Frances Hardinge Takes Top British Fantasy Award

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Frances Hardinge  has become the first YA author to win the top prize for best fantasy novel for her incredibly surreal and creepily sinister Cuckoo Song. The award, known as the Robert Holdstock award was presented to Hardinge on Sunday at FantasyCon 2015. I am so extremely pleased for her. I've been a huge fan since her first novel, Fly By Night, which won the Branford Boase award in 2006.... and, clearly, the brilliant books have just kept coming.
Cuckoo Song tells the story of a girl, Triss, who nearly drowns in a local pond. When she awakens, she finds her world has become slightly out of sync. Pages have been ripped out of her diary, she is incredibly hungry all the time, her younger sister is terrified of her and her parents are whispering behind closed doors. She comes to believe that she is, quite literally, not herself. In order to discover the truth, she must travel to the dark and twisted side of town to find the Architect, a menacing villain with designs on her and her family. It is a magical and eerie read in traditional horror story style that will keep you up all night. (It's also a perfect teen read for this time of year!) Beautifully crafted, expert story-telling...dark and magnificent. I recommend this for any fantasy fan.
Hardinge's seventh novel, The Lie Tree (another fantastic horror) has been nominated for this year's Guardian Childrens Fiction Award.
Huge congratulations to one of my favourite authors today.

Frances Hardinge Bibiliography
Fly By Night (2005)
Verdigris Deep (2007) 
Gullstruck Island (2009)
Twilight Robbery (sequel to Fly By Night) (2011)
A Face Like Glass (2013)
Cuckoo Song (2014)
                                     The Lie Tree (2015)


http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/26/frances-hardinge-cuckoo-song-british-fantasy-awards-fantasycon

http://www.franceshardinge.com/

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