Wild Ground (Hardback)

A glittering exploration of love's many faces - Wild Ground aches with hard-won hope and bruised tenderness - Colin Walsh, author of Kala

Written in a fresh northern vernacular tinged with romanticism and regret, Wild Ground is an intoxicating debut from a compelling new voice - Adelle Stripe, author of Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile

Wild Ground is a heart-breaking tale of love and loss, and as addictive as Normal People. But, more than that: a thought-provoking examination of how Whiteness pervades and causes harm, how our histories haunt us, and how dreams grow and wither. A propulsive, gut-wrenching read - Jenna Clake, author of Disturbance

It's incredible and I couldn't put it down ... Emily Usher's writing is extraordinary - Carmen Marcus, author of How Saints Die

Emily Usher is a wonderfully restrained and unfailingly compassionate storyteller, and she has written a deep and all-around beautiful debut novel. Wild Ground is a love story that captures the realities of being young and oppressed - yet hopeful and searching. It is honest and so touching as to be heartbreaking - Beth Raymer, author of Fireworks Every Night

Wild Ground is a novel for anyone who remembers the intensity and vagaries of first love or has ever fought for survival against stacked odds. Emily Usher has written an aching coming-of-age story that is heartbreaking and profound, gorgeous and unforgettable about two teenagers' struggle to thrive in a small English town. This book shimmers with longing. It beautifully encapsulates the powerlessness of adolescence against forces of poverty, discrimination, and addiction and the ways a lost first love can haunt someone forever - Mary Lowry, author of The Roxy Letters

Reading this book is like holding a heartbeat in your hands. It's bare, melodic, and thrums with a bold and aching pulse. I couldn't look away from Neef and Danny, the untamed and sacrificial love they share in a violent world. This is a hypnotic story of both beauty and betrayal, one that will settle beneath your skin and set fire to your soul - Amy Jo Burns, author of Mercury

Usher's prose is electric - each character, place, and location surges with a gripping urgency and vitality. Her narrative world, however chilling, feels totally honest, alive, and exacting. Usher's pacing, too, is remarkable; each turn is unexpected and yet wholly fitting, each transition between present and past seamless and ensnaring. Both harrowing and hopeful, a generative bildungsroman from an exciting debut novelist. - Kirkus reviews