AN\u00a0<\/b>OBSERVER\u00a0<\/i><\/b>BEST DEBUT OF 2025<\/b>
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\n‘Astonishing’\u00a0<\/b>LUCY ROSE
\n‘Biting and rich’\u00a0<\/b>MOLLY AITKEN
\n‘Unforgettable’\u00a0<\/b>OBSERVER<\/i>
\n‘A novel of rare power’\u00a0<\/b>GABRIELLE GRIFFITHS
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\nAn itchy feeling.
\nA wrinkle in the forest.
\nA cracking twig.
\nA coming sound.<\/i><\/p>\n
Myma, do you hear it?
\nMyma, do you hear?
\nMyma?<\/p>\n
Maya and Daughter live in complete isolation in a secluded woodland, their days aligned with the light and changing seasons, a complex pattern of routine and ritual. Daughter has never questioned the life her mother has chosen for them; the life that has meant she’s never met another soul, or known anywhere except their forest home.<\/p>\n
But one day, when Daughter is almost sixteen, a red-haired stranger steps into the confines of their territory. Where there was always two, suddenly there are three – and the carefully constructed world that Maya has built to keep her daughter safe may not survive it.<\/p>\n
Urgent, haunting and thrillingly alive, Life Cycle of a Moth explores both the tenderness and ferocity of maternal love, asking what we might find ourselves capable of – and willing to sacrifice – in order to shelter those we hold dear.<\/p>\n