Author:Evie Wyld,Caroline Lee
Jake Whyte is the sole resident of an old farmhouse on an unnamed British island, a place of ceaseless rains and battering winds. It’s just her, her untamed companion, Dog, and a flock of sheep. Which is how she wanted it to be. But something is coming for the sheep – every few nights it picks one off, leaves it in rags.
It could be anything. There are foxes in the woods, a strange boy and a strange man, rumours of an obscure, formidable beast. And there is Jake’s unknown past, perhaps breaking into the present, a story hidden thousands of miles away and years ago, in a landscape of different colour and sound, a story held in the scars that stripe her back.
Longlisted for the 2013 Bailey's Prize for Women's Fiction and shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Book Award
Unsettling, dark and extraordinarily fresh. It feels eccentrically, wonderfully British… An inimitable, original new voice. Can’t wait to read more.
—— Viv Groskop , The TimesWyld is a writer who reconfigures the conventions of storytelling with a sure-footedness and ambition which belie her age... What makes the book so outstanding is the beauty and simplicity of the writing.
—— Cressida Connolly , SpectatorOne feels the influence of an early Ian McEwan or Iain Banks… But All the Birds, Singing, is also powerfully original, strongest in its handling of the human and animal worlds, and the thin line between the two.
—— Sophie Ratcliffe , Times Literary SupplementAll The Birds, Singing is extraordinarily accomplished, one of those books that tears around in your cerebellum like a dark firework, and which, upon finishing, you immediately want to pick up again
—— Melissa Harrison , Financial TimesThe closest cousin to All the Birds, Singing is Iain Banks' masterly first novel, The Wasp Factory… Evie Wyld's two books are quite as good as Ian McEwan's early fiction. Expect to hear her name often from now on.
—— SpectatorHer writing is precise, intense, haunting and poetic… A nuanced exploration of human suffering and resilience. Wyld’s writing seems to come from somewhere deep; somewhere a little big unnerving and odd. For once, the hype matches the talent.
—— Lucy Atkins , Sunday TimesEvie Wyld’s All the Birds, Singing is an astonishing novel … The story is compelling, the structure ambitious and the imagery vivid. This is one talented young writer.
—— Meaghan Delahunt , ScotsmanOozes, drips and throbs with menace… A thoughtful and intense account of a young woman seemingly determined to disappear from the world’s radar… All the Birds, Singing should enhance [Wyld's] reputation as one of our most gifted novelists.
—— Tim Lewis , ObserverA hair-prickling thriller… It's the quality of [Wyld's] prose that really blows your mind.
—— Claire Allfree , MetroUnsettling, beautiful, horrifying and moving in equal parts, I haven't read anything quite like All the Birds, Singing for a long time… An extraordinary book.
—— Victoria MacCallum , StylistA voice indebted to Banks and every bit as compelling.
—— Alex Preston , ObserverSome novels are crafted with such care that it seems a shame reviewers should get to paw them before readers have the chance to admire their intricacy... Ingeniously constructed narrative.
—— Anthony Cummins , Literary ReviewBeautifully written.
—— Neil Stewart , CivilianWyld's writing...is exquisite. An unusual novel that should win its author even more prizes.
—— The Simple ThingsAdmirably original.
—— Louise Jury , Evening StandardCompelling.
—— Sunday TelegraphThere is a fantastically handled creeping dread to the narrative flow… The ambiguity of Jake's story and her history are played with brilliantly throughout, making this an eerie, creepy kind of existential thriller.
—— Doug Johnstone , Big IssueTim Winton [is] a writer with whom the fearless Wyld deserves serious comparison.
—— Catherine Taylor , Sunday TelegraphCompletely and utterly monumental. Powerful and beautiful written... I was a fan of Evie Wyld beforehand and this is such a leap forwards. An important book.
—— Bidisha , Saturday Review, Radio 4Thriller, beast-fable and fantasy, Evie Wyld’s second novel is a sparky, dark yarn set in a georgic world of sheep husbandry where things have gone spectacularly awry.
—— Stevie Davies , IndependentIn a sense, this is a tale of possible love and redemption, at once energetic and dark. In another sense, it is a book about summary justice and suspicion, which we readers have been indulging in too… Clever and very unexpected indeed.
—— Kathleen Jamie , GuardianA story that asks darkly whether we can rid ourselves of our past.
—— Julia Wigan , Country LifeWyld has a skill for creating flawed characters you can’t help but root for.
—— Mariella Frostrup , CosmopolitanIt is written with wit and affection.
—— Four ShiresThis is a wonderfully atmospheric novel with a gripping narrative that keeps the reader on edge all the way through.
—— Good Book GuideA dark, powerfully disturbing and beautifully observed story about a haunting, both physical and temporal.
—— William Boyd , New StatesmanEvie Wyld merges into her mysterious tale of a lonely shepherdess a savage Australian back-story that lends a haunting extra dimension to a novel of troubling beauty.
—— Boyd Tonkin , IndependentA page-turner.
—— Viv Groskop , ObserverAll the Birds, Singing is a gracefully written, absorbing thriller from a new literary talent.
—— StylistA hair-pricking rural thriller that confirms the talents of a thrilling prose stylist.
—— Patricia Nicol , MetroI’ve never taught a creative writing course, but if I did I’d certainly introduce my would-be students to Evie Wyld’s All the Birds, Singing... Written in the future tense, the book has an ending of extraordinary pathos and beauty.
—— Ciarán Collins , Sunday Business PostThis is a powerful, gritty, strong story of suffering and survival... It is quality stuff, stunning.
—— BooksellerA wonderfully atmospheric novel with a gripping narrative.
—— Good Book GuidePrecise, intense, haunting and poetic… This is a subtle exploration of suffering and resilience and, for once, the hype matches the talent.
—— Lucy Atkins , Sunday TimesBroodingly lyrical… Spellbinding.
—— Megan O'Grady , Vogue USWyld uses language that is purely gorgeous, even – perhaps especially – when underscoring dread.
—— Barbara King , Washington PostImpressive.
—— New York TimesA tough and tender take on suffering and redemption.
—— PsychologiesSuspenseful and melancholy… Masterful
—— New YorkerA compelling, tense novel that lingers with the reader long after it has been finished
—— Eastern Daily PressWith beautiful writing, it is a compelling, rather dark story which makes you laugh and cry
—— Morag Watkins , Watford ObserverI am obsessed with it, and with what Wyld is going to do next
—— Lisa Coen , Irish Times