Description
Description
An electrifying debut novel about grief, power and desire--and the tangles in between that make up a life.
When a creative writing academic becomes infatuated with his colleague--the poet--his fascination soon begins to threaten his relationship with his partner, Michael. Michael is beautiful. Michael is safe. But the poet is everything he isn't; she has everything he wants. While he writes about steel and sex, she dreams about the movements of swallows. While he tends to his budding career, she writes from her big, white house in the woods.
Meanwhile, his homophobic and spiteful mother--who cast a shadow over his childhood--is continuing to make his life difficult. As he is pulled back and forth between these two different worlds, his fixation on the poet, his Kingfisher, grows into something more powerful. She becomes his sole focus. He is hypnotized.
But when simultaneous illnesses threaten to destroy the precarious reality he clings to, he's forced to question what he can and cannot take from someone.
About the Author
About the Author
Rozie Kelly is a prose writer based in West Yorkshire, England. After reading English Literature and Creative Writing she now works for the Arvon Foundation, hosting creative writing courses. She was shortlisted for the PFD Queer Fiction Prize 2023 and is one of the eight participants in the inaugural Prototype Development Programme, which offers extended support and career development to emerging writers and artists. She won the 2024 NorthBound Book Award for Kingfisher, her debut novel.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"An unmissable debut, a beautifully crafted story of relationship dynamics and how we reconstruct and find ourselves within them. Kelly writes about love, grief and longing in a beautifully lyrical prose that's both devastating and darkly funny. I can't wait to see what she does next." Ania Card, author of Above Us the Sea
"A special novel -- lyrical, bold and intimate -- by a writer with enormous talent who has an exciting future." Will Mackie, New Writing North
"A strikingly original voice." Maya Caspari
"An immaculately crafted novel ... [a] distinctive new voice and ... compelling characters." Adam Farrer
"A beautifully rendered novel exploring the psychology of relationships, whose fresh voice, stylistic flair and keen observational insight stunned me, as a fellow writer, with a curious mixture of admiration and envy." Shaun Wilson
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
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