Sunbirds

'Seductive' Daily Mail

'Vivid and packed with emotion, this assured debut about a mother searching for her son will take you on a journey to the ragged landscape of the Himalayas' Woman and Home

'A thought-provoking ode to motherhood' Scots Magazine

In 1997 Anne's eighteen-year-old son Torran walked out of his hotel in the notorious Himalayan town of Manali - and disappeared.

Seven years later Anne is still searching, haunted by the idea that someone must know something, following every tenuous lead, obsessed with potential sightings. She's ridden with guilt at the way she failed Torran as a mother. Though, unlike her husband, she's never stopped believing her son is alive.

When her estranged niece Esther arrives with new information, Anne is convinced that her tenacity will finally be rewarded. Forging an uneasy truce, they venture deep into the lush but unpredictable Himalayas, hunting for answers and the secluded community living in the Sunshine House.

It is a journey that will test them in ways they couldn't have imagined. And the closer they get to discovering the truth, the more Anne begins to question everything she thought she wanted.

Seductive and unusual Daily Mail
Immersive, atmospheric, and beautifully written Irish Examiner
Vivid and packed with emotion, this assured debut about a mother searching for her son will take you on a journey to the ragged landscape of the Himalayas Women's Weekly
A thought-provoking ode to motherhood Scots Magazine
A marvellous read - pin-sharp on motherhood and finding yourself as an older woman. By the end, I was as reluctant to leave India as any of the characters -- Sally Magnusson, author of MUSIC IN THE DARK
A poignant and beautifully-written novel about the expectations of families, the weight of love and the grief of loss. Sunbirds moves easily between the familiar and the otherworldly, questioning whether you can ever truly write your own story -- Emma Flint, author of OTHER WOMEN
A fantastically assured and evocative debut . . . A novel at once lyrical and meditative, propulsive and thrilling -- Emylia Hall, author of THE SHELL HOUSE DETECTIVES
Humane and understated, it creeps up on you, this novel, in the best way, all while being completely gripping -- Lauren Brown, author of HANDS
This finely crafted story boasts huge emotional power Best

Penelope Slocombe was raised in Scotland by an Australian mother, her childhood was split between the Findhorn Foundation, a New Age community near Inverness, and its satellite community on a tiny Hebridean island where sheep outnumbered people ten to one. She now lives in London with her husband and two children. Sunbirds is her first novel.

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