This appears to be a big book, but don’t let that put
you off! The first part is very much a story in verse, and the poetry is
absolutely beautiful, telling the story of St. Cuthbert (Cuddy), an early saint
of the North of England.
It is not a religious story but a very human one. The
story weaves from that early time to modern-day England, incorporating Cuddy’s
story along the way, moving from poetry to prose in a variety of forms but, all
the while, using absolutely gorgeous language. The whole book is a poem.
**Shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2023**
**Chosen as a book to watch out for in 2023 by The Times, Observer, Guardian, Irish TImes and Scotsman**
'An epic the north has long deserved' FINANCIAL TIMES
'A sensational piece of storytelling ... A singular and significant achievement' GUARDIAN
'Marvellous, artful, enchanted' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'Cements Myers's standing as one of our finest, and most deftly imaginative, writers' I NEWS
The triumphant new novel from the Walter Scott Prize-winning author of The Gallows Pole and The Offing
Cuddy is a bold and experimental retelling of the story of the hermit St. Cuthbert, unofficial patron…
I am a big historical fiction fan and, in recent years, have discovered the
work of Hilary Mantel. This book focuses on The French Revolution and the drama around it. It is an
epic tale in itself, and Mantel brings the frontrunners of the political upheavals
– Danton, Robespierre, and Desmoulins - to the fore in a very human manner.
Despite the darkness of that time, there are threads of humour to be found in
the writing, much of which made me chuckle aloud.
The sense of atmosphere, of
place, of people, it was just perfect. I didn’t want to
leave the world the author had created – doorstopper size, though it is!
This novel follows the lives of three major figures in the French Revolution - Robespierre, Danton and Desmoulins - from their childhoods in Northern France through to the last terrifying moments of their execution. The book juxataposes private occasions with public events.
This is a darker kind of historical fiction. Dorin Toth
is a representative of the church who travels with his dog, Vinegar Tom, to
investigate occult occurrences.
Taking place in Austria 1686, this story
absolutely drips atmosphere; the menace and the horror are expertly layered in so
that you are absolutely ‘there’. Toth also has to fight the prejudice against
him because of his Romany background, and it is this, his desire to do right by
folk who would rather see him dead, that makes him such a compelling character.
Utterly atmospheric, you couldn’t better this if you like historical horror.
Two plagues rage in the countryside. One plague is smallpox, a torturous disease that ravages the body, turning homes into tombs. The other ailment is more mysterious, a scourge of occult origin, a plague that ravages the mind and consumes the soul. Here the deepest horrors are made manifest. Here the dead walk the shadowed wood. Here a spirit and its brood of changelings emerge from the earth to feed. Into this malefic maelstrom enters Dorin Toth, famed occultist and investigator. Accompanied by his faithful greyhound, Vinegar Tom, Toth must find the source of the eldritch epidemic. Will…
A tragic accident, shrouded in mystery, leads
to a family reunion in the hidden village of Little Hatchet, located in the
smothering shadow of GodBeGone Wood, the home of the mythical Woodcutter and
Grandma.
Alec Eades rediscovers his bond with GodBeGone Wood and the future his
father agreed to years ago as nefarious landowner Oliver Hayward schemes to
raise money for the village by re-enacting part of the Woodcutter legend. Old
wounds are re-opened, and ties of blood and friendship are tested to the extreme
when the Woodcutter is summoned and Grandma returns.
