The Naming of Eliza Quinn

The Naming of Eliza Quinn

by Carol Birch (Author)

Synopsis

This is an extraordinarily haunting novel, inspired by a true story. In the late 1960s, in the hollow of an ancient oak tree beyond a derelict cottage in Cork, were found the bones of a three-year-old girl. It was thought that they dated back to the time of the great potato famine of the mid 1800s. The bones were discovered by an American woman, who had inherited the cottage which had lain empty and broken for forty years. Local searches reveal that the house had originally belonged to The Quinns. Eliza Quinn was their baby. This is a story that speaks of generations and of landscapes: abandoned villages, famine graves, old potato ridges sinking back into the earth, traces of a population that fell by two and a half million in less than ten years. It is also about hunger, both physical and emotional. But above all, it is the story of the Quinn family. And it is Carol Birch's tour de force. 'Deeply rooted humanity and highly intelligent understanding of the simulataneous complexity and simplicity of individual lives' Alex Clark. TLS

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Virago
Published: 03 Nov 2005

ISBN 10: 1844081451
ISBN 13: 9781844081455

Media Reviews
'Carol Birch is one of Britain's best-kept secrets' D J Taylor. For Turn Again Home: 'Birch is expert at capturing the moment that shapes a character. Shot through with intelligent humour, clear- sighted, deft... wholly believable' Spectator. ' A big, startling historical novel bursting with material and emotional life' S Times. 'A highly literary novel. A profoundly impressive piece of work' Guardian. 'Tremendous pace and readability' Independent.
Author Bio
Carol Birch was born in Manchester. Author of seven novels, she has won the David Higham Award, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and was longlisted for the 2003 ManBooker Prize. She lives in Lancaster.