A fully illustrated, darkly gripping tale of a town suddenly invaded by mysterious and deadly plants – Thornhill meets The Owl Service.

STRANGE BLOOMS
by Darren Simpson
illustrated by Keith Robinson
Pushkin Press, September 2026

Fran is an ordinary teenage girl, living in an ordinary seaside town. But one day, something horrifyingly out of the ordinary begins to take root…

They start slowly, almost imperceptibly. But soon the strange, uncanny flowers have infiltrated the whole town. And every young person who smells the intoxicating blooms falls victim to a life-sapping illness. All except one: seemingly ordinary Fran.

Told in a dual timeline, Strange Blooms takes the reader on an exciting journey to discover the truth behind these deadly flowers, and uncover a mystery that rocked the town 40 years earlier.

Darren Simpson writes vivid, unruly fiction for older children and teens. His debut novel, Scavengers, was a Guardian Best Book of the Year and his latest book, Furthermoor, was a Waterstone Book of the Year. He has been nominated twice for the prestigious Carnegie Medal.

Keith Robinson has created jackets for, among other projects, the Waterstones Book of the Year I Am Rebel.