Black Dirt

Nell Leyshon

05 January 2012
9781447218951
240 pages

Synopsis

Frank lies in bed, his dying dreams haunted by memories of one long-ago summer, the sticky heat of night, and the stories his father told about Christ, the red-breasted robin, and kings Arthur and Alfred. But other images also rise to the surface, unbidden and unwanted, and Frank finds himself forced to recall his older sister, Iris, whose existence – and terrible crime – he has spent long years struggling to forget.
‘Spare and beautifully crafted’ Daily Telegraph
‘Each character digs deeper into the earth and each layer that’s peeled away reveals a darker, more sinister one beneath’ Independent on Sunday
‘Leyshon layers story upon story to create a peaty texture, using landscape and local lore in a way that recalls Graham Swift’s WaterlandObserver