In this, my last post of 2024, I’m announcing the publication of Patience Kite: A Folk Tale—a novel that has lived in my imagination (and in countless drafts and hard-copy, hand-annotated manuscripts) for well over a decade.
Getting this story ready and ‘out there’ is my final push—as a forty-nine year old—to refine, resolve and release a quintet of literary projects before I turn fifty on January 1st: Even the Most Shunned of Things, the Chimera trilogy, and now this folk-horror novel. Not for me those 50-shaped shiny helium balloons and a disco to celebrate my imminent half-century (though I’ve still got some killer moves, obviously), but rather this months-long labour of love to manifest these works of fiction as ‘actually there’ and also ‘done and dusted’.
Patience Kite is a multi-character story, inspired as much by Dylan Thomas’s Under Milkwood as it is by the likes of The Wicker Man. What I’ve always loved about Dylan’s poem is the way the narrative skips from character to character and from vignette to vignette—but also the malice that bubbles away in it—and that’s something I’ve tried to accomplish in Patience Kite. Also in the mix is Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds—the rich, rising hysteria of that film—and my own personal experience of visiting a Cornish fishing village and, while there, having a terrible argument about Myra Hindley…
“Patience Kite is a page-turning blend of folk horror and literary fiction that delves into the dark heart of a seemingly idyllic Cornish village. Set against the backdrop of an annual festival commemorating the expulsion of an accused witch, this novel explores themes of historical trauma, the power of representation, and the cyclical nature of violence.
As Pengarth prepares for its controversial celebration, a diverse cast of characters find their lives inexorably intertwined. From the power-hungry local historian to the rebellious artist, from the curious writer to the troubled adolescent, each character brings their own secrets and motivations to the fore.
With echoes of classics like “The Wicker Man” and contemporary works like “Midsommar,” “Patience Kite” offers a fresh and compelling take on the folk horror genre. It challenges readers to consider how the past shapes our present, and the power of community beliefs to both unite and destroy...”
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