Description

‘This is an extraordinary book. It moves in and around you like a ghost. I feel lucky to have experienced it’ — Daisy Johnson – author of Everything Under

In the archives of the national library, a researcher named Linda sees a nine year-old girl’s face in the pages of a yellowed newspaper, and the seed of an obsession is planted in her mind.

Birgitta Sivander was brutally murdered one night in May 1948. The culprit was never found. Linda feels a deep connection to Birgitta, and in the months that follow she compulsively researches the case.

Meanwhile, a life is taking root inside Linda; she is to have a daughter of her own. As she grapples with the wonder and anxiety of motherhood, she gradually pieces together Birgitta’s story, closing in on the possible killer.

Driven to redeem a lost child, Linda must find a way to lay Birgitta to rest. Moving and unputdownable, The Eighth House is a shattering examination of why cycles of violence persist, and an invocation of the hope that new life brings.

Publisher Review

‘This is an extraordinary book. It moves in and around you like a ghost. I feel lucky to have experienced it’ — Daisy Johnson * author of Everything Under * ‘Brilliant. Incisive and unique, sometimes sad, but always clear-sighted and gripping’ — Sara Baume ‘Linda Segtnan audaciously faces her own worst fears as a mother in a book at once devastatingly moving, rigorously thoughtful and sweepingly ambitious’ — Lara Feigel * author of The Bitter Taste of Victory * ‘Evocative and poetic. The Eighth House contrasts of all the hope that comes with bringing life into the world with the terror of knowing the danger that can lie ahead. The result is fascinating, chilling and utterly haunting’ — Catherine Cho * author of Inferno: A memoir of motherhood and madness * ‘Thoroughly researched and philosophically vigorous, it is an alarmingly compulsive read’ — Alice Kinsella * The Irish Times * ‘At once a frank, compelling, and rigorous account of a terrible murder, and a haunting depiction of a mother’s ferocious love. I could not put The Eighth House down.’ — Ellena Savage * author of Blueberries * ‘The Eighth House is a story about love and love’s failures, both terrible and true. Segtnan writes with such clarity and moral precision. An important contribution to the literature of motherhood’ — Clare Pollard * author of Delphi * ‘An extraordinary book, I was captivated.’ — Sarah Tarlow * author of The Archaeology of Loss * ‘A wonderful book; a quest to confront the monsters we make. This is a haunted and haunting story, compellingly told’ — Jessica Traynor * author of Pit Lullabies * ‘A tremendous and singular feat of storytelling, it grabbed me and didn’t let go’ * Erica Berry, author of Wolfish * ‘Thrilling in narrative scope, and for the depth of its honesty and insight. The Eighth House weaves the ambivalent experience of early motherhood with a relentless pursuit of truth and justice for young women and girls. This book shows one woman’s determination to confront darkness with unwavering resolve and hope’ — Livia Franchini * author of Shelf Life * ‘An exceptional book’ — Andrew Hankinson * The Spectator * ‘A daring debut’ * Svenska Dagbladet * ‘A genre-transcending true crime- story … [and] a raw portrayal of the fragility of parenthood’ * Barometern *