Praise for Reasons She Goes to the Woods

Longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the Encore Award

‘Pearl is a marvellously contradictory creation, showing the cruelty in children as well as their neediness, their capacity for love and friendship... Davies’ novel reads almost like a prose poem.’

Independent on Sunday

‘A sexy, contrary book…also a story concerned with morality. The most sustained and challenging aspect of the narrative is its insistence about what a little girl is like.’

Times Literary Supplement

‘Exquisite…to be marvelled at.’

Guardian

‘A spiky echo of Angela Carter, with whom Ms Davies at her best stands fair comparison… The language is fresh, the imagery striking…and Pearl herself is a rampant, compelling, fully-realised, wild-eyed, teary creation.’

The Scotsman

‘Outstanding… Davies is a poet, and this is a poet’s novel in the very best sense – every word is pin-sharp and perfectly in its place.’

The Times

‘Best for highbrow sun lounging…told with a gothic, sensual style that Angela Carter would be proud of.’

Grazia

‘Raw, lyrical, sad, this haunting story packs a deceivingly strong punch.’

Publishers Weekly

‘Dark, beautifully descriptive and rather haunting.’

Grazia Daily

‘A poetic and strange novel, full of flair.’

Emerald Street

‘A rounded, complex portrait of growing-up that has an atmosphere all of its own.’

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