English Animals

When Mirka gets a job in a country house in rural England, she has no idea of the struggle she faces to make sense of a very English couple. Richard and Sophie are chaotic, drunken, frequently outrageous but also warm, generous and kind to Mirka.

Swiftly commandeered by Richard for his latest money-making enterprise, taxidermy, Mirka soon surpasses him in skill. After a traumatic break two years ago with her family in Slovakia, she finds to her surprise that she is happy at Fairmont Hall. But when she feels herself falling for Sophie, everything she values is put in danger and she must learn the hard way what she really believes in.


'Its wit and perceptiveness about a certain kind of English life make it a joy to read' Amanda Craig
'A beautiful and bold debut' M.J. Hyland

'An important novel in an uncertain time' Sara Novic

'[A] wry and knowing debut' Stylist

'[A] confident novel that engages with love, belonging, prejudice and, above all, quintessential Englishness' Daily Mail


[thumbnail of author photo on Biblio; credit Charlie Hopkinson]