Author Lyndall Clipstone wears bows and lace and lives in a hundred-year-old cottage with her family and shy black cat. Her work is described as ‘flower-threaded horror’, merging cottagecore and gothic atmospheres.
Clipstone debuted in 2021 with ‘Lakesedge’, followed by its sequel ‘Forestfall’ the next year, before ‘Unholy Terrors’ in 2023.
Most recently, ‘Tenderly, I am Devoured’ was published by Penguin Random House Australia in July 2025.
‘Tenderly, I am Devoured’
The novel explores the story of eighteen-year-old Lacrimosa Arriscane, or ‘Lark’, who returns home to her brothers, Henry and Oberon, after being expelled from the prestigious boarding school they work hard to keep her in.
Discovering her home in financial ruin, she finds herself accepting help from unlikely people. First, the Felimaths, a rival family who caused half their problems to begin with. Second, Chthonic god Therion worshipped by their small hometown of ‘Verse’.
Exploring the balance between gothic romance and whimsical horror, ‘Tenderly, I am Devoured’ is perfect for readers wanting something truly and intricately unique.
Tenderly, A New Era Begins
Clipstone says in many ways ‘Tenderly, I am Devoured’ felt like her debut. This novel was different to her prior works in its alignment to the real world. She explained the setting feels more similar to reality, as there are modern elements such as phones and cars.
“So it just felt a lot smaller and more intimate and more character-driven, and all of these things that I’d been seeking out in my first books, but not quite able to explore, or hadn’t really wanted to, or been able to in a way that suited the story.”
She said it began “a new era” for her as a writer.
Her true debut with ‘Lakesedge’ occurred amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, preventing any book launch events and interviews.
‘Unholy Terrors’, which Clipstone hoped would be her breakout book, was released alongside highly anticipated ‘BookTok’ books in the Autumn of 2023, leading to a quiet release.
“So the vision that I’d had for being a debut author was completely different to what the actuality was,” Clipstone reflects.
This resulted in severe creative burnout where Clipstone doubted her dreams of being an author. All the time, energy and emotional investment she expended hadn’t achieved the desired result.
So “I took a bit of a break, and started to think about what sort of things creatively really lit me up, and what sort of stories I wanted to tell, and what sort of books I’d loved, which inspired me to want to be a writer in the first place,” Clipstone says. “And that was where ‘Tenderly I am Devoured’ came into being.”
Once the idea for the novel came to her, she says she was “inspired and enthused”.
“It almost felt like the story demanded to be written.”
In the novel’s acknowledgements, Clipstone writes:
“As I slowly put the pieces of myself back together, I gravitated toward a story I hadn’t felt, until this moment, able to tell.”
Tenderly, the Novel Evolves
‘Tenderly, I am Devoured’ uses flashbacks to enhance the story, mastering the riveting tension between timelines.
While early drafts followed a single storyline, editors wanted more of Lark’s backstory. This gave Clipstone the opportunity to experiment with this dual timeline inspired by the works of adult author Isabel Strychacz and horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan.
Another major element that changed overtime was the title.
The novel was originally entitled ‘We Quiver Before It’, derived from a line in ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt. Clipstone knew the title needed to be long and poetic, but publishers weren’t satisfied. In a long list playing around with different words and ideas, they arrived at ‘Tenderly, I am Devoured’.
Clipstone says her favourite line in the novel is the “title drop”:
“The worst hurt doesn’t always come with open violence. Instead, there is a tenderness before you’re devoured.”
As well as the intriguing title, what draws a lot of readers in is the gorgeous cover illustration by Sasha Vinogradova.
Clipstone’s preferred cover design had a girl with a veil, and shadows creeping over her, as this “would have been more in line with the book”.
However, publishers preferred her second choice, and Clipstone said, “I can’t be too mad, because I just love (it) so much.”
Books by Lyndall Clipstone. Photo by Eleanor Cooper, 2025.
“Even though it doesn’t directly collaborate with the book, it’s just such a beautiful cover, and it has this sort of art museum kind of vibe.” She said this ties in well with Lark’s passion for art history.
Penguin Fantasy Fest on TikTok
In July 2025, Penguin’s Fantasy Fest thrived in Sydney where Clipstone spoke on a panel with Lauren Jackson, Bronte-Marie Wesson and Lily Crozier. The authors discussed TikTok and the benefits for emerging authors.
“TikTok, or social media in general, has given empowerment to authors to share their creations with the world in a way that possibly they wouldn’t have had before,” says Clipstone. ‘BookTok’ has enabled authors with niche stories to find their audience and gives them the power to market their book.
However, she reflects on her own journey with publishing and marketing.
“There’s becoming increasingly more and more pressure on authors to be very omnipresent online.”
While it can benefit authors to share their work on this platform, Clipstone believes publishers must match their energy and effort in order for it to work well long-term.
In addition, the ‘genreification’ of books is leading publishers to seek more of the same, leaving “less room for creativity and experimentation”.
The Works of Lyndall Clipstone
In the acknowledgements, Clipstone describes ‘Tenderly, I am Devoured’ as:
“What is on one hand a folktale about a girl and her chthonic god-husband is also an immensely personal examination of the precipice between child and adulthood, of learning to trust after betrayal, and of finding self-worth and purpose after a terrible loss.”
Her most exciting read yet, this novel is just the start.
Clipstone is currently working on an Adult debut which follows “four poets who have one summer to feed the possibly literal hunger of their ambition”.
She reveals that she is having a fun experimenting with this and indicates readers have much to look forward to.
