Official website of Michèle Forbes
A Sunday Times Book of the Year!
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From the author of Ghost Moth, one of the most acclaimed debuts of 2014, comes a stunning second novel
EDITH & OLIVER
published by W&N, Orion
Edith was born into a different world. But her rebellious nature brought her to the seedy glamour of the music hall.
Oliver is an illusionist with ambition. He wants to tour the world, to pioneer ground-breaking illusions.
History and fate have other ideas.
When Edith and Oliver meet they fall headlong in love. But their children arrive as the world begins to change, as cinemas crowd the high street and the draw of the music hall wanes. What follows is a struggle: against the entropy of marriage, against the march of time, and against Oliver’s flaws – flaws that may cost them everything.
“A writer who is not afraid to address the so-called ordinary lives of real human beings.” John Banville
Catch Michèle being interviewed about ‘Edith & Oliver’ by Eve Jackson on Encore France 24 HERE
Photo Ethan Forbes-Roe 2017
Biographical Note Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Michèle Forbes is an award-winning theatre, television and film actress. Her first novel, Ghost Moth, was published in 2013 to great critical acclaim and Forbes was shortlisted for Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, for First Book Award at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival and selected as one of The Observer’s Seven Debut Novels That Will Make A Splash in 2014. She has recently been nominated for the Prix Littéraire des Ambassadeurs de la Francophonie en Irlande – Ireland Francophonie Ambassador’s Award 2017. She lives in Dalkey, Dublin. Read More
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“A bountiful river of lovely images, fresh and perfect, a triumphant story both familiar and strange. A stellar debut.” Sebastian Barry, author of Days Without End
“This slow burning tale is both guileless and deeply—sometimes erotically—charged. The writing soaks up the world, and thrills to the beauty of it. Children, bees, milk, the sea, all are wonderfully rendered and alive on the page. Katherine Bedford—so ordinary and so passionate—is a heroine to treasure.” Anne Enright , author of The Forgotten Waltz and The Gathering
“Clever, unpredictable, beautifully written and crafted – Ghost Moth stayed with me for a long time after I’d finished reading the final, sad, wonderful page.” Roddy Doyle, author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and The Commitments
♦ Listen to Michèle Forbes with Donal Ryan on Guardian podcast
♦Listen to an interview with Michèle Forbes on ABC Radio Australia
The French translation of Ghost Moth, ‘Phalene Fantome’, was shortlisted for the FIRST EUROPEAN NOVEL 
AWARD at Chambery’s Festival du Premier Roman 2015, the PRIX ESCAPADES 2017, nominated for the French Booksellers NOVEL DISCOVERY SELECTION for Les Petits Mots, and most recently has been nominated for the Prix Littéraire des Ambassadeurs de la Francophonie en Irlande – IRELAND FRANCOPHONIE AMBASSADORS’ LITERARY AWARD 2017. The translator is Anouk Neuhoff and the publisher Les Editions de Table Ronde.