A Katie Couric Book Club Pick "Part mystery, part coming-of-age tale, Night Objects will keep readers guessing all the way through, but it's the book's emotional center--a daughter in deep mourning for her late mother--that elevates this novel into something truly memorable." ―Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The God of the Woods
This suspenseful novel transports readers to the windswept coast of Washington State and a boarding school steeped in privilege and deadly secrets--a remarkable story of grief, power, and the dangerous price of belonging.
It is true that I wished him dead dozens of times. Hundreds, even. But I, Lenny Winter, did not kill that boy.
Lenny Winter is fifteen years-old when she moves with her parents to an aging houseboat off the rugged coast of Washington. She imagines a quiet life spent charting constellations and chasing her dream of becoming an astronomer. Instead, a sudden tragedy shatters her world and catapults her to Blanchard, a renowned boarding school for the Pacific Northwest's elite, where wealth and tradition rule.
Blanchard is dazzling, insular--and haunted by its own legends. At its heart lurks the Pascalianum Club, a secret society known to shape the school's greatest and most notorious students, and whose influence stretches far beyond campus walls. Hungry to belong, Lenny is drawn into its orbit, even as she senses that the club feeds on the very vulnerabilities she is desperate to hide.
As privilege collides with grief and loyalty warps into obsession, Lenny's choices will lead to an unforgettable reckoning--and a murder investigation that will test every story she tells herself about guilt, power, hope, and who she is becoming.
Sweeping, thrilling, and deeply moving, Night Objects is both a gripping mystery and a profound coming-of-age story--asking what we risk, what we become, and who we hold dear when the need to belong eclipses everything else.
"Night Objects is one of those rare novels that is somehow both a bingeable mystery and a literary work of art." ―Stacy Willingham, New York Times bestselling author of Forget Me Not
"Riveting ... she delivers more than thrills, probing potent themes of grief, classism, and the slippery nature of memory." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Devotees of Donna Tartt's The Secret History will thrill to the dark academic glamour and sinister secret society Raphael creates in this mesmerizing novel." ―Library Journal (starred review)
About the Author :
Eli Raphael grew up in Miami, Florida, and now lives in rural Washington State. This is her first novel.
Review :
KATIE COURIC BOOK CLUB: August 2026 Book Club Pick
"Eli Raphael announces herself in Night Objects as a writer to watch. Her prose is vivid and immersive; her storytelling is top-notch. Part mystery, part coming-of-age tale, Night Objects will keep readers guessing all the way through, but it's the book's emotional center--a daughter in deep mourning for her late mother--that elevates this novel into something truly memorable."
--Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The God of the Woods
"Absolutely beautiful writing.... I will read anything Eli Raphael writes."
--Jessica Knoll, New York Times bestselling author
"In her debut novel, Raphael offers an eerie coming-of-age story. She portrays the hallmarks of adolescence--the life-changing friendships, the loneliness, the optimism--with depth and curiosity...Readers looking for dark, tragic stories set in academia will find much to enjoy."
--Booklist
"With this dazzling debut, Raphael reaches for the stars and succeeds by crafting a subtly menacing novel of suspense that also thoughtfully explores the impact of grief, friendship, and love in life. ... Devotees of Donna Tartt's The Secret History will thrill to the dark academic glamour and sinister secret society Raphael creates in this mesmerizing novel while fans of literary suspense will luxuriate in the author's nuanced characterization and eloquent writing."
--Library Journal (starred review)
"Riveting...she delivers more than thrills, probing potent themes of grief, classism, and the slippery nature of memory. Readers will be eager to see what Raphael does next."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Night Objects is brilliant, searing, and astonishing. It is at once a gripping mystery, a moving coming-of-age story, and a surprising love letter to our mothers, our selves, and the universe. With breathtaking language and an ending I will never forget. Eli Raphael will break your heart."--Eliana Ramage, author of To the Moon and Back
"Night Objects is one of those rare novels that is somehow both a bingeable mystery and a literary work of art, and the fact that it's a debut makes it all the more impressive. I savored every sentence. As soon as I started reading, I knew I wouldn't be able to put it down. I'm already looking forward to whatever she writes next."--Stacy Willingham, New York Times bestselling author of Forget Me Not
"A campus novel with the dark heart of a thriller, Night Objects is propulsive, tender, and consuming to the core. Eli Raphael conjures the shadowy rites of adolescence and elite academia in this contemporary, clever debut. Night Objects is a true riptide of a novel, cagey with all the mysteries of love, loss, and the stars above."--Ariel Delgado Dixon, author of Don't Say We Didn't Warn You
"Eli Raphael's Night Objects is so many things at once--a thriller simmering with class tension, a lyrical account of grief and mourning, a sharp boarding-school satire. Above all, it's a breathtaking, ambitious debut that introduces a persuasive new voice in fiction."--Sara Sligar, author of Vantage Point and Take Me Apart
"Haunting, luminous, and utterly absorbing, Night Objects captures the ache of grief and the perilous seduction of belonging with exquisite precision. Eli Raphael writes with a rare emotional intelligence and an eye for beauty that makes even the darkest moments shimmer. Chilling and deeply felt, I couldn't put this novel down."--Chelsea Bieker, bestselling author of Madwoman and Godshot
