Böcker av Avril Joy

In 1875, Simone Gastrell is conveniently committed to Long Meadows Asylum by her adulterous husband. Distraught but not defeated, she meets the silent women whose lives within the institution are ordered and defined by men. Alice Semple, a herbalist and wise-woman, does not speak, but gives testimony in her notebook. Phoebe Baines, a fragile, damaged young woman, lives within the soundless universe of her interior monologue. In a powerless world, relieved only by precious hours spent in the Airing Courts and gardens, the three women come together in unvoiced friendship. When life behind the asylum walls grows even more dangerous and brutal, they find their voices and use them to fight for survival.In their story, readers will hear the echoes of today, of the women locked away in our institutions, often brutalised, still silenced and living invisible lives.

This new collection of stories from Avril Joy bring together her finest published and unpublished work. From the Costa winning Millie and Bird to the recent A Morning Tide, listed for the Fish Short Memoir Prize, she weaves narratives of hope in the face of loss, transformation and redemption, and the enduring power of love. Combining a poet's gift for language with a keen naturalist's eye, she journeys across landscapes from Venice to the East Anglian Fens, from Cape Cod to the shore temples of Mahabalipuram. The novella, this One Wild Place, set on a northern hill farm during the pandemic, echoes the mood of the other stories. Moving and poignant it is told with an unerring compassion. Avril Joy explores first love, families, marriage, childhood, mothering, social class, escape, gardens, birds, seas, tides and stray dogs. These stories are about the wild places we call home.

This new collection of poetry reflects the lives, hopes and fears of women hidden behind walls and bars, lives which few of us can even imagine. Avril has waited until she is absolutely confident that she can capture the complexity of those voices which she does here with extraordinary authenticity, poignancy, and humour. The style is breathtakingly original.