Annabel Davis-Goff Knihy

Portrays an Anglo-Irish ascendancy, struggling through the post-war depression aided by drink, horse-racing and religion, and their own idiosyncratic adaptations to modern life.

'Absolutely amazing... a cross between The Road by Cormac McCarthy and The Walking Dead' Eoin Colfer 'You'll be terrified, fascinated and above all, uplifted by Orpen - a heroine to rival Philip Pullman's Lyra or The Passage's Amy' Stylist Raised by her mother and Maeve on Slanbeg, an island off the west coast of Ireland, Orpen has a childhood of love and stories by the fireside. But the stories grow darker, and the training begins. Ireland has been devoured by a ravening menace known as the skrake, and though Slanbeg is safe for now, the women must always be ready to run, or to fight. When Maeve is bitten, Orpen is faced with a dilemma: kill Maeve before her transformation is complete, or try to get help. So Orpen sets off, with Maeve in a wheelbarrow and her dog at her side, in the hope of finding other survivors, and a cure. It is a journey that will test Orpen to her limits, on which she will learn who she really is, who she really loves, and how to imagine a future in a world that ended before she was born.

Set against the backdrop of World War I and rising nationalism in Ireland, an eight-year-old girl named Alice navigates life under the strict care of her grandmother in an imposing family home. Feeling isolated and homesick, she learns about her family's privilege and the sacrifices that uphold it through her observations and the whispers of those around her. As she grapples with her loyalties and burgeoning moral awareness, Alice faces the challenge of reconciling her privileged upbringing with the changing world and her conscience.