The Oystercatcher Girl, Press release
Press Release For Immediate Use:
Award winning Orkney Writer Publishes Debut Novel
Gabrielle Barnby, winner of the George MacKay Brown short story competition, releases her debut novel on April 12th.
The Oystercatcher Girl is a beautifully understated story of deception and forgiveness, love and redemption. When three women are reunited for the funeral of a friend they find there is more connecting them than they realise.
Author Sara Bailey says, “…we are drawn in first and foremost by the lyrical, lilting language of this beautifully crafted novel. The Oystercatcher Girl is an excellent debut novel and a wonderfully evocative and deftly woven Orcadian story.”
Seonaid Francis, Director of ThunderPoint Publishing writes, “With poetic and precise language Barnby draws you in to the lives, loves and losses of the characters till you feel a part of the story.”
Speaking about her inspiration for the novel Barnby says, “Inspiration is a funny thing. For me, it can come in a second of eye contact with a stranger. It can come from years of listening and putting pieces together. It can come from a place or light falling at a certain time of day. It can come from a name or a juxtaposition of one thing with another. It can be heartbreaking and heartmending.”
Synopsis of ‘The Oystercatcher Girl’:
In the medieval splendour of St Magnus Cathedral, three women gather to mourn the untimely passing of Robbie: Robbie’s widow, Tessa; Tessa’s old childhood friend, Christine, and Christine’s unstable and unreliable sister, Lindsay. But all is not as it seems: what is the relationship between the three women, and Robbie? What secrets do they hide? And who has really betrayed who?
About the Author:
Gabrielle Barnby works in a variety of genres including short stories, poetry and children’s fiction. She lives with her husband and four children in Orkney, Scotland. Gabrielle’s short stories and book reviews have been published in Northwords Now and The Stinging Fly. Various pieces of her poetry and prose are available in local anthologies including Waiting for The Tide, Come Sit at Our Table and Kirkwall Visions, Kirkwall Voices.
Gabrielle also edits monthly writing pages in Living Orkney magazine and runs local writing workshops. She has been commissioned to compose and perform poems at local anniversaries and events and last year performed in the Orkney Storytelling festival.
In 2015 her first collection of short stories The House With The Lilac Shutters was published by ThunderPoint. In the same year she won The George Mackay Brown Short Story competition.
Gabrielle’s debut novel will be published by ThunderPoint Publishing in 2017.
More information about her work and occasional pieces of flash fiction can be found on her website gabriellebarnby.com. She is also on facebook and twitter @GabrielleBarnby.
