Scabby Queen

‘Scottish fiction has a long history of state-of-the-nation novels that examine the collision of myth and reality. Think of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Alasdair Gray’s surreal fantasy Lanark or James Robertson’s sweeping epic And the Land Lay Still. To their ranks can now be added Scabby Queen … as complex, tragic and bewitching as the woman at its heart’ iNews

‘A life and death struggle of a book: wounded, angry, beautiful, righteous, beaten and triumphant’ A. L. Kennedy, author of Serious Sweet

‘Kirstin Innes is the queen of rebel women and her characters shine with deep, luminous humanity’ Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Adults

‘Totally immersive and gloriously polyphonic’ Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure

‘From its delectable title to its heart-swelling final pages, this book bursts with energy and chutzpah’ Big Issue

‘A fat, firecracker of a book … It’s about women and silence, oddballs and adventurers and stupid mistakes; about ‘no need to worry about me’ Scottishness and 'getting by’ as practised by every culture on earth. Best of all, it’s about joy and hope and the pressing need to seize the day while one can’ Janice Galloway, author of The Trick Is to Keep Breathing

‘Innes’s range is as wide as Clio’s passions … The supporting characters are vividly drawn, and Clio herself is always larger than life – This is an opportune state-of-the nation novel with a feminist heart.’ Guardian

'An absolute inspiration … Since I finished Scabby Queen I’ve found myself on many ocassions thinking “What would Clio do?” … Although the fictional Clio exist only in the patchwork memories of others, Kirstin Innes conjures a vivid portrayal of a creative, determined, fiery working-class woman.’ Scotsman