The Island Child

Aitken stitches together many themes - folk legend, family saga, love story, coming of age tale. The result is the sort of book you want to sink into a hot bath with and not emerge until it's finished -- ROWAN HISAYO BUCHANAN author of HARMLESS LIKE YOU and STARLING DAYS Aitken brings a gut-pummelling mix of folklore, feminism and psychological trauma to her wild debut tale of mothers impelled to take out on their daughters the sins committed against them * * Daily Mail * * A confident tale of generational conflict and continuity * * i * * A magical, elemental tale. Exploring loss and love, motherhood and freedom and the transformative power of stories, The Island Child is a wonderful debut -- JESS KIDD author of THINGS IN JARS [A] highly impressive debut * * Independent * * An intriguing debut about motherhood, the trauma we inherit and the inescapability of fate . . . The joy of this book is in Aitken's prose, which is exquisite . . . Aitken is an exciting new voice in Irish literature * * Irish Independent * * The Island Child is the story of a mother's relationship with a misbegotten daughter, sensitively and subtly told -- FAY WELDON author of PRAXIS A haunting tale about the power and danger in a mother's love * * Irish Times * * It's a rare pleasure to come across quite such an accomplished novel as The Island Child. This is a work positively brimming with pathos and emotion, articulated in truly exquisite prose. Oona is a captivating narrator. She's alive on the page -- NATHAN FILER author of THE SHOCK OF THE FALL An exquisite debut from an exciting new voice in Irish fiction * * Daily Telegraph * *