Press
PRESS RELEASE: for immediate release LONDON, 15th September 2016
NEW IMPRINT NIGHTINGALE LAUNCHES WITH ORKNEY-SET NOVEL, AND A NOTE FROM J.K. ROWLING
DARK WATER: a psychologically intense portrait of adolescent yearning and obsession, the debut novel by Sara Bailey will be published by Nightingale Editions, an imprint of Blackbird Digital Books on 3rd October 2016. Advance Review copies now available.
Following in the footsteps of Amy Liptrot’s Wainwright Prizewinning memoir ‘The Outrun’, Sara Bailey’s novel is set to continue to place Orkney firmly on the literary map. The launch will be at Orkney’s Highland Park Distillery with a second event at Orkney Library.
The novel – to be published as the launch title of Nightingale Editions, in paperback and ebook - had an auspicious start to life when Sara Bailey met J.K.Rowling in Orkney Library at the Saturday Slaughters Book Club, on the same day that Sara signed her Nightingale contract.
Nightingale Editions is a new imprint of Blackbird Books, recently featured in ‘The Bookseller’ here.
Diane Chandler, recent winner of The People’s Book Prize writes:
“The portrayal of a community living in each other’s pockets was so brilliantly done … it was deliciously claustrophobic. I was reminded throughout of Olive Kitteridge’s Maine – the harbour, the fishing boats, the harsh lives, the cramped front rooms. Bailey’s scenic portrayal of Orkney is also masterful.”
S.E. Lynes, author of Amazon bestseller ‘Valentina’ describes the novel:
"Like a selkie through the cold North Sea, the story of Helena’s past ploughs inexorably towards its dark conclusion, every line haunted by the ghost of her enigmatic former best friend, Anastasia. With the island of Orkney as the most dynamic of backdrops, author Sara Bailey lures you into a story of intense teenage friendship, first love, and family ties, keeping you spellbound until the very last word."
About Dark Water:
When Helena returns to her childhood home in Orkney to care for her father after a heart attack, she is forced to face memories that she has spent half a lifetime running from.
Still haunted by the disappearance of her best friend, the charismatic Anastasia - who vanished during a daredevil swimming incident - Helena must navigate her way though the prisms of memory and encounter not only her ghosts but also her first love, Dylan, the only one who can help her unravel the past and find her way back to the truth of what really happened that night.
Sara Bailey’s haunting and lyrical debut: a psychologically intense portrait of adolescent yearning and obsession, set in the beautiful Orkney Islands.
Sara Bailey wrote the novel as part of her PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at Bangor University.
About the author:
Dr Sara Bailey left Orkney to go to London aged 16. After working in a variety of different jobs from mortuary attendant to stage manager on Les Miserables, she studied part time and went on to University. She has an MA in Women’s History, an MA in Creative Writing as well as a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing.
Her first book was published by Bloomsbury in 2013, Writing the Horror Movie, which she co-authored whilst hiding behind a cushion.
She has recently returned to Orkney and married an Orcadian. Dark Water is her first novel and heavily inspired by the islands she has returned to. She is now a lecturer for UHI (University of the Highlands and Islands).
Publication Date: 3 Oct. 2016 Paperback and EBook
Genre: Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age, Psychological Thriller
Price: £8.99 paperback
ISBN: 9780995473515
Available from Amazon, iBooks and to order from all good UK bookshops