Bright I Burn

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2024
A BBC BEST BOOK OF 2024

In thirteenth-century Ireland, a woman with power is a woman to be feared.

When a young Alice Kyteler sees her mother wither under the constraints of family responsibilities, she vows that she won't suffer the same fate. Soon Alice discovers she has a flair for making money, and builds a flourishing business. But as her wealth and stature grow, so too do the rumours about her private life. By the time she has moved on to her fourth husband, a blaze of local gossip and resentment culminates in an accusation that could prove fatal.

Inspired by the first recorded person in Ireland to have been condemned as a witch, Bright I Burn gives voice to a woman lost to history, who dared to carve her own space in a man's world.

Short-listed for RSL Encore Award 2025 (UK)

"This is lustrous elemental writing, full of rich earth, smouldering flames and roiling waters--which left me gasping for air. It consumed me like a fire." -- Katie Hale, author of The Edge of Solitude
"Exciting and triumphant . . . There's poetry here, in this lyrical, deeply human, fiercely feminist story. A book that burns brighter than even its title suggests." -- Nydia Hetherington, author of A Girl Made of Air
"Aitken's beguiling lyricism reminds us of the deeper truths that linger in the shadows of the riverbank, at the edge of the woods." --Karen Powell, author of Fifteen Wild Decembers
"Bright, bold and riotous . . . The prose is distinct and memorable from an author who is unafraid to breathe life and humanity into history and legend." --Sophie Parkes, author of Out of Human Sight
"A story of power and destruction, that surprised me at every turn . . . We need narratives like these, which bring the past to life in new ways and challenge us to think differently about women and their influence." --India Rakusen, producer
"Extraordinary . . . Some of the best prose I've read." --Elaine Feeney, author of How to Build a Boat
"A gorgeous, blazing novel, that makes history crackle to life. Fans of Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet or A.K. Blakemore's The Manningtree Witches will love Aitken's complex, sensual anti-heroine." --Clare Pollard, author of Delphi
"A lushly fevered tale of marriage, murder and moneylending . . . Haunting and powerful." --Jane Healey, author of The Beantown Girls
"An incandescent story, ablaze with the passion and determination of a woman centuries ahead of her time." --Polly Crosby, author of The Book of Hidden Wonders
"Spellbinding . . . A stunning rendition of one fierce Irish woman's voice pitted against the patriarchal power constructs of Medieval Ireland." --Anya Bergman, author of The Witches of Vardø
"Aitken is a distinct, singular, stunning voice in historical fiction, and Bright I Burn is a triumph. It took my breath away." --Jenny Mustard, author of Okay Days
"I was captivated. Every sentence reads like poetry. A stunning, magical, beguiling book." --Huma Qureshi, author of Playing Games
"Beautifully told, full of passion and fire, Aitken evokes a vivid sense of time and place through her powerful depiction of a woman determined to maintain her position in a society driven by men. Stunning." --Jenny Quintana, author of Missing Girl
"Darkly atmospheric, this beautiful novel transported me straight to Medieval Ireland." --Haleh Agar, author of Out of Touch
"Gripping, poetic, a glorious story of a remarkable woman's passion and her revenge." --Louisa Reid, author of The Poet

Molly Aitken was born in Scotland and brought up in Ireland. Her short fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, for which she won the Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction 2023, Banshee, and has been dramatized for BBC Radio 4. Her first novel The Island Child was longlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award. Molly is currently studying for a PhD in Creative Writing and History at Sheffield Hallam University.

@MollyAitken1 | @molly.aitken

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