- Published: 15 February 2019
- ISBN: 9781784704926
- Imprint: Vintage
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 352
- RRP: $27.99
Swansong
- Published: 15 February 2019
- ISBN: 9781784704926
- Imprint: Vintage
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 352
- RRP: $27.99
Like the great storytelling tradition it extends so elegantly, Swansong is all about transformation, whether through love, rage, fear or desperation: a chilling tour de force that draws the old gods and demons from the land, and lets them loose in the most unexpected ways. It is also an utterly compelling psychological thriller, a book you will simply refuse to put down until the last piece of its extraordinary puzzle falls into place. Essential reading.
John Burnside
Swansong is the real thing, right from the start: spiky, strange and contemporary, but always with a dark undertow of myth and folklore tugging at its telling. The voice jags at you, and the plot grips: this is a brilliant novel by a writer - and musician - of frankly alarming talent.
Robert Macfarlane
I loved Swansong: a subtle, supernatural tale told in a present-day voice, unsettling right from the start. The writing is so vivid and charged with energy, it’s truly a remarkable novel.
Shirley Collins
A haunting, mesmeric read.
Bookseller
Atmospheric and disquieting.
Sebastian Shakespeare, Tatler
Elegant, eerie and strange, this is a brilliantly chilling debut.
Psychologies
Assured, immersive and atmospheric.
Louise Rhind-Tutt, iNews
A compelling supernatural fable that casts a genuine goosebumps-on-arms spell. It also bears comparison with the best of recent British nature writing … Rarely do protagonists seize you by the scruff of the neck, but Polly Vaughan’s distinctive tone and vision do just that.
Stephanie Cross, The Lady
A confident and atmospheric debut … Rooted in Celtic mythology and written with exquisite precision, the novel possesses a lyrical, dreamlike quality.
Fanny Blake, Daily Mail
A darkly captivating tale of myth, magic and sinister secrets.
Eithne Farry, Mail on Sunday
A very striking debut novel … A swift, lithe and engaging read.
Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday
Studded with pauses for melodic appreciation … [Kerry Andrew’s] sentences and passages are as finely crafted and nuanced as her songs.
Sara Baume, Guardian
Memorably eerie ... When the tension is ramped up in the closing chapters, with false turns and twists galore, we root for [Polly] to the very end.
Ann-Maria McCarthy, Times Literary Supplement
I miss my stop on the tube because I'm so engrossed.
Sophie Gallagher, Huffington Post