Duffy is a fearless writer … A portrait of sisterhood in the wider sense – one that’s as powerful and gritty as it is wise and celebratory

Lullaby Beach explores familial legacy, generational secrets and the effects of long-lasting trauma with a distinct tenderness

Whether it’s down to the sure rhythm of Duffy’s faultless storytelling or the faded backdrop of the south coast of England, her latest novel is a comforting tale despite some gritty subject matter. It opens as eighty-something Kitty takes her own life, leaving behind not just a gaping hole in the world of her two great-nieces, but a mystery, too. Four dates contained in a note seem to hold the key, concealing secrets that bind three generations of Beth and Sara’s family. Wise, generous and atmospheric

A suicide in a sleepy English seaside town exposes family secrets that have lain dormant for three generations in this
atmospheric novel . . . The action is set in the present day and the 1950s. We meet Kitty as an idealistic young girl keen to escape the monotony of her small-minded seaside existence. She elopes with an unsuitable man and starts a new life in London. But it doesn’t quite match up to her expectations and she comes running back home, licking her wounds. The narrative masterfully interweaves her story with that of other women in her family, leading to a dramatic finale

A writer who never lets you down

First class

Sharp insights and sharper wit

A powerful talent

Nobody turns the screw of tension tighter than Stella Duffy

Duffy writes with a judicious combination of power and subtlety

A versatile and gifted novelist