China Bull

'Some writers make you think; some writers make you laugh till you cry. Michelle Gallen belongs to that rare, rare group of writers who make you think even as the tears are tripping you' Glenn Patterson On social media and in glossy magazines, Kat Spit is an internationally renowned business leader and inspirational mother. But in private, Kat is constantly ruminating on the past, trying to untangle what happened to her beloved cousin back in 1984. As an eleven-year-old child, Kat Spit adored her clever, cantankerous, and wildly eccentric Irish family. She grew up in an isolated rural community, under occupation by the British Army and in thrall to the Catholic Church, covertly practicing ancient pagan rituals while dreaming of living with the Dukes of Hazzard in the Land of the Free. But Kat's life changes forever when her American aunt dies just weeks after her son is killed in a mysterious fire. Kat's wealthy widowed uncle returns 'home' - bringing his last surviving child, the beautiful, all-American and dangerously bewitching Kristal Bonedust. Kristal's father takes over the Bonedust family butcher shop and is soon carving meat and breaking hearts. Meanwhile cousins Kat and Kristal form an intense bond despite the fact that Kat knows nothing about makeup and Kristal really doesn't understand the glories of a Convent Grammar education. Kat is intrigued when she realizes her glamorous cousin Kristal is being shunned - and is perhaps even feared - by her female relatives. So Kat digs deeper into Kristal's brother's death in Brooklyn. She unearths a confusing tangle of half-truths, rumours and lies that stretch between America and Ireland. When Kat discovers Kristal's darkest secret she knows exactly what to do. She cleaves to her family's code of secrecy, and hides her cousin's crime. But darker forces than Kat can imagine are warping her family, sowing a bitter harvest she will reap for decades to come.