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Informationen zum Autor Aoife 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 Séan O'Faoláin 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. Klappentext **AN AWARD WINNER BEFORE IT WAS EVEN PUBLISHED. A FEMINIST GOTHIC SUSPENSE THAT WILL KEEP YOU UP ALL NIGHT**West Virginia, 1897After the sudden death of young Zona Shue only a few months after her impromptu wedding, her mother Mary Jane has a vision - she was killed. And by none other than her new husband, Trout, the handsome blacksmith beloved in their small Southern town. Mary Jane, known for casting off her corsets, following famous spiritualists and for criticising Zona when she was alive, is shattered by her conviction. Yet no-one believes her. Her only ally is the eccentric Lucy Frye - an unmarried woman who always suspected Trout's power over her friend. 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 play with fire and reveal Zona's greatest secret. But it's Zona herself, from beyond the grave, who still has one last revelation to make. Based on a real trial and masterfully playing with the tropes of the Southern Gothic, Aoife Fitzpatrick delivers a searing feminist history like no other. It is a first novel of rare and dazzling brilliance to be read with your heart in your mouth and chills down your spine to the final, haunting page. Vorwort Prize-winning Gothic feminist suspense based on a murder trial in 1897 West Virginia when the testimony of a ghost was admitted in court Zusammenfassung A prize-winning, spine-tingling gothic suspense novel based on a real-life murder trial in 1897 West Virginia 'A novel that demands you turn the pages' THE TIMES, BEST HISTORICAL FICTION 'A gothic mystery pulsing with suspense' MAIL ON SUNDAY '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 ' Truly superb ' VICTORIA MACKENZIE, author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain West Virginia, 1897. When young Zona Heaster Shue dies only a few months after her wedding, her mother Mary Jane becomes convinced that Zona was murdered - and by none other than her 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. Readers 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 REVIEW ***** ...
