SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2025

AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST 2025

'This summer's hottest read'
SUNDAY TIMES

'You won't want to put it down'
BRITISH VOGUE

'Sticky, twisting and dangerous'
REBECCA K REILLY

It’s summer. An unnamed young man walks through the gates of a luxurious mansion in the South of France, ready to join the Blake family on their annual holiday. Here, during dreamlike days lounging by the pool and nights blurring into opulent parties, he quickly falls for Felix, the Blake’s eldest son. He is everything the man wants to be – handsome, charismatic, wealthy – and his desire is surprisingly reciprocated. Suddenly, a new world of money and power feels within reach.

But when summer ends and the two men return to London, the cracks in the Blakes’ careful façade begin to show. With the two tormented by demons of their own, their bond risks being pulled apart at the seams. Their secrets and the choices they make will change not only their lives, but the future of those around them.

This summer's hottest read * Sunday Times Style *
Sticky and pacy with an undercurrent of unease, you won't want to put it down * British Vogue *
Rich and complex * DAZED *
A heartbreaking but necessary portrayal of identity and belonging in modern day Britain. It's the perfect beach read * Tatler *
The book of the summer . . . a pacy page-turner and a timely piece of social commentary * AnOther Magazine *
Richly evoked and quietly furious, building from its Saltburn-like beginnings into a roar about the state of modern Britain that never loses sight of the questions around family, friendship and belonging at its emotional core * Marie Claire *
There’s plenty of plot; the novel’s brisk pacing, together with its shrewd blend of emotional sincerity, brooding intrigue and political overtones, make for a lively beach read * Guardian *
[A] dark, intoxicating debut . . . A thoughtful meditation on class, race and queerness * Mail on Sunday *
Sticky, twisting and dangerous: Sunstruck compels, unravelling the fraught strings that keep the elite class together and asking if an outsider can ever truly belong in their fold -- Rebecca K Reilly
Hunter's debut skilfully follows the journey of an aspiring Black musician drawn into a world of privilege and excess. Beautifully written and well-paced . . . builds tension as it approaches an exciting revelation -- Jacqueline Crooks

William Rayfet Hunter is a British-Jamaican writer from the North West of England. They now live and work in East London. Their non-fiction writing has been published by VICE, Dazed, and the Evening Standard. Sunstruck, their debut novel, won the #Merky Books New Writers' Prize 2022.