An unexpected & encouraging piece of news!
Northern Soul has selected 'The Night Brother' as a Best Northern Read

Desmond Bullen, Northern Soul writer
“In days that can seem desolate and uncertain, there’s a lot to be said for windows into a better world and, ultimately, joyfully, that is exactly the view that The Night Brother by Rosie Garland affords. Not that its window seat is cheaply achieved. Far from it.
Rooted with disbelief-suspending specificity in Manchester at the end of the 19th century, Garland’s novel blossoms compellingly from the exquisite simplicity of its central conceit, one which owes the tiniest debt to the 1971 horror film Dr. Jekyll And Sister Hyde. Edie and her brother Gnome are joined in a very particular symbiosis, so that their singular sibling rivalry threatens to be the undoing of both. Themes that could be leaden in other hands emerge from the premise with a beautiful lightness of touch, developing into a persuasive fable of inclusivity and self-acceptance. This is a book that sings a rainbow at its end.”

https://www.northernsoul.me.uk/books-best-northern-reads-part-one/

What great news – encouraging, too!
My flash fiction “How can a woman sleep when the Master is in pain?” has just received a commendation in the Bath Flash Fiction Award, October 2018.
Judged by Nuala O’Connor. I’m delighted.

You can read it here:

https://bathflashfictionaward.com/2018/10/rosie-garland-october-2018-commended/

Huge thanks to Kaite Welsh, Books Editor at Diva Magazine for this superb review of The Night Brother!
Here’s the full text of the review…

Diva review October 2017

"A must for anyone missing Sarah Waters’ foray into the Victorian era, siblings Edie and Gnome explore the delights of 19th century Manchester in Rosie Garland’s third novel - he during the night, her during the day. The prose is lush and vivid as gender fluidity mingles with magical realism. Edie grows increasingly jealous of her brother’s freedom and exhausted by her double life and the restrictions society places upon her. In The Night Brother, Garland crafts a study in dualism that would make Henry Jekyll jealous, and establishes herself as one of Britain’s best new historical novelists."

Kaite Welsh

http://www.divamag.co.uk/

Absolutely delighted – ‘The Night Brother’ has received good reviews in both The Times and The Sunday Times!

“The Night Brother by Rosie Garland is a rich and ambitious tale set in late Victorian Manchester… Garland’s prose is a delight: playful and exuberant. There are shades of Angela Carter in the mad world she creates... Full marks for style”.

Toni Senior 3rd June 2017
Full review here:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/historical-fiction-w09l76frb

“Echoes of Angela Carter’s more fantastical fiction reverberate through this exuberant tale… Garland’s narrative is enjoyably energetic.”
Nick Rennison 18th June 2017

Full review here:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/books-fiction-at-a-glance-all-the-good-things-by-clare-fisher-the-answers-by-catherine-lacey-the-night-brother-by-rosie-garland-splash-by-stephen-glover-the-idiot-by-elif-batuman-gkbbb3852

The Night Brother – publication day 1st June 2017

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who packed out Waterstones, Deansgate, Manchester for the sold-out launch of ‘The Night Brother’!
It was a wonderful evening for my new novel, dedicated:

‘To Manchester
and all the wanderers
who have found a home in this Rainy City’

You can order it here…
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-night-brother/rosie-garland/9780008166106

The first reviews have come in for ‘The Night Brother’ – and they’re both 5/5. Wow!

Thank you to Happy Meerkat and Little Bookness Lane for loving my words. It means so much.

“Once again I find myself lost in the reverie of Rosie Garland’s exquisite writing. Extraordinarily enchanting, The Night Brother’s emotional bounty caresses each page… Embracing the intimacies and complexities of the heart and soul, The Night Brother doesn’t feel like a story, but a delectable gift. All that remains is for me to offer a thunderous round of applause for what is simply an expressive, breath-taking wonder.”
Little Bookness Lane – read the full text here
https://littlebooknesslane.wordpress.com/2017/05/25/book-review-the-night-brother-by-rosie-garland/

“The Night Brother is a wonderful historical fiction novel with an amazing and intriguing twist… From the moment I read the first page I was hooked… A real exciting and also thought-provoking page-turner that I can really recommend.”
Happy Meerkat – read the full text here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1888724819

Thank you to Sharon Zink for interviewing me for her blog, The Book Diner!

The blog title says it all - "History, Time Machines and Circuses: Novelist, Poet and Rock and Cabaret Star, Rosie Garland, brings her Magical World to the Book Diner"
… with some ruminations on research & how to keep going thrown in...
you can read the full text here:
http://sharonzink.com/the-book-diner-interviews/history-time-machines-and-circuses-novelist-poet-and-rock-and-cabaret-star-rosie-garland-brings-her-magical-world-to-the-book-diner/

I am immensely honoured that the cover design commission for my next novel has been chosen for the Bridgeman Studio Award 2016!
The theme is 'Night'.

It's free to enter, with a closing date at the end of June. There's also a £1K commission prize for the winning artwork.
It's also worth pointing out that it's worldwide, too.

Click for info and entry to the BSA2016

There's even a link for US folk...

Click for info & entry to the BSA2016 if in the USA

A stellar day in the neo-gothic pomp and circumstance of John Rylands Library's magnificent Historic Reading Room. It's been a dream of mine to read there... and dreams come true.
A delicious highlight of the event was the specially designed (and rather foxy) cake by the talented Annabel de Vetten of Conjuror's Kitchen.
Click to go to Manchester Gothic Festival page

Diva magazine has given 'Vixen' a great review!

'A compelling story about love and devotion set against the backdrop of superstition, pestilence and hardship that dominate the muddy 14th century landscape. Poetic, surprising and ultimately deeply moving, Vixen will have you hooked faster than it takes to drink a jug of ale and – unlike ale – it will stay with you long after you've reached the final page.'

Diva august 2014