Kathleen Jennings is a writer and illustrator in Brisbane, Australia. She was raised on fairy tales on a cattle station in Western Queensland, and practiced as a translator and a lawyer (which is all stories, isn't it?) before returning to undertake a Master of Philosophy in Creative Writing (Australian Gothic Literature) at the University of Queensland. Her short stories have appeared on Tor.com, in Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, in anthologies from Candlewick, Ticonderoga and Fablecroft Publishing, and elsewhere. Flyaway is her first novel. As an illustrator, she has been shortlisted for one Hugo and three World Fantasy Awards, and has won several Ditmars.
A 2021 World Fantasy Award Finalist!
A 2020 Crawford Award Finalist An Indie Next Pick! Named a Best of
2020 Pick for NPR "An unforgettable tale, as beautiful as it is
thorny." --The New York Times Book Review "Half mystery, half fairy
tale, all exquisitely rendered and full of teeth."--Holly Black "A
fairytale wrapped about in riddles and other thorny bits of
enchantments and stories, but none of them quite like any you've
heard before. Kathleen Jennings' prose dazzles, and her magic feels
real enough that you might even prick your finger on it."--Kelly
Link "Shirley Jackson Down Under: a brooding, bruising fairy tale
about blood and history and sharp-toothed things waiting in the
woods. I loved it."--Alix E. Harrow, author of Starling House "A
superbly told tale of folklore-infused fantasy, full of rising
dread, set in a sharply observed Australian outback town."--Garth
Nix "[Flyaway] will leave you feeling deeply satisfied."
--Washington Independent Review of Books "Katheleen Jennings'
writing is highly poetic and her imagery superb... [and contains]
revelations that even the most seasoned genre reader won't see
coming. More like this, please." --Rue Morgue "Flyaway is a novel
that knows any story is only as truthful as the person who tells
it; that the tale itself survives as a parasite does, jumping from
person to person and host to host."--Australian Book Review "In
spellbinding, lyrical prose Jennings lulls readers into this rich,
dreamlike world. Lovers of contemporary fairy tales will find this
a masterful work."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "Achingly
gorgeous. . . . As tangled and densely interwoven as a tuft of
dusty fur snagged on a barbed wire fence, Jennings' debut novella
is both deeply indebted to the Australian gothic tradition and
vibrantly, bewitchingly itself. A dark, delicious shrike's feast of
a fairy tale."--Brooke Bolander "Brilliant light washes through
these pages, a perfect foil for the novella's shadowy,
all-too-serious battles of class, community and family. Sly
visitations from imported, half-naturalised folklore add further
layers of mystery and wonder to a more-than-magical tale of
history's grip, the land's memory, and the harm we cannot help but
do to ourselves and each other."--Margo Lanagan "I love the
imagery, the atmosphere, the incredible tactile quality of the
world as described, the structure. . . . Some of the best prose
I've ever read."--Smart Bitches, Trashy Books "A darkly enchanting
and unexpected tale. A gothic Alice in Wonderland meets Picnic at
Hanging Rock. With Flyaway Jennings takes old threads and weaves
them into something new and exciting."--Angela Slatter "I feel as
if a very new voice has whispered a very old secret in my ear, and
I'll never be able to un-hear it. Nor will I ever want to."--C. S.
E. Cooney "I finished [Kathleen Jenning's] Flyaway last night and
haven't been able to start anything new yet because I don't want to
leave that lush creepiness behind."--Sarah Pinsker "An exquisite
gem of a book, a story which hoards its secrets and reveals its
answers slowly, patiently, rewarding the reader who's willing to go
on a strange and haunting journey. . . . Subtly sinister and
utterly, utterly magical."--Grimdark Magazine "Jennings's debut
novella is pure, poetic Australian gothic, filled with haunting
emotions, fairy-tale action, and sharp prose."--Library Journal "A
deliciously mysterious Gothic fairy tale wrapped in elegantly
descriptive prose."--Booklist "Part ghost story, part murder
mystery and part fairy tale, Flyaway feels like a perfect
combination of all Jennings' experiences and imagination."--Book
Page "An entrancing and unforgettable debut."--The Southern
Bookseller Review
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