‘Spellbinding...Davies keeps us on our toes by sliding seamlessly from the mundane…to the mythical…but for all the folkloric trappings, this is a sober, clear-eyed dissection of an everyday predicament, tenderly described.’
Tirzah and the Prince of Crows
From the Women's Prize longlisted author
Deborah Kay Davies‘Spellbinding’ Daily Mail
From the award-winning author, a hauntingly beautiful coming of age novel set in the Welsh valleys of the 1970s
Tirzah has lived a life of seclusion in a staunchly religious family.
But when she begins to struggle against the confines of her community, trying to find her own way in the world, life takes an unexpected turn that ultimately teaches her that freedom springs from within.
Written with an almost fable-esque quality and drawing on Welsh mythology, Tirzah and the Prince of Crows is an intensely immersive, layered and powerful novel about life forces and the healing power of love.
Reviews
Daily Mail
‘...Davies writes about nature in a way that is lush and immersive...We are carried along by Davies’s tremendous sense of rhythm, with each sentence feeling like it grows organically from the last.’
Irish Times
‘A genre-defying work of beauty.’
Buzz Magazine
‘What’s different about Deborah Kay Davies’s story…is her use of the imagery and language of Welsh myth. It makes for a profound sense of place.’
Observer
‘This coming of age story is tender and addictive.’
Elle
‘[Tirzah]’s a strong, well-written and completely realistic character which makes for compelling reading.’
Press Association
‘Beautifully written, Davies adds to the classic coming of age story by interweaving elements of Welsh mythology.’
Worcester News
‘Davies’ evocation of the Welsh outdoors is one of the most striking aspects of the book, her descriptions lusciously detailed.’
Western Mail
‘This is a beautiful...book about a young girl who is struggling to decide what she believes and who she wants to be... More than a coming of age story; it is also a gentle and lyrical love story to the Welsh countryside and the people who live in it.’
Bookbag
Deborah Kay Davies
Deborah Kay Davies won the Wales Book of the Year 2009 award with her first work of fiction, the short story collection Grace, Tamar and Laszlo the Beautiful. When her debut novel, True Things About Me, came out in 2010, she was selected by BBC TV as one of the 12 best new British novelists. And when the novel was published in New York in 2011, Lionel Shriver chose it as her personal book of the year. She lives in Cardiff.
Author page
