Black Dirt

Description

Frank lies in bed, his dying dreams haunted by memories of one long-ago summer, the sticky heat of night, and the stories his father told about Christ, the red-breasted robin, and kings Arthur and Alfred. But other images also rise to the surface, unbidden and unwanted, and Frank finds himself forced to recall his older sister, Iris, whose existence - and terrible crime - he has spent long years struggling to forget.

Biographies An established author, Nell Leyshon is best known as a playwright, with work broadcast on Radio 4. BLACK DIRT is her first novel. She lives in Bournemouth and is currently completing a collection of short stories.

'Spare and beautifully crafted' Daily Telegraph 'Each character digs deeper into the earth and each layer that's peeled away reveals a darker, more sinister one beneath' Independent on Sunday 'Leyshon layers story upon story to create a peaty texture, using landscape and local lore in a way that recalls Graham Swift's Waterland' Observer 'Haunting. The flood plain around Glastonbury is both the setting and the subject of this novel, layering myth and history to create a sense of a rich and mysterious past' Sunday Telegraph 'Compelling. Between Prank's present and his memories are interspersed local legends that work their dark magic on Iris's imagination to bring about the novel's devastating climax' Time Out