Ootlin

Beautiful, deep, dangerous, transfixing . . . it will burn a home in your heart, it has in mine. Read every word of every page. Turn them carefully. Jenni Fagan is made of fire and spirit. From start to finish I could not put it down. Close the door. Sit down now. Read Ootlin. Read

Lemn Sissay

Novelist and poet Fagan writes powerfully about her childhood as a ward of the state, a rootless existence that fostered a fascination with storytelling

Guardian

In Ootlin, Jenni Fagan brings to the memoir form those qualities for which her novels are so highly and justly praised: stylistic and structural innovation, an idiosyncratic lyricism, a fierce and untameable energy and an infectious, compelling narrative drive. Add to this a sorrow and pity for the vulnerable, a rage at those who would exploit that, and a despair at the failure of human empathy, and you have a vital document for these times. It is a beautiful, astonishing piece of work. I tore through it, and it through me. I will never, ever forget it

Niall Griffiths

Fagan's Ootlin is a heartbreaking, magnificent, and incredibly important book. We are fortunate to have the light of this writer-witch shining amongst us; she is one of the best

Ever Dundas

Brilliant. Devastating. Redemptive. I read it in one sitting

Heidi James

This is essential reading, life changing, I couldn't stop reading once I started. All day and all night. The world had to stop whilst I stayed with little Ootlin. The poetic nature with which Jenni has written about her childhood is mind blowing. Unbelievably brave. Beautiful , earth shattering and unforgettable. A truly rare talent

Samantha Morton

A terrifying descent into a childhood of an un-looked-after child, growing up and expected to make sense of a senseless system

Denise Mina

Ootlin is a 21st century classic from one of our most exceptional writers

Adelle Stripe

An astonishing piece of work. I tore through it, and it through me. I will never, ever forget it

Niall Griffiths

Heartbreaking, magnificent, and incredibly important . . . [Jenni Fagan] is one of the best

Ever Dundas

A phenomenal memoir. I am in awe. It takes exceptional strength to survive the events described in this book and courage, skill and magic to write a life story, especially when this type of story is often marginalised

Amy Liptrot

Jenni has offered a difficult and vital gift to the world with Ootlin. It's the story of how a self is shattered, and what it takes to put a new self back together -- a story about the necessity of telling your own story. Through fragmented memories whose jagged edges cut deep, she shows us a system unable to do anything other than break those in its un-care -- but we also see the moments of kindness that mean survival, and a strength of spirit that shines through

Josie Giles

Ootlin is a phenomenal work, it is powerful and beautiful, raw and real and such an important and evocative book, it clean broke my heart and the skilled deft pen of Fagan pieced it back together again. An empowering work but also shares an extraordinary vulnerability, this is a masterclass in the art of memoir writing

Salena Godden

This is the most important book you'll read this year. It should be required reading for everyone who considers themselves part of a society. It will hold a mirror up to your privilege and comfort, it will emblazon its truths on your eyes, it will shock you into action and somehow, through it all, leave you rejoicing at the indomitability of one wee ootlin's hard-fought-for soul. Jenni Fagan is a warrior queen and this book is a tremendous, beautiful act of bravery, one which needs to be cherished

Kirstin Innes

Here, there suffering becomes chords and strains, refrains and melodies, and we feel the chills that come with being touched by the poetry of pain. But we owe it to Jenni, and the many she will invigorate with her story, not to look away. The push and pull of the prose perfectly mimics the life conveyed in the pages, bringing us close enough to understand why she must turn away. Jenni is composed in her candour, though this is a memoir that goes beyond honesty, and to attempt to describe the soul of this book is to diminish its power

Derek Owusu

Ootlin is an astounding memoir. It brims with fire and alchemy, truth and spellbinding resilience. Jenni Fagan has conjured magic out of the story of her past, and particularly her childhood in care, and out of it made a work of art, and a life. Magnificent. It blew me away

Chitra Ramaswamy

A clear-eyed, unsentimental account of the author's childhood being shuffled between foster homes. Her resilience is remarkable. It's a book that really made me want to reach through the pages and help

Douglas Stuart

Mesmerizing, heart-breaking and so, so beautiful. I'll never forget it

Annie Mac

With punchy prose and a harrowing story of staggering resilience and fortitude, Fagan's memoir should be required reading

Claire Fuller

Stunning and powerful memoir

Scots Magazine

Ootlin itself is a poetic work, impressionistically evoking harrowing and joyous experiences alike…But Ootlin is not just about the individual human spirit overcoming – it insists that it is structural failures within state care that allowed such appalling events to happen, shockingly recently. It is not easy to be reminded of the brutality humans are capable of, and how our systems enable and obfuscate it. But to read this book is also to be reminded of the importance of kindness, of beauty, and of storytelling – the act of sharing the light.

I Paper

Ootlin is proof that there is part of [Fagan] that is always whole, tapped into the cosmos, looking towards the light

Times Literary Supplement

[An] extraordinary, harrowing, and uplifting memoir, Ootlin, about growing up in the Scottish care system ... begins before the beginning. Fagan imagines herself pre-birth: her mother was traumatised, suffering from psychosis. Fagan vividly describes the Victorian psychiatric hospital in which she was born, picturing it with a crescent moon above it - describing doctors, noise and her unborn self ... She doesn't shy away from the gothic in her tour de force of an opening. And she has a bravado that never fails her

Observer

Fagan writes at a rapid tempo and the propulsive rhythm of her prose carries the reader ... From the vantage point of today, Ootlin is a triumphant tale of survival by somebody who managed to preserve "the bit of me that shines"

Financial Times

This is an extraordinary book, depressing and enraging by turns ... The result is a highly literary piece of work, the style of which does much to mitigate the distress caused by the content

Literary Review

Fagan's prose is poetic, high-octane, built on punchy sentences

Sunday Times on LUCKENBOOTH

Fagan switches effortlessly between dreamy prose and a more dynamic style

Financial Times on LUCKENBOOTH

Dazzlingly ambitious

Douglas Stuart on LUCKENBOOTH

Absolutely outstanding writing

Kirstin Innes, author of Scabby Queen, on LUCKENBOOTH

One of the most stunning literary experiences I've had in years

Irvine Welsh on LUCKENBOOTH