Gift of the Raven by Catriona Troth

I met Catriona by chance at London Book Fair in April, and as soon as we’d exchanged a few words, we found that we had much in common. Catriona is British but lived in Canada as a child. As you know, if you've read this blog before, my childhood was partly spent in Sweden. We also liked the same kind of books, and shared many opinions on writing and being an Indy writer. Had it not been for the madness that is LBF, I’m sure we would have spent hours talking about displacement, books and writing.

So, I was delighted to be invited to TriskeleBooks Summer Launch at Foyle’s Bookshop in London’s Soho, where Catriona’s debut novella, Gift of the Raven, was launched.

I took the book away with me on my recent holiday to Provence, and read it in one afternoon by the pool.

Gift of the Raven delivers quite a powerful punch. From the very first page you are deep into the world of Terry, half-Indian, half-white boy whose short life in Canada has been tragic: Terry's father is dead or doesn’t care what happens to him, his mother has some mysterious illness, and his step-father is not what he at first seemed to be.

Life for Terry goes from bad to worse when he is forced to move to a new neighbourhood and a new school.  My heart was in my mouth for fear of what would next happen to Terry, and I couldn’t stop reading the story.

The novella is beautifully told and Terry’s voice is truly authentic.

The only criticism I have about this excellent book is that it’s a novella rather than a novel. I wish I could’ve read on to find out what happened next! So, Catriona, is there going to be a continuation to Gift of the Raven?