Four

Ellie Keel is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Four, an Olivier Award-nominated theatre producer, and the youngest ever winner of The Stage’s Producer of the Year Award. She is the Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, the leading award for female and non-binary playwrights from the UK and Ireland. With her company EKP, she has produced over twenty-five new plays to critical acclaim in London, at the Edinburgh Festivals, and on tour across the UK. Her journalism and short stories have appeared in The Guardian, The Daily Express, and The Stage. She is a Trustee of the Brontë Society and London Youth Theatre, and in 2017 she collaborated in the founding of leading LGBT+ youth charity, Just Like Us. Her first play, SKYE: A Thriller, debuted at Edinburgh Fringe in 2025. She lives in London.

‘Haunting and tragic, a tale revealing the ugliness of adolescence – and humanity’ Cecelia Ahern'A dark, stylish debut, it hooks you until the final denouement' Sunday Independent‘Poignant and tragic, visceral and cruel, it’s about the best and the worst of what makes us human’ Emma Flint'Dark academia fans rejoice: this should be on your to-be-read pile… At times bittersweet, at others extremely sad, this is a tragically beautiful tale that embraces everything that adolescence offers' Belfast Telegraph‘Very stylishly done and chilling too’ Georgina Moore‘The Four shakes up A Secret History with Mallory Towers to concoct a horrifically thrilling, emotionally gripping story of adolescent fear, pride, and loyalty’ Louisa Young'This dark, intense novel is hugely addictive' Fabulous 'Immersive academic noir set in a boarding school dominated by a toxic ruling cadre, with four teens striving for survival in the baroque horror of that claustrophobic world' Harriet Tyce‘The Four is a dark, thrilling and deeply atmospheric thriller. Impossible to put down!’ Lucy Clarke'One of the best debuts I've read in a long time' Caroline Corcoran'An enjoyable melodramatic romp' Gloss'A spellbinding story' Glamour