Description

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.

Winner of the Miles Franklin Award
Winner of the Encore Award
Winner of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered 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

Publisher Review

"Unsettling, dark and extraordinarily fresh. It feels eccentrically, wonderfully British... An inimitable, original new voice. Can't wait to read more." -- Viv Groskop * 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 * "A hair-prickling thriller... It's the quality of [Wyld's] prose that really blows your mind." -- Claire Allfree * Metro * "Unsettling, beautiful, horrifying and moving in equal parts, I haven't read anything quite like All the Birds, Singing for a long time... An extraordinary book." -- Victoria MacCallum * Stylist * "A voice indebted to Banks and every bit as compelling." -- Alex Preston * Observer * "Some novels are crafted with such care that it seems a shame reviewers should get to paw them before readers have the chance to admire their intricacy... Ingeniously constructed narrative." -- Anthony Cummins * Literary Review * "Beautifully written." -- Neil Stewart * Civilian * "Wyld's writing...is exquisite. An unusual novel that should win its author even more prizes." * The Simple Things * "Admirably original." -- Louise Jury * Evening Standard * "Compelling." * Sunday Telegraph * "There is a fantastically handled creeping dread to the narrative flow... The ambiguity of Jake's story and her history are played with brilliantly throughout, making this an eerie, creepy kind of existential thriller." -- Doug Johnstone * Big Issue * "Tim Winton [is] a writer with whom the fearless Wyld deserves serious comparison." -- Catherine Taylor * Sunday Telegraph * "Completely and utterly monumental. Powerful and beautiful written... I was a fan of Evie Wyld beforehand and this is such a leap forwards. An important book." -- Bidisha * Saturday Review, Radio 4 * "Thriller, beast-fable and fantasy, Evie Wyld's second novel is a sparky, dark yarn set in a georgic world of sheep husbandry where things have gone spectacularly awry." -- Stevie Davies * Independent *