Join Libreria, as we welcome the talented Heather Parry to discuss their new book, Carrion Crow – a gothic unfurling of one family’s festering secrets.

Marguerite has been locked in the attic of her family home, a disintegrating Chelsea house overlooking the stench of the Thames. For company she has: a sewing machine, a copy of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management and trays of congealing food carried up to her with little regularity. Marguerite has been confined by her mother, Cécile, who is concerned about her engagement to an older, near-penniless solicitor, Mr Lewis, and wishes to educate her daughter on ‘proper’ married conduct – lest she drag the family’s good name into disrepute. But why is Marguerite pursuing the aged Mr Lewis in the first place? Why are her mother’s visits seemingly becoming less frequent? And just how much time has passed since the lock closed on the attic’s hatch?

‘Sharp, claustrophobic and undeniably gross’ – ALICE SLATER

‘A festering Edwardian nightmare… magnificent and devastating’ – ALAN MOORE

‘Both mouth watering and revolting’ – CAMILLA GRUDOVA

‘A book to marvel at’ – RACHELLE ATTALA

‘A rancid work of genius’ JANE FLETT

About the author:

HEATHER PARRY is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her debut novel, Orpheus Builds a Girl, was shortlisted for the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year award and longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. She is also the author of a short story collection, This Is My Body, Given For You, and a short nonfiction book, Electric Dreams: On Sex Robots and the Failed Promises of Capitalism, and writes the Substack ”general observations on eggs”. She was raised in Rotherham and lives in Glasgow with her partner and their cats, Fidel and Ernesto.