The Red Bird Sings: A chilling and gripping historical gothic fiction debut, winner of the Kate O'Brien Award 2024*
Author: Aoife Fitzpatrick
Format: Hardback, 162mm x 238mm, 628g, 336 pages
Published: Little, Brown Book Group, United Kingdom, 2023
A prize-winning, spine-tingling gothic suspense novel based on a real-life murder trial in 1897 West Virginia
A SUNDAY TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 IRISH BOOK AWARDS'A novel that demands you turn the pages' THE TIMES, BEST HISTORICAL FICTION'A gothic mystery pulsing with suspense' MAIL ON SUNDAY'An intense, memorable tale' SUNDAY TIMES'Brilliant' IRISH TIMES'I was tenterhooked from the very first to the very last page' JO BROWNING WROE, author of A Terrible Kindness'Compelling' ANNE ENRIGHT'A glorious tour de force - gorgeous and moving' IRISH AMERICA'Truly superb' VICTORIA MACKENZIE, author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little PainWest Virginia, 1897. Young newlywed Zona Heaster Shue is found dead in her house, in what seems to have been a tragic accident. However, her mother, Mary Jane, is convinced Zona was murdered - and by none other than Zona's husband, Trout, the handsome blacksmith beloved in their small Southern town.But when Trout is put on trial, no one believes he could have done it, apart from Mary Jane and Zona's best friend Lucy, who was always suspicious of Trout. As the trial raises to fever pitch and the men of Greenbrier County stand aligned against them, Mary Jane and Lucy must decide whether to reveal Zona's greatest secret in the service of justice. But it's Zona herself, from beyond the grave, who still has one last revelation to make.*The Red Bird Sings was announced as the winner of the Kate O'Brien Award 2024 on 25/02/24Readers love THE RED BIRD SINGS:'Amazing' READER REVIEW ?????'This book has so much: feisty feminist characters ahead of their time, ghosts, historical drama, justice,beautiful writing' READER REVIEW ?????'Very compelling . . . not one to be missed!' READER REVIEW ?????'A haunting story of love, revenge and grief' READER REVIEW ?????'Difficult to put down' READER REVIEWAoife Fitzpatrick is a native of Dublin, Ireland. Her debut novel, The Red Bird Sings, won the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize in 2020. The winner of the inaugural Books Ireland short-story competition, her work has also been recognised by the Sean O'Faolain Prize, the Elizabeth Jolley Prize and by the Writing.ie Short Story of the Year award. Aoife received an MFA in Creative Writing at University College Dublin in 2019 and in 2020, she was the recipient of a literature bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland.
Author: Aoife Fitzpatrick
Format: Hardback, 162mm x 238mm, 628g, 336 pages
Published: Little, Brown Book Group, United Kingdom, 2023
A prize-winning, spine-tingling gothic suspense novel based on a real-life murder trial in 1897 West Virginia
A SUNDAY TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 IRISH BOOK AWARDS'A novel that demands you turn the pages' THE TIMES, BEST HISTORICAL FICTION'A gothic mystery pulsing with suspense' MAIL ON SUNDAY'An intense, memorable tale' SUNDAY TIMES'Brilliant' IRISH TIMES'I was tenterhooked from the very first to the very last page' JO BROWNING WROE, author of A Terrible Kindness'Compelling' ANNE ENRIGHT'A glorious tour de force - gorgeous and moving' IRISH AMERICA'Truly superb' VICTORIA MACKENZIE, author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little PainWest Virginia, 1897. Young newlywed Zona Heaster Shue is found dead in her house, in what seems to have been a tragic accident. However, her mother, Mary Jane, is convinced Zona was murdered - and by none other than Zona's husband, Trout, the handsome blacksmith beloved in their small Southern town.But when Trout is put on trial, no one believes he could have done it, apart from Mary Jane and Zona's best friend Lucy, who was always suspicious of Trout. As the trial raises to fever pitch and the men of Greenbrier County stand aligned against them, Mary Jane and Lucy must decide whether to reveal Zona's greatest secret in the service of justice. But it's Zona herself, from beyond the grave, who still has one last revelation to make.*The Red Bird Sings was announced as the winner of the Kate O'Brien Award 2024 on 25/02/24Readers love THE RED BIRD SINGS:'Amazing' READER REVIEW ?????'This book has so much: feisty feminist characters ahead of their time, ghosts, historical drama, justice,beautiful writing' READER REVIEW ?????'Very compelling . . . not one to be missed!' READER REVIEW ?????'A haunting story of love, revenge and grief' READER REVIEW ?????'Difficult to put down' READER REVIEWAoife Fitzpatrick is a native of Dublin, Ireland. Her debut novel, The Red Bird Sings, won the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize in 2020. The winner of the inaugural Books Ireland short-story competition, her work has also been recognised by the Sean O'Faolain Prize, the Elizabeth Jolley Prize and by the Writing.ie Short Story of the Year award. Aoife received an MFA in Creative Writing at University College Dublin in 2019 and in 2020, she was the recipient of a literature bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland.