Orpheus Builds A Girl

Heather Parry is an established writer whose credits include The Stinging Fly, Gutter, Mslexia and The Ogilivie. She won the 2016 Bridge Award for an Emerging Writer, and Cove Park's 2017 Emerging Writer residency. In 2021 she was a Hawthornden Fellow. Her work has also been performed at The Edinburgh International Book Festival. She lives in Glasgow, and chairs literary events in Edinburgh and throughout Scotland. Heather Parry is the founder of the literary magazine Extra Teeth.

'A compelling, creepy tale - and one that raises relevant questions about who "owns" a woman's body' The Independent, Book of the Month


'Superbly creepy from the start . . . Disturbing and compelling in equal measure' The Big Issue


'A chilling story of deranged infatuation, medical abuse, coercion and power' The Skinny



'I am in awe of this wonderful book. Truly gorgeous, generous and tender and brutal. Heather is an incredibly powerful writer' Edward Carey, author of Little




'A chilling exploration of power, love and grief, written with incredible precision and an almost uncanny ear for voice. Heather Parry is a major talent' Julia Armfield, author of Our Wives Under the Sea


'Heather Parry is a literary star of the future. I've been a fan of her writing for years, and this novel is all I hoped for and more. Bold, sinister and debate-provoking' Kirsty Logan, author of Things We Say in the Dark

'Heather Parry is terrifyingly brilliant . . . Orpheus Builds a Girl is a sinister dark flower of a book, both intoxicating and beautiful' Camilla Grudova, author of Children of Paradise

'A wild, creepy, compelling read' Jan Carson, author of The Raptures


'The most eerily fascinating Gothic novel I've read in ages, filled with gorgeous, grotesque prose - as if Carlos Ruiz Zafon had written Lolita' P. J. Ellis, author of Love & Other Scams

'A deliciously macabre voyage through one man's grotesque lunacy and the destruction he leaves in his wake' Martin Macinnes, author of In Ascension


'Sinister, grotesque and strangely beautiful - this is an intensely gripping debut, the playground for vividly unforgettable characters and a twisting, seething story, all set on a background of mustily creeping dread. I loved every horrible moment' Alice Ash, author of Paradise