Hungry for dark academia? 8 titles you’ll devour

by Deborah Harkness

Talk about binge-worthy (I’m speaking from experience). A Discovery of Witches has put Deborah Harkness in the spotlight and captured fans across both the literary and streaming worlds.

In this story of passion and power, Diana Bishop, an estranged witch and scholar, discovers a long-lost enchanted manuscript that holds dangerous secrets of the supernatural world. Its sudden resurfacing summons danger and the obsession of other supernatural beings.

by Joanne Harris

Like something a little fast-paced with a whirlwind of twists and turns?

Set at St Oswald’s, a boys’ grammar school in northern England, an unsettling presence hangs in the air. Beneath the school’s everyday routines and familiar traditions, something far darker is stirring.

by Susie Dent

An anonymous letter hinting at a sinister event arrives at Martha Thornhill’s office. Somehow, it connects to the disappearance of her older sister more than a decade ago.

As more letters appear, Martha and her team begin pursuing the troubling truth behind the messages.

by M. L. Rio

Oliver Marks has just served a ten-year sentence for murdering his best friend. On the day of his release, the detective who helped convict him returns with one final request before retirement: tell him what really happened.

by Isa Agajanian

At an elite Cambridge university, young witch Aurelia Schwartz carefully balances her human life while keeping her magical one hidden. But when someone begins hunting witches and draining their magic, Aurelia is forced to seek refuge. She reluctantly teams up with an arrogant fellow witch, forming an unlikely partnership.

by A S Byatt

In this modern romance classic, two young scholars begin investigating the lives of two Victorian poets. Following a trail of clues through letters and manuscripts, they uncover a tangled web of passion, deceit and tragedy.

by Heather Darwent

With friends like Clare’s, who needs enemies? After arriving at Edinburgh University eager to reinvent herself, Clare becomes entangled in an alluring circle of friends. It feels like everything she hoped for, until the cracks begin to show.

by R.F. Kuang

In a world where language and magic hold immense power, Chinese orphan Robin Swift is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell.

For years he trains for the moment he will enrol at Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation, known as Babel. But once there, Robin finds himself facing an impossible choice: serve the empire that trained him, or betray it.