The Red Mouth

From a rising star in literary fiction comes a story of two discoveries made deep in an Irish bogland, threading together four lives across time.

When a dog finds a strange, alien antler in a restored bog, the owner’s first thought is to keep it for himself. But when he realises the value of his find, he is drawn back to the rich peat to keep searching. It is not one stag skeleton that is buried there, but dozens – an ancient dying ground of the Great Irish Elk.

Other things have surfaced from the bog: prehistoric settlements, bronze cauldrons, ancient butter, iron weapons – and the mutilated body of a two-thousand-year-old female. Fifty years ago, a young archaeologist named her Belroe Woman, and dedicated his life to telling the story of her sacrificial death.

While state and public treat the bog body as a national treasure, others must reckon with its otherworldly influence over their lives: the peat-cutter who first unearthed her and carries this discovery like a curse; the archaeologist’s daughter who grows up in the shadow of the bog’s strange magnetism; and the young environmental scientist whose work draws her back to where it all began.

Haunting and lyrical, The Red Mouth - an béal rua - is the story of two discoveries and the four strangers who become intertwined in their wake. The deep time of the bog is both mystical and sinister: those bound to it must decide what to bury - and what to unearth.

PRAISE FOR SHEILA ARMSTRONG:
'Unsettling, unpredictable, and brilliant' Roddy Doyle
'Vivid, sensuous ... A subtle tale of loss, loneliness and disconnection' Paul Lynch
'Lush, lyrical and cleverly constructed. A beautiful book' Louise Kennedy
'Beautifully written ... An unchained sea melody' Anne Enright
'Writes complex and troubling stories with such unflinching graciousness' Jan Carson