhinged. A protagonist with a similar inner monologue to when I hadn’t slept in 72 hours and thought the street signs were communicating with me…

Absolutely deliciously unhinged

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I found that the ending was a little ambiguous.i was hooked in just like a bystander at an accident that couldn’t look away.

A gripping insight into obsession.

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Love a book about a unhinged woman then you will love this. A very descriptive novel about a woman unravelling. This story is beautifully written and the narrator really brings this book to life, her voice is perfect for the protagonist. Very much enjoyed this. P.S didn’t see that ending coming

What a nutter

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For lovers of the femgore genre, subversive women and unreliable narrators. A wonderful peek into the mind of Alice, a lonely young woman who grew up hiding in her school library reading Brontë, Austen and Dickenson. Her idea of love twisted, projected onto a man who doesn’t even know her. I love the vivid descriptions of period blood and the disgustingness of her ways. Every chapter had me going: SHE DID WHAT?!

The performance of the voice actor is outstanding. She becomes Alice, doing stuck up little voices for the insufferable women in her life. That breathy giggle she does at the end of her sentences! 😂 👏

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This book is quite something. Shocking in places. It's about a girl who is in love with a man she cleans for. I won't say anymore. I don't like book reviews where it's just a recount of the story. It's beautifully written, emotionally intelligent, funny, heartbreaking, gripping and quite frankly almost warped in places! It's brilliant! I plan to read it again soon! I hear that it may be made into a drama series on TV. Can't wait!'

Amazing book. Sad, chilling, compelling...you have to read it!

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