Old Crow

The transition of Coral Fairweather from village beauty to village outcast begins with the fathering of her child by a vagrant painter. Soon, fuelled by suspicion, gossip and spurred on by a malicious widow, the village`s bitter witch-hunt speeds up a terrifying climax.

Shena Mackay was born in Edinburgh. She is the author of two novellas, three collections of short stories and seven novels. Her novelDunedinand the collection of short stories,The Laughing Academy, both won Scottish Arts Council Book Awards and the bestsellingOrchard On Firewas shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize and the McVities Prize. She lives in London.