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In the sequel to the critically acclaimed Plague Land, we return to Somershill Manor, where an ominous legend takes hold of hearts and minds as children begin to disappear.
Oswald de Lacy is growing up fast in his new position as Lord of Somershill Manor. However, there is still the same amount of work to be done in the farms and fields, and the few people left to do it think they should be paid more - something the King himself has forbidden.Just as anger begins to spread, the story of the Butcher Bird takes flight. People claim to have witnessed a huge creature in the skies. A new-born baby is found impaled on a thorn bush. And then more children disappear. Convinced the bird is just a superstitious rumor, Oswald must discover what is really happening. He can expect no help from his snobbish mother and his scheming sister Clemence, who is determined to protect her own child, but happy to neglect her step-daughters.
From the plague-ruined villages of Kent to the thief-infested streets of London and the luxurious bedchamber of a bewitching lady, Oswald's journey is full of danger, dark intrigue, and shocking revelations.
"Starred Review. British author Sykes establishes herself firmly as a major talent with this hard-edged sequel to 2015's Plague Land." - Publishers Weekly
"The second in Sykes' fine series is a puzzling mystery with a surprise at the end, filled with historical detail and, in Oswald, a slowly growing force to be reckoned with." - Kirkus
This information about The Butcher Bird was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
S.D. Sykes has always been a storyteller – even as a child – writing her first book at the age of six and insisting that it was typed up and bound! During her career in marketing and copywriting, she studied for an MA in Writing from Sheffield Hallam, and then went on to have Arts Council funding for screenplay development. She finished her first book, Plague Land, after attending the course in novel-writing at literary agents Curtis Brown.
She has lived in Somerset, London, Southampton, Manchester and now the Weald of Kent. Her influences are gothic literature, film, nature, history and her large and mildly eccentric family.
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