Bring the House Down

The literary debut novel of 2025, perfect for fans of CLEOPATRA AND FRANKENSTEIN and THE RACHEL INCIDENT

A one woman showA one night standA one star review

'Binge-worthy… intimate, real, and really funny' KILEY REID

'Bitingly sharp, witty and multi-layered' SOPHIE MACKINTOSH

'Fierce, fantastically funny' CLAIRE LOMBARDO

'I loved this incendiary debut' EMILIA HART

'Exceptional … When a man treats a woman badly, what does he deserve?' JENNIE GODFREY

Theatre critic Alex Lyons made his name from his brutal, brilliant reviews.

So when he sees Hayley Sinclair's dismal one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe, he thinks nothing of dashing off another of his trademark one-star pans for the newspaper. He also thinks nothing of taking her home after the performance, failing at any point to mention who he is.

What he doesn't expect is for Hayley to revamp her show into a review of Alex's entire life, exposing what an awful person he really is. Worse, the show is a smash hit, and Alex is about to become national news. But can Hayley bring the establishment down without taking herself with it?

Funny and thrilling, Bring the House Down gives you a front row seat to the downfall of the people who tell us what to think. It's about art, performance, female rage, and how while revenge may be sweet, it can also be perilous.

'An astounding debut… five big stars' Nathan Hill

'Funny, precise, and such fun' Holly Gramazio

'An enticing debut. This is a binge-worthy novel that explores our obsessions, our inner critic, and who we think we are in person and in print. Intimate, real, and really funny. This one has teeth' Kiley Reid, author of Such a Fun Age

'Sharp-witted, wise, and authentic – what a fierce, fantastically funny read' Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had and Same As It Ever Was

'A bitingly sharp, witty, and multi-layered exploration of rage and art. Runcie is so good on nuance, on interrogating the good and bad of meticulously drawn characters we come to love even when we feel we shouldn't – all the while delving into questions of complicity, goodness, and how our own desires muddy the water’ Sophie Mackintosh, author of Cursed Bread

'Funny, bold and tender, Bring the House Down is a biting study of power, gender and the meaning of art. I loved this incendiary debut' Emilia Hart, author of Weyward

'Well. This is exceptional. When a man treats a woman badly, what does he deserve? Bring The House Down by Charlotte Runcie is a wholly absorbing, nuanced exploration of the modern need to have, and express, an opinion on everything' Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things

'Be transported to the buzz of the Edinburgh Fringe in this sharp and funny debut… Compelling, multi-layered and rich with brilliant characters' Woman & Home

'An astounding debut… five big stars' Nathan Hill

'Funny, precise, and such fun' Holly Gramazio

'An agile, addictive story exploring art, ethics, the role of the critic, vindication of female rage, and the public appetite for blood … Atmospheric, propulsive, electric' Heidi Sopinka, author of The Dictionary of Animal Noises

'Runcie’s characters feel so real I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself next to them on the train or to overhear them on the streets of Edinburgh’ Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of The Sleep Watcher

Charlotte Runcie is a radio columnist and arts writer. For several years she lived and worked in Edinburgh, where she ran a folk music choir, and she now lives in the Scottish Borders. She has a secret past as a poet, having been a Foyle Young Poet of the Year with a pamphlet published by tall-lighthouse. Her memoir Salt On Your Tongue was a BBC4 Book of the Week and named a Book of the Year in the Spectator, The Scotsman and Prospect.

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