Additional information
by Eliza Henry-Jones (Author)
'Brilliant. With such a good ending, it had me slapping
the back cover closed with utmost satisfaction and respect. Hard recommend.'
Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites and Devotion
the three remaining Managans lugged their bags into Ewan's waiting car. Luda
and her children were not staying in the ghost house on Seannay that first
night. The window broken in the storm must first be fixed. Living on the islands
means being in constant conversation with the wind; negotiating where it will
and will not go.The Managans do not know this yet. It is a lesson they
will begin to learn a week later, watching the cliff collapse into the sea.'Luda, a
photographer, and her two teenagers arrive in the Scottish Northern Isles to
make a new life. Everywhere the past shimmers to the surface; the shifting
landscapes and wild weather dominates; the line between reality and the uncanny
seems thin here. The teenagers forge connections, making friends of neighbours,
discovering both longing and dangerous
compulsions. But their mother - fallible, obsessive, distracted - comes up hard
against suspicion. The persecution and violence that drove the island's
historic witch trials still simmers today, in isolated homes and church
buildings, and where folklore and fact intertwine.A compelling and magically immersive novel about a family on
the edge and a community ensnared by history, that gathers to an unforgettable
ending.
'Henry-Jones blends past and present, reality and magic
into a compelling story loud with warning voices for our time.' Sydney
Morning Herald
Author Biography
Eliza Henry-Jones lives on a flower farm on Wurundjeri land
in the Yarra Valley of Victoria, Australia. She is the author of In the
Quiet (2015), Ache (2017) and the young adult novels P
is for Pearl (2018) and How
to Grow a Family Tree (2020). Her
novels have been listed for awards including the Readings Prize for New
Australian Fiction, QLD Literary Awards, NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Indie
Awards, ABIA Awards and CBCA Awards. Eliza has received residencies at Varuna,
the National Writers' House (NSW) the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers'
Centre (WA), and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig in Ireland
(courtesy of Varuna). Her short fiction, nonfiction and features have been
widely published across magazines, newspapers and journals. Eliza has
qualifications in psychology; alcohol and other drugs; and grief, loss and
trauma counselling.
