The Eighth House
A mother, a murder, an obsession
Linda Segtnan author Elizabeth Clark Wessel translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Bonnier Books Ltd
Published:25th Apr '24
Should be back in stock very soon
Linda feels a deep connection to Birgitta, and in the months that follow she compulsively researches the case.
Meanwhile, a life is taking root inside Linda;
'This is an extraordinary book. It moves in and around you like a ghost. I feel lucky to have experienced it' -- Daisy Johnson - author of Everything Under
In the archives of the national library, a researcher named Linda sees a nine year-old girl's face in the pages of a yellowed newspaper, and the seed of an obsession is planted in her mind.
Birgitta Sivander was brutally murdered one night in May 1948. The culprit was never found. Linda feels a deep connection to Birgitta, and in the months that follow she compulsively researches the case.
Meanwhile, a life is taking root inside Linda; she is to have a daughter of her own. As she grapples with the wonder and anxiety of motherhood, she gradually pieces together Birgitta's story, closing in on the possible killer.
Driven to redeem a lost child, Linda must find a way to lay Birgitta to rest. Moving and unputdownable, The Eighth House is a shattering examination of why cycles of violence persist, and an invocation of the hope that new life brings.
'This is an extraordinary book. It moves in and around you like a ghost. I feel lucky to have experienced it' -- Daisy Johnson * author of Everything Under *
'Brilliant. Incisive and unique, sometimes sad, but always clear-sighted and gripping' -- Sara Baume
'Thoroughly researched and philosophically vigorous, it is an alarmingly compulsive read' -- Alice Kinsella * The Irish Times *
'Linda Segtnan audaciously faces her own worst fears as a mother in a book at once devastatingly moving, rigorously thoughtful and sweepingly ambitious' -- Lara Feigel * author of The Bitter Taste of Victory *
'Evocative and poetic. The Eighth House contrasts of all the hope that comes with bringing life into the world with the terror of knowing the danger that can lie ahead. The result is fascinating, chilling and utterly haunting' -- Catherine Cho * author of Inferno: A memoir of motherhood and madness *
'The Eighth House is a story about love and love's failures, both terrible and true. Segtnan writes with such clarity and moral precision. An important contribution to the literature of motherhood' -- Clare Pollard * author of Delphi *
'At once a frank, compelling, and rigorous account of a terrible murder, and a haunting depiction of a mother's ferocious love. I could not put The Eighth House down.' -- Ellena Savage * author of Blueberries *
'A genre-transcending true crime- story ... [and] a raw portrayal of the fragility of parenthood' * Barometern *
'A daring debut' * Svenska Dagbladet *
ISBN: 9781804185742
Dimensions: 216mm x 135mm x 24mm
Weight: 331g
304 pages