Sophie Kealey Orme

Happy publication day to the ludicrously talented @ediemayhand - I'm so proud to publish her debut novel #Dirtpickers today!

We had a lovely time yesterday in London signing 500 copies of the @goldsborobooks special edition for their FreshInk debut sub box, more copies in Foyles, then onto the @wearebardbooks debut fiction event that evening.

I'd urge you to read this astonishing, heart-swelling debut novel of love, trauma and found family - it will break your heart and then mend it again. I loved this review in the @irishtimesnews this week:

'Astonishing. The writing is blazingly vivid. With its windswept landscapes and rifle-shouldering, taciturn characters, there are echoes of a classic western. But Dirtpickers is also a horror story . . .  What is impressive about this novel is its discipline. Perhaps it's unnecessary to mention that the author of this tale, set in a North America of 50 years ago, is in her twenties and from Meath. But given that she's so remarkably gifted, it's noted how little she shows off. What she opts instead is to delicately maintain an atmosphere of tension in a world that is richly but tautly constructed. All we can do is bury ourselves in its fury and wait for its simmering to snap'
 
Further praise for DIRTPICKERS

'Everything I love in a novel' @jennie.godfrey

'Magnificent. Edie May Hand's gift for language and for exploring the complexities of what humans are capable of is stunning' @belmckeon

'Truly unforgettable' Fiona Scarlett

'A truly extraordinary work' Hesse Phillips

'Deeply poignant' Sunday Independent

'Tender, unflinching and ultimately life-affirming' Seth Insua