CHRISTIANA SPENS

The Colony is a novel about how, in trying to transcend our lives and ourselves, we so often fall into the control of others — whether in romantic, artistic or spiritual endeavours. It satirises the ways we delude ourselves in order to satisfy hidden desires, blindly following one another into chaos. 

Lena, a photographer, takes up an offer to escape to a friend’s retreat on a remote Scottish island, where she meets like-minded new friends. But as birds start washing up on the beaches, and the spiritual teachings of the group become ever more consuming, Lena starts to doubt her desire to surrender her old self entirely, and her ability to truly let go of the romantic relationships that have led her here.

Reminiscent of authors such as Shirley Jackson, Emma Cline and Sophie MacIntosh, as well as films like Midsommar and The Wickerman, this is a satirical exploration of the wellness industry, the human desire for escapism, and the ways in which we are all contagious, in the end. It is also a fable about colonialism, and how in our desire to create new worlds, we are want to destroy that which we should value most highly. 

The Colony offers a chilling, thought-provoking reflection on how easily utopias can become dystopias.

Forthcoming from Salt Publishing, May 2026; pre-order here.