Press Reviews

• Julie Owen Moylan, author of That Green Eyed Girl

  An atmospheric debut that keeps you turning pages right until the end. Loved it

• Victoria MacKenzie, author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain

  Truly superb... Compelling and lyrical in equal measure

• Sarah Gilmartin, author of Dinner Party

  Beautifully crafted ... wholly convincing in its historical detail and tone

• Nicola Garrard, author of 29 Locks

  Exceptional... What a treat. It's that rare beast: beautiful and literary with an extremely compelling and readable plot

• Jo Browning Wroe, author of A Terrible Kindness

  I was tenterhooked from the very first to the very last page

• Anne Enright

  Written with a compelling, lyrical intensity, The Red Bird Sings is a historical drama whose characters are full of a a suppressed fury, and haunted by a need for justice. A deeply felt and accomplished debut

• Cailean Steed, author of HOME

  An absolutely beautifully written story. Aoife Fitzpatrick's prose just lifts straight off the page and transports you to 1897 Virginia, where Zona Heaster's Shue's story is told by the women who loved her, despite efforts to silence her forever

• Jennie Godfrey, author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS

  I was spellbound by this incredibly accomplished piece of historical feminist fiction. Thrilling and beautifully written

• Aingeala Flannery, author of THE AMUSEMENTS

  An historical courtroom drama and ghost story that had me on tenterhooks until the very end. Fitzpatrick has a magpie's eye for detail and eccentricity, her prose shines... and she gives us a feminist heroine, a girl with a typewriter and a bicycle, whose loyalty and courage make her unstoppable. I loved The Red Bird Sings

• Alison Stockham, author of The Cuckoo Sister

  A beautifully crafted novel about loss, faith and justice set against the backdrop of 19th century West Virginia. I was transported into the worlds of Mary Jane, Lucy and Zona and into the life of women at that time, where their word meant so little compared to a man's. I had to keep reading to find out what happened whilst also not wanting it to end. A brilliant debut

• Paula McGrath

  A beautifully paced retelling of the nineteenth century real life murder in West Virginia of Zona Shue. Through the voices of her distraught mother, Mary Jane, her childhood friend and would-be journalist, Lucy Frye, and Zona herself, in the form of letters and visions, it explores feminist themes that are contemporary and important. An utterly engrossing read, I adored it. Aoife Fitzpatrick is a powerful new voice in historical fiction

• Nikki Marmery, author of On Wilder Seas

  Aoife Fitzpatrick gives voice to a murdered woman in this powerful, unflinching study of domestic brutality. The elegant, masterful prose hums with the righteous fury of women who cannot be contained and will not be silenced. This is not a whodunnit or a whydunnit, but a willhegetawaywith it, where the thrill of the reveal is how the murderer will be nailed for his crime, and boy does Fitzpatrick deliver! When Zona finally speaks, her voice hits like a punch. But this is a tender book too; at its core is the moving tale of a mother's ferocious love for her child. A triumph

• Stacey Thomas, author of The Revels

  I loved The Red Bird Sings ... a haunting story of love, revenge and grief

• Louise Hare, author of Miss Aldridge Regrets

  Excellent, immersive historical fiction inspired by a true story. Beautifully written, this is a brilliant novel that asks questions that we're still trying to answer today

• Meg Clothier, author of The Book of Eve

  Seriously stupendous ... A read-late-into-the-night tense, well-up-weeping touching, truly transformational read

• Image magazine

  A masterful debut

• Antonia Senior, The Times

  A sparkling, unusual novel that demands you turn the pages. The spirits tell me that this Irish debut author is a talent to watch

• Daily Telegraph

  The trial thrills the most, with its combative lawyers, sickening jeopardy and gasp-worthy reveals

• Mail on Sunday

  A gothic mystery pulsing with suspense, it highlights domestic abuse and the silencing of women's voices

• Daily Mail

  A stunning debut

• Sunday Times

  Intense [and] memorable

• Irish Daily Mail

  Stunning . . . Fitzpatrick unspools an uneasy shimmering tale of coercive control, spiritualism and staunch friendship. It's a brilliant take on Southern Gothic . . . simmers with suspense and suspicion