Snake Ropes

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2012 COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD

Jess Richards' stunning debut will show you crows who become statues and sisters who get tangled in each other's hair, keys that talk and ghosts who demand to be buried. She combines a page-turning narrative and a startlingly original voice with the creation and subversion of myths.

ON AN ISLAND OFF
THE EDGE OF THE MAP,
BOYS ARE DISAPPEARING

The day the tall men come from the mainland to trade, Mary's little brother goes missing.

She needs to find him. She needs to know a secret that no-one else can tell her.