Some folk are born wild. Some have wildness thrust upon them.
When Lorna discovers the body of her childhood friend, Lachie, tangled by the tide on a Scottish Hebrides beach long-submerged family secrets and murderous truths rise to the surface threatening to wash away everything she holds dear.
" This is the kind of story that gets under your skin and ignites the wildness in your heart. An exquisitely written evocation of a 1970's childhood on the west coast of Scotland, a haunting contemporary whodunit; each sentence of The Wild Folk is woven with magic." - Jackie Stewart, flowerspirit.co.uk
Mesmerising and beautiful, with a gritty contemporary Scottish fairy tale at its heart, The Wild Folk is perfect for readers of Sjon's The Blue Fox, Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale and Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child.
Praise for The Wild Folk:
"Lovely magic realism ... The Wild Folk uses remarkable language to evoke the haunting magic of rural Scotland. Some of the imagery and even just the sentence structure was really stunning and emotional, especially at the end of the novel" - S C Langgle
"Touches the heart. The Wild Folk challenges us to set aside our modern Western, science-based way of thinking, and believe that there just might be something more to life on Earth" - Mary E
"The story transports you to a place that seems all too real and modern and yet dangerous and mythological all at once. Beautifully written, with language so visceral it creates a world that while foreign to most readers, will seem instantly familiar and vivid. Kennedy's characters are drawn with loving care and her descriptions of the island and the sea surrounding it are striking. A stirring mystery on many levels, I loved this book" - Mizenkay
"Wild and wonderful" - H. Howie
"A beautiful, mysterious and moving novel. Ms. Kennedy has a special talent for evoking time and place. She brings to life a small Scottish fishing isle with the poetry and assurance that can be favourably compared to Dylan Thomas' capturing of his home town in Wales. Part psychological mystery, part love story, part magic, The Wild Folk is a masterful novel by a writer we hope to here more from in the future" - Alpine
"Gritty storytelling with a magical twist. Wonderfully well-written, the poetic language and the rawness of the story suck you into the tides of folklore before you notice what is happening. Hugely enjoyable ... Hugely recommended - Misty365
"Mesmerising tale. Expertly woven. So human and other worldly at the same time" - Kelly Tankersley
"Kennedy makes words dance a wild jig. Her writing is pleasantly pungent and rustic. The Wild Folk is a quiet story of family, the choices we make and what we choose to believe in" - Stella Stedman
"Vigorous and enchanting, earthy and surreal" - Owen Luckey
"A genre-straddling book that sits comfortably within the pantheon of great contemporary Scottish fiction, as well as paying tribute to Highland folklore and to the power of the feminine mindset and character in an honest and inspiring manner" - Duncan
"Nature writing with juicy bits." - John Beswick
"Hauntingly lovely" - PO
"Compelling, well-written, haunting. I loved it. Stays with you long after reading" - Stacy Pond
About the Author: Flora Catherine Kennedy is a Scottish author, poet and creative director. She formally trained as a journalist in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1980's before switching to advertising writing. Flora won many creativity and copywriting awards working with advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Young & Rubicam and Ogilvy & Mather in Glasgow and London, United Kingdom; Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand. Whilst living in Australia her poetry was published in Australian literary magazines including Matoid. In New Zealand her debut novel, Forsaken was accepted by Penguin NZ. Her short dog stories, written to be read to dogs, were published as four board books by Rodale Press, USA in 2003 - now republished with new stories by Bibliopet in the anthology Stories for My Dog. Flora has returned to her roots in the Outer Hebrides, living in Uist. Her short story Tenderness was included in Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival's Worth the Wait eBook of short stories. Her latest work is The Wild Folk - a vivid tale of murderous family secrets and mysterious folklore set on the Scottish island of Coll. She is currently working on a new novel, The Bone Root.
