All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld

WINNER OF THE MILES FRANKLIN AWARD

WINNER OF THE ENCORE AWARD

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL PRIZE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK MEMORIAL PRIZE

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEY'S WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 

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.

Unsettling, dark and extraordinarily fresh. It feels eccentrically, wonderfully British… An inimitable, original new voice. Can’t wait to read more. - The Times

Wyld 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, Spectator

One 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 Supplement

All 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 Times

The 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. - Spectator

Her 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 Times

Evie 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, Scotsman

Oozes, 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, Observer